Ashley and Brian Chiozza's 1912 Central Gardens home looks like a typical four-square on the outside, but inside it's anything but.

    There are antiques, like the oak table that separates the double front parlor, but the room isn't filled with someone else's heirlooms.

    There are contemporary pieces, like the simple white lamps with black shades, but modern style doesn't overwhelm.

    The careful blending of old and new was done with the help and guidance of interior designer Biggs Powell.

    "He pushed us to do something less traditional," Ashley Chiozza said. "We were headed in that direction."

    "I just showed them another path," Powell said.

    The couple connected with Powell after seeing his work at a friend's home.

    "He was able to take existing pieces and bring in something new and fresh to their home," she said.

    Working with Powell didn't mean compromising their own style.

    "Everything in this house we chose," Ashley Chiozza said. "It's our taste. He just helped get us there."

    They kept two upholstered red chairs that they'd used in a previous home. The chairs now flank a marble-topped chest that Powell bought years ago outside of Paris.

    They kept traditional red Oriental rugs, a sofa from their last house and many of their knickknacks and collections.

    "I'm not going to say, "This all has to go,' " Powell said. "Some things we took away; some that they really liked, we found a spot for."

    Powell finished one seating area in the parlor with two traditional chairs covered in an ultra-modern cut velvet dot-patterned fabric.

    "We looked at about 50 different patterns," Powell said.

    At the other end of the room, an antique settee inherited from Ashley Chiozza's grandmother was recovered in a blue-white-and-taupe striped fabric. Facing the settee are a pair of custom-made taupe-covered armless chairs designed by Powell.

    All of the furnishings in the parlors, both the pieces they had and the ones they've bought, work with linen drapes in a pale blue-gray and taupe print.

    Because of the cost, the drapes were chosen first.

    "It's really a marriage of texture, pattern and color," Powell said. "It's tricky."

    It's also a marriage of sorts between the couple and their designer.

    The den required more than cosmetic work. They started by removing the wood paneling, which had ruined the original plaster walls.

    They put up drywall, mimicked the moldings from other rooms in the 94-year-old house and still managed to make their den high-tech with a plasma screen television and speakers in the wall for surround sound.

    The showpieces of the room are two matching deep-seated arm chairs and a tufted ottoman covered in a printed chenille, making them both stylish and childproof.

    The chairs were made for other clients, an older couple who found them too deep. The Chiozzas saw them in Powell's showroom and had to have them. Illuminating the room is a hand-painted silk Italian Fortuny-style light fixture that the couple found online.

    "Biggs really made this into our living space," she said.

    Because the den is the path the family takes from the front door to the kitchen, he rearranged the floor plan, clearing the way through the room.

    "He helped us to really see how the flow of a room matters."

    Next to the den, the powder room was given a complete overhaul. They removed a shower stall, which they had used only for storage. They chose a brown wallpaper with red flowers, replaced the old pedestal sink with a new one and brought in an antique table. The tile floor and crystal chandelier could have been part of the original 1912 house.

    "We selected flooring that was in keeping with the house and the same with the lighting," she said.

    In the dining room, the previous owners had already painted the grass cloth wallpaper. They repainted it a deep brown and chose an antique chandelier. Powell helped them select the woven grass window shades and brown-printed fabric used for the draperies.

    The Chiozza home has been a slow and steady process.

    "You've got to take your time and don't rush into a decision," Powell said.

    If you're looking for a particular piece of furniture or art, don't buy something just to make do. "Wait until you find the right one," he said.

    Even now, while their rooms look finished, Ashley Chiozza still sees spaces to be filled.

    "We didn't fill up our rooms with stuff."

    They've begun a collection of original artwork and she has a spot picked out in the parlor for another painting. She'd like to add another piece of furniture in the dining room along with a sculpture.

    "We'll take our time and buy something we're going to enjoy forever and keep," she said.