Owner Missi Davis thrives on business of design

Kitchen designer Missi Davis in her Dean Street studio, Bailiwick First-time visitors to Bailiwick: Thoughtful Kitchen Design may think they're prepared for a simple conversation with designer Missi Davis in her downtown Fort Myers studio. What they don't count on, though, is the jaw-dropping experience of being in such a beautifully preserved historic space. Talk only turns to kitchens after one takes in the exposed brick walls, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a courtyard, and the surprise of the courtyard being protected from the street by the façade of a longgone brick building.

City councilman and architect Mike Flanders, the space's owner, explains how he purchased two of six 1926 buildings, and took the roof off one, thus creating one of the area's most stunning commercial spaces. Ms. Davis often works on floorplans at a cozy wooden table, surrounded by tasteful kitchen components, cabinetry and hardware samples, and her drafting table.

"My cabinets are very high-end," she says, of Pennsylvania's Premier Custom- Built line for which she's the only dealer south of Atlanta. "They're the standard by which a lot of other cabinet companies are judged," she says. "They interview you," says Ms. Davis. "You don't just go in and say 'I'd like to carry your line.' They wanted to see my drawings, how I wrote an order, they wanted to see how thorough I was, before they would take me on as a dealer."

Ms. Davis concentrates on Wolfe and Sub-Zero appliances for her clients, whether designing a remodeled or new kitchen. "They build in nicely," she says, "and I've had good luck with them. They're kind of a typical choice for most of my clients. There are more expensive products from Europe, like Miele for instance, but I try and use things that are made in the United States."

Ms. Davis, a Fort Myers native — "and Bishop Verot graduate" she says with a smile — has been doing kitchen design since 1987. "I was the first certified kitchen designer (CKD) in Naples," says the vivacious talent who now designs for some of the area's most influential residents. Ms. Davis had an early mentor, who recognized her keen eye and recruited her shortly after meeting her. "I had a background in freelance interior design, and I knew how to draft."

Ms. Davis opened her own business in 1996. When a name change meant renaming her company, she cleverly chose the word Bailiwick. "The actual definition of the word today is 'one's private domain or area of authority," explains Ms. Davis, whose work now enhances the same for recreational chefs requesting a dream kitchen.

"I have fairly sophisticated clients; very discerning," she says. "Homeowners will come in with their architect, their general contractor, or interior designer. Generally speaking, it's a team project," she says, of the collaborative approach that's been in existence for about 10 years. Ms. Davis explains a unique and often-unexpected dynamic. "You have your kitchen designer for the period that you work with her or him," she says, "and then suddenly the person you've been talking to every week is no longer in your life. You feel a loss when the job is complete." In Ms. Davis' case, at least, the homeowner is left with a beautiful space in which to feel the void. "I take my job very seriously," she says, "but I try to inject humor as often as I can. Life is short. You have to enjoy who you're working with."

Ms. Davis enthusiastically recalls moving to Fort Myers Beach in 1961. "It was just like the TV show 'Flipper,'" she says. "Everybody went to everybody's house by little Boston Whalers or just biked there. People who lived on the beach kept horses; we rode horses on the beach."

Today she divides her time between her studio, onsite meetings and the more relaxed kind, like this particular afternoon's at The Veranda. "Kitchen design is a real challenge," she says, with a smile. "I love it. I actually do believe that it's great when you have a passion for your job and I really do love my job. I get to meet some of the most interesting people. I've got clients here in town, in Naples, out

on Sanibel and Captiva. I'm also working on a project in Colorado right now."

Virtually all of Ms. Davis's business is by referral. "I can't think of the last time anyone walked in off the street," she says, waving toward the windows fronting Dean Street.

She pulls out a portfolio and flips through photos until she finds one of a particularly complex project in a downtown high-rise. "They say it's not rocket science," she says with a laugh, "but I swear it is."