Leaving the interior design of your home completely in the hands of another person could be an unsettling and disastrous process, resulting in a space that doesn’t feel comfortable or even like your own. But for Sheree and Larry Zaslavsky, it was easy to let designer Dann Foley have full reign over their Skidway Island home without so much as a glimpse inside until the final unveiling .

“It was really kind of exciting because I really trusted him so much,” Sheree Zaslavsky says about the designer she has known as a professional and a friend for 10 years. “I gave him carte blanche to do what he felt was best. I trusted him.”

Foley, of Dann Foley Design in Palm Springs, California met the Zaslavsky’s at a party in Florida a decade ago. A few days later, the Zaslavsky’s follow up on a promise to hire Foley to design their Chicago home, and they have been friends ever since. The Skidaway Island home in Savannah, Georgia is the third home Foley has designed for the couple and the second in the southern coastal town.

When they found the Skidaway Island home on Cedar Marsh Retreat, it was in need of some renovation and much TLC, according to Foley. They first addressed the front entrance, which was somewhat hidden. ‘I think it’s very important that your eye can go immediately to the front door,” Foley says. “I think that gives you a sense of graciousness.”

Inside, they immediately recognized the potential of the family room, dining room and kitchen areas had to offer; a wraparound view of the nearby lagoon, golf course and wooded areas were visible from each room. They decided to knock down an existing wall to create better flow through the home and to create the expansive view.

Once the plans were laid, the Zaslavskys, known for their world travel to remote locations, took off for a major tour of Africa, leaving Foley to create a home within the new space. Foley fell back on his intimate knowledge of the couple’s worldly art collection and let the open floor plan guide him in designing the 5,400 square-foot ranch home. “I told them if I don’t know you by now then I never will,” he recalls. “You’re just going to be surprised.”

Foley added a fireplace and a large walk-in steam shower to the master suite, designed and built new cabinetry, flooring and moldings throughout the home, added barn doors to the garage, French doors that open to a Parisian balcony from Larry Zaslavsky’s office suite above the garage, and a traditional southern porch with large, white columns and a slate floor.

Although the couple wanted to incorporate a few local touches inside, they did not want the house to reflect at traditional southern home. “They wanted it to be totally fresh,” Foley says.

“They wanted a house that was sophisticated, like they are. They wanted large scale, but intimate.”

For hints of southern charm, Foley used wallpapers rich in detail in small spaces like bathrooms and corridors. But for the larger areas, he created warmth by using a custom paint palette in rich neutrals, such as burnt terra cotta in the living and dining rooms, and gold, putty and saddle colors on major pieces of upholstered furniture.

He introduced a collage of surfaces in the gourmet kitchen to create a unique setting, using teak for the island counter, hand-made, hand-glazed Italian tile in a muddled coffee color on the perimeter countertops, and polished river rock for the backsplash. After scouring Jere’s Antiques in Savannah, Foley incorporated the couple’s love of antiques in the dining room by featuring and English-made, 86 inch round pedestal table in English Yewood, highlighted about by a traditional French chandelier, among Zaslavsky’s favorite pieces. “I have fabulous chandeliers,” she says. “I love them so much because they’re just not typical.”

Finishing off the design is the Zaslavsky’s art collection, which includes everything from artifacts and antiques to puppets and masks to sculptures and doors, all gathered from exotic locations. “The collection runs the gamut, which really gave me free license with the design and decoration of the house,” Foley says.

The result, say the homeowners, is a home that reflects their sophisticated personalities, eclectic style and casual lifestyle. “When we walk into our house, we just say, “I love this house,” Zaslavsky says. “It’s very warm and inviting, it looks like us. {Foley} knows us. He reflected that in the house. I haven’t changed a thing.”