How to Design a Miami Second Home

There’s something wonderfully different about designing a second home in Miami. For me, a second home here should reflect why you came to Miami in the first place.

Maybe it’s the light. The water. The tropical landscape. The energy. Or simply the ability to step off a plane and immediately feel the energy shift.  Miami certainly runs at a different pace.

Whatever brought you to South Florida, I believe your Miami second home should capture that feeling.

As someone who's grown up here, lived in Chicago, lived in Los Angeles, returned to Miami, and started my interior design firm here, I approach second homes as an opportunity to create something personal, relaxed, and perhaps even a little more adventurous than the home you live in every day.  After all the cities I've lived in, it's helped me create a design point of view for my Miami projects that strays a little from the expected Miami design.  

How should you design a Miami second home? I start with how you plan to use it—whether it's a seasonal escape, waterfront condo, family gathering place or pied-à-terre. From there, I respond to Miami's light, landscape, and architecture without relying on predictable coastal themes. For clients who live elsewhere, I also prioritize practical considerations such as guest accommodations, storage, durability, custom furnishings, and full-service project management.

Before I think about furniture, fabrics, or paint colors, I want to understand how you imagine using the home.

Will this be a winter escape from New York or Chicago? A waterfront condo where you'll spend long weekends? A Coconut Grove home where children and grandchildren gather? A Miami Beach pied-à-terre for entertaining and relaxing?

These questions really influence so much of how I approach the project with my team.  

A second home sometimes works differently from a primary residence. I think carefully about how many people might stay at once, how frequently you'll entertain, where guests will put their luggage, whether you work while you're here, and how easily the home can transition from two people on a quiet weekend to a house full of friends.  Let's face it, if you have a second home in Miami, everyone will want to visit. 

Miami has an extraordinary visual vocabulary that's unique to the South, unique from the rest of the States.  

The intense sunlight, lush greens, that blue water, Art Deco architecture, Mediterranean Revival homes, and Latin American and Caribbean influences all contribute to the city's personality.

I love responding to that context, but I don't believe a Miami home needs to announce itself with predictable "coastal" decorating.

In fact, I usually prefer the opposite.  Yes, I'm a maximalist, and I love collecting.  

I've always felt that living in Miami means having permission to embrace color, pattern, and the unexpected. Yet, I'm always amazed at how safe some clients play it when they arrive.  They opt for white, cream, light, bright, and airy.  It can be beautiful, but I find that it feels a little monastic and sterile after a while.  Almost showroom-y.  C'mon, let's have fun with it!  

One of the things I love most about designing second homes is that clients often permit themselves to take risks they wouldn't necessarily take in their primary residence.

I encourage that...wholeheartedly!  

My design philosophy is rooted in what I call Modern American Maximalism and Fearless Curation. I believe great rooms are created through thoughtful layers—color, pattern, texture, lighting, art, vintage pieces, contemporary furniture, and objects that have meaning.

I don't believe there is a universal formula for what makes a beautiful room. I really don't.  But I do believe that layers matter.  That editing is super important.  Design is personal, and sometimes the most memorable spaces happen when we're willing to break a few rules.

That doesn't mean filling every inch of a Miami home.

It means choosing things confidently.

A second home can still feel light, relaxed, and appropriate for South Florida while having tremendous personality.

Miami has some spectacular views. In waterfront homes and high-rise condos especially, the instinct can be to make everything inside incredibly quiet so it doesn't compete with what's outside.

I don't think you necessarily have to choose.

I like allowing the view to be part of the design while creating an interior interesting enough to stand on its own.

At night, when the ocean disappears into darkness, the interior still needs to have a personality.

Second homes often have unusual requirements, particularly in Miami condos where every square foot matters.

That's where custom design can make an enormous difference.

I use custom upholstery, window treatments, cabinetry, and other made-to-measure elements when they allow me to solve a problem beautifully. A sofa can be designed to fit a particular wall. A banquette can create additional seating without overwhelming a room. Custom window treatments can control Miami's intense sunlight while adding softness, color, and pattern.

That said, I don't believe everything in a luxury home needs to be custom. I actually love the tension created by mixing new, vintage, and custom pieces.

That's part of what makes a home feel collected rather than decorated.

I've always believed that good design is rooted in a confident point of view and a strong narrative.

That's particularly important in a second home.

I don't want to design a beautiful Miami condo that could belong to anyone. I want to create your Miami home.

Maybe we bring pieces from your primary residence. Maybe we design around art you've collected over the years. Maybe we find something extraordinary while sourcing that becomes the starting point for an entire room.

My job isn't to impose a formula. It's to curate all of those ideas into something cohesive and unexpected.

Collaboration is indispensable to my process because design is deeply personal.

One of the biggest challenges with a Miami second home is logistical: you may not actually be in Miami while it's being designed.

That's where a full-service approach becomes especially valuable.

My studio handles interior design strategy, sourcing, and project management, and I regularly collaborate with architects, contractors, fabricators, workrooms, and other trades throughout the design process.

For a client living elsewhere, that coordination can be transformative.

Instead of flying to Miami every time a decision needs to be made or a delivery arrives, you have a design team here helping manage the countless details that turn a property into a finished home.

Whether I'm working on a new-construction residence, a renovation, or a luxury condo, my goal is to make the process feel considered and collaborative from beginning to end.

Ultimately, I think a second home should offer something your everyday life doesn't.

If your primary residence is traditional, perhaps Miami is where you become more playful. If your everyday home is restrained, perhaps this is where the wallpaper gets bolder. If you've always wanted the enormous vintage chandelier, the patterned sofa, or the room drenched in an unexpected color, maybe this is the place for it.

That's the beauty of a second home.

It's an opportunity to create a different chapter of your life—and I think the interior should tell that story.

My work has been recognized by publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Robb Report, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Florida Design, and Modern Luxury Interiors Florida, but what continues to excite me most is the collaboration behind every project: creating homes that feel unmistakably connected to the people who live in them.

If you're considering purchasing, renovating, or furnishing a second home in Miami, I always recommend beginning the interior design conversation early. The earlier I'm involved, the more opportunities I have to influence the details that ultimately make the home feel effortless, personal, and completely your own.

images

master bedroom, balcony:  juan pablo castro

dining room:  venjhamin reyes