“I’m a different kind of designer,” says Tina Twigger. “I fix plans to make houses work. I have been blessed with a natural ability.”
Born and raised in Southern California, Twigger relays she’s always been passionate about design. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in architecture and interior design classes and discovered she had a knack for computer-aided design. Although circumstances prevented her from formally completing her studies, she honed her architectural acumen on jobsites throughout Orange County, while working for a design company based in Irvine. “I was a sponge,” she says, as she recalls loving every minute learning “from the best.”
In 2006, she opened her own firm—Twigger Design—to focus on interior architecture. “Things have taken off since,” she adds. Twigger has assembled a small team and markets her services through a website but admits she has never advertised. Her portfolio boasts custom homes (and a few retail spaces) from Malibu to Laguna Beach and Dana Point. “There is so much more competition among designers in California because there are so many more people and so many great designers; you have to differentiate yourself,” she states.
In 2022, the Twigger family (Tina and husband Brian, along with their twin daughters) moved to Naples. They purchased a distinctly Mediterranean-style home in the golf course community of Mediterra when the trend was, according to Twigger, “no longer in vogue.” Not surprising, the well-built 2,200-square-foot residence contained numerous Mediterranean elements, such as ornate columns, arched doorways, transom windows, high ceilings, and lots of tile. Twigger embraced these and set to work refreshing the home.
“I think the Mediterranean look that evolved and developed here should be respected. We should stay true to it,” says Twigger, who considers the details beautiful. In her opinion, however, it should be done with real plaster, limestone and travertine, European light fixtures, and natural woods. “There is a way to make it fresh and give it a coastal update,” she states.
Twigger’s strength lies in reconfiguring spaces, adding to the original design, and adhering to a simple color scheme. About her aesthetic, she remarks, “I do not design on trend.” Instead, she aims to realize creations that represent her clients, keeping a timeless sensibility, following architectural rules, and marrying infrastructure with interior design.
Twigger cites a recent remodeling project in Bay Colony: “I kept many of the owner’s classic pieces but went light and airy, turning the inside a soft contemporary and taking the yellow out of the walls.” She labels the resulting look French Coastal. “Basically,” she explains, “I refined the design.” Twigger says she sees great architecture in Southwest Florida and notes Neapolitans are, more and more, seeking sophistication in their designs.
Driven by the challenge of designing any space she encounters, she continues to work on projects in SoCal (and now SoFlo), tweaking plans to make houses work for the special people who inhabit them. She mentions the reconstruction of an entryway she just completed in a Mediterra home. “It was a tough project but worth it.”
Then there’s the time a lunch with a girlfriend led to a serendipitous meeting with a local builder, who after learning of Twigger’s talents, sought her advice on his project and then promptly hired her to capture a very California look in a home nearing completion in Royal Harbor—with 130 feet on the water. “I’ve had to say no to many projects as I want to work on special [ones] with great people and still be a mom,” she says. Perhaps someday Naples will command her full attention.
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