On any given day, Mary Emmerling could be traveling across the country, scouting homes to feature in House Beautiful magazine. But when she's home, the author of more than 20 home-decor books hangs out in a 1960s Scottsdale patio home that she and husband Reg Jackson remodeled.

Given its age, the two-story, three-bedroom house could have been a candidate for a Mid-Century Modern makeover with streamlined furnishings. Or with its desert-landscaped front, it could have carried off a Mexican/Southwestern look, like the couple's previous home.

Instead, Emmerling turned it into a desert beach-house retreat with white walls and an oversize great room looking out to the backyard pool. Emmerling, who grew up in Washington, D.C., and is former creative director of Country Home magazine, has always loved the beach.

Her warm, inviting decor is a combination of styles, including cottage, Country French and bling, with hints of Southwestern and coastal. It's a welcome change to the heavy Tuscan look that permeates the Valley. Emmerling is not afraid to hang crystal chandeliers above a simple wood dining table. She uses antiques as everyday items. Her collections are an intrinsic part of the decor and not enshrined in cabinets or hidden in closets. Everywhere you look there are treasures big and small to enjoy.

"I love looking at my things," Emmerling said. "It's all about memories of a trip, an antique show or gift from a friend."

There are the antiques she has bought on trips to Round Top, Texas, a small town that balloons with visitors during its semiannual antique fairs. There's the collection of crosses and milagros (Mexican religious folk charms), and the stacks of decor books, placed just so on a bookshelf in the great room and topped with photographs and seashells.

When she and Jackson bought the house, which is in a development for residents 55 and older near downtown Scottsdale, it felt dark and enclosed, with small rooms and few views. They took out walls to open up the space, creating an oversize great room from the living room and Arizona room. They installed two sets of sliding doors along the back for an indoor-outdoor feel.

They also enlarged the kitchen by taking out a wall between it and the nook. They removed most of the cabinets. Emmerling then gave the room her signature touch: a down-home feel with a hint of bling. Now, a collection of painted antique tables and chests serve as storage and counter space for dishes, crystal candelabras and necessities.

A farm table, built with a lower storage shelf, houses her collection of mixing bowls. A distressed green hutch serves as storage for her collection of white dishes and serving pieces. Because the kitchen is too narrow for an island, she improvised with a tall wooden bench.

Her favorite piece is an old chest originally used as a grain or vegetable bin; it hides the garbage can. Some pieces were finds at antique shows, such as a light blue shelving unit that makes a perfect display cabinet for the wall. Although she wasn't sure the pieces would fit in the kitchen, Emmerling bought them anyway.

"I'm not big at measuring; I'm just big at guessing," she said. "Everything came out OK."

In the great room, vases and books adorn the coffee table, a Ralph Lauren gem made of sea grass. The table divides the two facing sofas in soft, light brown leather. Pillows, crafted from damaged hand-woven blankets, add color and interest. The large flat-screen TV - "It is what it is," Emmerling said - rests on a heavy wooden chest along the wall.

Across the room, the dining table, with the chandeliers hanging above, and white-slipcovered chairs make for graceful dining. Emmerling's collection of framed fashion photographs and photos of personalities such as Georgia O'Keeffe, all in black and white, rest against the wall; the four photos hanging on the wall lend a sense of drama and art.

The two first-floor bedrooms double as dressing rooms and guest quarters. Jackson's dressing space has a Western theme; Emmerling's features a wall-length closet with old shutters as decorative closet doors.

The master suite is the only room on the second floor. Old blue doors serve as a banister, in place of the wrought-iron railing once there. The bed, with a white upholstered frame and Ralph Lauren bedding, floats in the room.

"It feels so light and airy," Emmerling said. "It makes you feel good."

A painting of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, next to the window, offers beach-time memories.

"I wake up in the morning and see the palm trees."