Shop owner uses color to blend the colonial décor she loves with a contemporary setting

Mary Lou Mitchell's penthouse in downtown Arlington Heights would not surprise fans of her Pineapple Shop.

Many of the items she sells in the home décor and gift shop decorate her own three-story home seven floors above the store.

When it comes to design, this history buff is all about Williamsburg, which she credits for making possible the evolution of American government.

Mitchell is not one of those empty-nesters who discards her furniture and turns to contemporary style upon trading her single-family home of 30 years for a brand new condominium.

In fact, she copied much of the floor plan of the Arlington Heights house when she took over the concrete box in the sky.

But the strong Eastern sun forced her to modify her palette.

There had been a lot more green in her earth-bound residence, but Peter Guercio, a designer who now works at the Merchandise Mart, said it would not work here.

"Peter told me I had 26 shades of green in that house," Mitchell said.

"The couch was a green damask, but the light from the east was too severe. Peter said yellows and golds and throw in a little red."

Inspired by the shades in her two Indian and Persian rugs, Mitchell covered her delicate sofa in silk with an 18th century design of animals and flowers printed in blue and coral on yellow damask.

"Somebody said make the sofa a plain color, but it had never been a plain color. I don't like plain colors," Mitchell said.

After the couch was settled, it was easy for her and Guercio to find other fabrics to cover her chairs -- stripes in blue, gold, orange, red and green on one and a deep green and gold lattice for a wingback.

The space at the end of the room was too narrow for a regular mantel, so she decided on a shelf enhanced with molding.

"It's a better scale. It's a very small space with a lot going on around it," she said.

The walls are a coffee color with lavender tones; the paneling below the chair rail Tavern Bisque and the trim white -- a very subtle difference.

"That's how it told me it should look," she said.

The wall color in the adjacent dining room is a mixture of the coffee with the bisque and a little mulberry.

The artwork in the living room includes reproductions of birds and flowers by Mark Catesby, who lived with his sister in Williamsburg in the early 18th century.

"He was much earlier than the other guy -- what's his name, Audubon," Mitchell said.

And Mr. No Body -- a Williamsburg icon also sold in the Pineapple Shop -- stands with Mitchell's collection of blue and white Imari, a Japanese porcelain.

While Mitchell has enjoyed spending time in Williamsburg over the years -- celebrating the Grand Illumination at the beginning of the Christmas season, walking around or taking a colonial cooking class, not every piece in her home is a Williamsburg reproduction.

An 1870 china cabinet is Biedermeier rosewood burl with mahogany trim.

In the dining room, the bird pictures are California hummingbirds arranged around a mirror.

And the hall is lined with Mary Cassatt prints, contrasting with a tall metal sculpture made from old cars.

The family room is on the second floor -- and is painted Red Lion Inn Green.

This is a reversal from her old home where the walls were off-white and the trim this shade of green.

Portraits of three of her favorite presidents -- Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln -- hang on the wall. She sells these in the shop and is particularly fond of the Lincoln picture, which was painted before he was marked by the cares of office.

And in the corner is a Christmas tree with Williamsburg ornaments. She lights it only in the season, but leaves it out year-round.

"It's so pretty at night," she says of the views. "O'Hare is that way and you can see planes landing and taking off and there's fireworks everywhere on the Fourth of July."

Besides the pool table, green plaid sectional and large television, this room boasts two powder rooms -- boys and girls.

That's because 14 grandchildren had trouble waiting their turn when visiting at her old home.

And a spiral staircase goes up into the home's most distinctive feature -- the tower visible from all over downtown.

"It looks so big from the outside, but it doesn't feel that big," she said.

It's furnished with wicker furniture, but after her plants died she changed to silk and thinks she might turn the potting bench into a wet bar.

Mitchell has had several careers, not the least raising five children and following her late husband around the country as he climbed the corporate ladders.

She also sold real estate and managed Tamarack retirement home in Palatine before buying the Pineapple Shop. She plans to close the shop when her lease expires in February.

But she'll miss that elevator commute.

"It feels more like a house than a condo," she said.