Were speed decorating an Olympic event, Kerry Delrose of Thom Filicia Inc. would certainly lead the U.S. team. After all, he's passed the qualifying trials. Last spring, a few weeks before Delrose was to leave for an extended project in Australia, a 44-year-old investment banker client for whom he'd designed two other residences called to say she'd bought a house in Sag Harbor she wanted him to outfit.

"She closed on the house in March, moved in with a box spring and mattress in April and I finished the house on May 6 or 7," he recalls breathlessly. "It's called, 'How to do a house in under 30 days."

So, how did he do it? For starters, Delrose had great bones to work with. Built around 1926, the house had been somewhat of an oddity on Main Street. "It's the only one that didn't look like it belonged on Captain's Row," he says, referring to the street's colloquial nickname. With white stucco and a roof of red asphalt shingles, "It looked more like it belonged on a beach in Santa Barbara."

Home Work: In the living room, a steel and glass desk from Ralph Lauren Home is paired with a leather chair from Mecox Gardens to create a small office area.