Pairing fine art with fine furnishings at new North Naples gallery, showroom

Dede Sweet and Daniel Lubner want to change the way people shop for furniture. And for art. And vice versa.

Sweet, art director of Sweet Art Gallery, and Lubner, president of Clive Daniel Home, have combined heads to create Clive Daniel 2, which opened in late August on Trade Center Way in North Naples. With walls awash in colorful, abstract artwork and furniture arranged artfully around each canvas, the 13,000-square-foot space is half furniture showroom, half art gallery.

"He's got the floor, I've got the walls," said Sweet, a longtime fixture in the Naples art scene. "We’re two separate companies. If Daniel needs this space and I need this space, why don’t we do this space together?"

The idea, they say, is that clients shop for fine furnishings and fine art at the same time.

"Here people can see the artwork and with the surroundings around it," Sweet said, "and it just makes everything work."

Gone are the days of decorating a room with mismatched furniture and accessories, wondering how it will fit together.

"This gives them an idea about what to do with their walls," said Tania Miller, the showroom manager at CD2, "and how it can be beautiful and colorful and eclectic and be an extension of what their personality and their lifestyle is."

Now, clients have a one-shop stop.

"To have that marriage between the furniture and the accessories and the artwork and the music and the rugs and the chandeliers and everything that’s going to be involved in here, it gives people a view into what their homes can be," Lubner said.

An abstract original painting splashed with muted yellows and grays hangs from one wall near the showroom's entrance. And designers from Clive Daniel have positioned armchairs with the same muted color tones in the same vicinity. And it works.

"This is just how it should be," Sweet said.

The work of 45 artists canvas the walls, like Brenda Belfield, the stained glass artist and "master of light," Patricia Zalisko, Patty Mayhew and Clemente Mimun. Each artist has a master's in fine arts.

The furniture, meanwhile, represents Clive Daniel Home's latest collections, some of which haven't even hit the floors of the main showroom off U.S. 41.

"We want to start with the some of the freshest pieces we have, introduce some of the new collections here, give the design (community) and the entire community a chance to see things before our main showroom is going to have it," Lubner said.

The showroom and gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Sweet and Lubner also plan to use the space to host block parties, charity fundraisers and other events, including the next ART ALIVE! on Nov. 1, a showcase of area artists, galleries and studios.

"We see this as a really cool space to take a niche part of the market that’s being underserved right now," Lubner said.

ART ALIVE! at Clive Daniel 2

• When: 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 1
• Where: Clive Daniel 2, 2100 Trade Center Way, Suite A, North Naples
• Cost: Free
• More information: 239-597-2110; thesweetartgallery.com; clivedaniel.com;