Islander Elizabeth Szombathy brings home furnishings to Harbor Square.

Enamored with art and the comfort that comes with a carefully crafted space, Elizabeth Szombathy was chomping at the bit to open the doors of Dszign, her new furniture and interior design business.

But before she could, she had to overcome some major inconvenience in the store’s own interior.

It began just prior to the November grand opening of Dszign – the first of several business to open at the new Harbor Square development on Winslow Way across from the ferry terminal – when a dose of “horizontal rain” flooded the store.

It ended a month later, after some needed cleanup and Dszign’s delayed, but ultimately successful opening in mid-December.

“It was sort of a freak thing,” the good-humored Szombathy said of the flood. “It took us a little longer than expected to open, but so far the response has been wonderful.”

Szombathy uses equally lofty adjectives when describing her wares, which range from hand-made furniture to hand-painted rugs to one-of-a-kind glass pieces.

Products hail from all corners of the globe – linens from Sweden, vases from London and framed art from right here on Bainbridge.

Szombathy, an art enthusiast, hopes to offer wall space to local artists for future exhibits. She also plans to introduce a complete line of dinnerware and will begin offering a bridal registry in February.

The origins of Dszign lye in Szombathy’s pursuit of unique interiors. As a designer who lives on Bainbridge Island, she often couldn’t find the contemporary pieces she was looking for in Kitsap County.

“I found myself going back and forth a lot between here and Seattle,” she said. “As I talked to other designers, I found they were experiencing the same thing.”

The solution was Dszign, which Szombathy hopes will become destination store for professionals and the public alike. To that end, the store’s goals are threefold.

First, Szombathy said, it is a design service. She and her five employees, all of whom have either art or design backgrounds, aim to help people create the look they want for their home.

Second, is the sale of products in the showroom and in catalogues available for perusal at the store. Third, is a research center, where both customers and non-customers are welcome to thumb through Dszign’s resources as they search for the perfect look.

The perfect look could include a glass lamp from Tracy Glover, a Rhode Island artist, or any array of products from Italian company Bontempi.

Szombathy said many of the product lines sold at the store aren’t found anywhere else in the Northwest, which is a product of her exhaustive searches more than anything else.

“I love to introduce people to designers or artists they aren’t familiar with,” she said. “As a designer, certain artists tug at me because of the beauty or uniqueness of their work.”

That was something she missed in her previous vocations, which included urban design. She settled on interior design six years ago and hasn’t looked back since, regularly traveling abroad in search of new ideas.

Now, with 3,000 square feet of her own – every inch of which is now dry – she’s hoping other people don’t have to.

“It’s endless what you can find out there,” she said. “That’s important, because design and art can dictate so much about how comfortable or happy you feel in a space.”

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Dszign of the times

Dszign, at 740 Winslow Way, is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Call 780-9225 or email info@dszign.com.