About David Whitman Alger

I’m a highly creative person with vision. My gifts of creativity and vision are put to good use not only in my 30 plus year old design business but also in my family, community and church.

I’ve always been creative and artistic. I was the kid that was building tree forts and go carts. As a young adult at age 20 I purchased my first home. I couldn’t wait to tear it apart and rebuild it. I worked my way up and through the electrical industry here in Naples and eventually into the lighting showroom part of the industry. It was there that I became educated as a Lighting Consultant. I put 10 years into that profession which led me to open up Whitman Designs in 1993.

I am fortunate to have so many dedicated customers over the past 30 plus years. I live the dream of owning a fun, creative, design business.

But I don’t believe it should all be about business. I believe you have to have time for your family, your community and your church. I believe God has blessed me with many gifts and that they should be used, enjoyed and shared.
My family is a gift to enjoy as well so, being an avid boater, we like to spend time out on the boat enjoying the Naples Bay area. If I’m not boating I’m gardening. I love to grow bromeliads.

I love being active in the community. I’ve lived in Naples since 1979 and in Palm River 13 years. I’ve helped this neighborhood grow and improve in many ways. While there I’ve helped in 2012, I organized a joint project with the association, land owner and the county to build a park along Immokolee Rd.

In 2010 I founded a not for profit organization called BASICS. Stands for brothers and sisters in common spirit. A large group of us have gone out into the community to find people in need of some house repair. Usually consisting of painting and landscaping. It’s very rewarding to show up at a home( sometimes unannounced) with 50-70 people to repaint the home and do some fresh landscaping. Part of the motivation for this organization happened after we were invited to participate to help on The Extreme Makeover TV Show. I felt any community could do what they do in a more reasonable smaller way.

April of 2025 we celebrated the move to our newest facility at 553 Airport Road North!

As much as we loved being in the Design District for 16 years, a community that I named and helped to prosper, we needed to move on. We were flooded out 3 times from hurricanes in 2 years time. It’s a lot to manage and leaves behind an unhealthy situation each time. And after much thought and prayer we found that we also needed to be in a location more easily accessible to customers from all parts of Naples.

This new location offers the accessibility, is 50% larger and modernized. Plus we can watch the airplanes take off and land all day right in front of the store !

I enjoy being active in Church in many ways. Singing in praise band & choir but also creating ornamental things for the church too.

We have created many of the pieces used within the sanctuary but most importantly in 2024 we created along with the congregation all the stained glass windows in the church. If you’d ever like to see them it’s Cornerstone United Methodist Church 8200 Immokolee Rd. All are welcome!

Certainly there are so many things we can do in this life to enjoy it. I enjoy finding the places I can help out and make a difference. And of course have time for myself and my family. Faith Hope and Love. But without love there’s nothing. Nothing at all.

About Whitman Designs

I established Whitman Designs in 1993. After dedicating 10 years to the lighting industry as a lighting consultant, I found that many of my customers were asking for designs that were not available in the industry. Some times I was able to work in some custom designs within an existing lighting company but it was difficult and cost prohibitive. So I did the research on the materials and parts and soon after jumped in with both feet.

I kind of stumbled a little at first. I focused on selling my unique designs strictly wholesale to other lighting showrooms throughout Florida. Had great sales at first but I quickly learned that I needed a larger volume to make this work. So we expanded the location to offer a small showroom and started advertising in the local newspaper. We were off to an instant success.

The store continued to expand over the next 7 years to a point it made more sense to build our own facility. Within a year we did just that. I got a SBA loan to build an 11,000 sq ft facility on Enterprise Ave. We enjoyed this location for many years and decided to sell it to move to a Downtown Naples location.

Which is where we are today 410 Tenth St. South. In the Historical Design District. This location has been our favorite because it’s offered us the most foot traffic. It’s also the most convenient to our customers and truly it’s been the most profitable.

Over the years we continue to design and fabricate custom wrought iron lighting and furniture. But proudly we also now offer our own hand made wood furniture, antique cottage furniture , original paintings that I paint, and my most favorite all the blown glass designs you can imagine from my local glass blower Jeff McDougal.

I invite you to visit soon. There is something new and different created every day.

Process

We start with a raw idea and raw materials. We will sketch out an idea on paper right in front of you in minutes.

We will incorporate wrought iron, blown glass, hand thrown pottery, cast brass elements, hand turned wood or some other kind of material. The materials and ideas are truly endless.
So is the size and color, endless. So far the biggest chandelier we have made is 10′ in diameter!

Next we will send your order out to our metal shop and begin the fabrication process. Whether it be a table lamp, a chandelier, or a table it still starts out as raw material that is hand formed. My son Cameron Alger is the metal shop director and Fabrictator. He’s worked here since he was 15 years old! He has the ability to see and understand my drawings and my vision. He pulls it all together wonderfully.

Next it is sent to the paint department to be cleaned and primed. The end result is a hand applied, hand painted finish of your choice. A clear protective finish is applied to seal everything. Of course the last thing we do is the wiring if it’s a lighting product.

So I ask you, what can we design and make for you today? I invite you to come in and explore our store, sit with me, discuss your desires. Let’s do it!