“One of the earliest selections we made for this home was the living-room sofa fabric,” says ABD Studio founder Brittany Haines Giannone, describing her design for an inviting Nantucket great room. “The client specifically asked for something fresh and playful.” A vibrant Schumacher Zanzibar linen — bursting with exotic floral shapes — echoes the vegetation visible through sliding glass doors.
Texture and pattern ripple across the open-plan space. In the living area, a pair of white-oak Grand Repos lounge chairs by Guillerme et Chambron, reupholstered in a spotted Brunschwig & Fils fabric, rest on a neutral Merida rug.
The adjacent dining area features a custom table by ABD Studio, surrounded by blackened English-ash Windsor chairs from Howe and overhung by March SF half-dome resin pendants.
“We’re always aiming to capture the spirit of a place without being overly thematic,” Giannone says. “This home layers tactile coastal references with a modern take on blue and white — timeless, but full of personality.”
In the living room of a Naples, Florida, vacation home, designer Kara Mann embraced what she calls “elevated, relaxed, family living.” The decor is breezy yet refined, merging plush custom pieces with curated accents that nod to the coastal surroundings without leaning on a theme.
Two custom oversize sofas from A. Rudin are upholstered in a pale Dedar linen treated to withstand post-swim use. They mingle with contemporary coffee tables from the Future Perfect and sculptural white side tables. Near the window, a Cedric Hartman task lamp cozies up to a rattan armchair by McGuire Furniture.
“To me, it’s coastal, but not coastal,” Mann says. “It’s always important to embrace the location in the design vision. But I prefer to do that in ways that feel subtle and poignant.”
“This home is situated on Canfield Island, in Connecticut, with a gorgeous view of the sound,” says Amanda Jesse, cofounder with Whitney Parris-Lamb of the firm Jesse Parris-Lamb. In the upper-level primary bedroom, the design team made that Long Island Sound vista the centerpiece, facing the bed toward the water and layering the space with neutral tones to keep the focus on the surrounding landscape.
Anchoring the room is a custom maple live-edge headboard with a “blue steel” finish by Brooklyn woodworker Palo Samko. It’s partnered with a plush mohair rug in ivory and a vintage channel-tufted leather chair in a reddish hue. A lumbar pillow covered in Kufri’s rust-colored Ikigai fabric adds verve to the subdued bedding.
“Our clients often want the interior space to be in conversation with the natural beauty surrounding them,” Jesse says. “In this home, that meant a mix of earthy textures and quiet color schemes that complement but don’t compete with the exterior setting.” The result is a room that feels calm, open and in sync with the tides outside.
In a sprawling East Hampton, New York, getaway, old and new harmonize across the lawn, where a 19th-century shingle-style saltbox sits next to its sleek contemporary counterpart, designed by Architecture Outfit. For the interiors, the family tapped Neal Beckstedt to devise a layered, lived-in retreat that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“The vision was to create a relaxed, comfortable home that was still sophisticated and warm,” Beckstedt says.
In the modern house’s living room, that eclectic approach is on full display. A Vladimir Kagan Serpentine sofa from Holly Hunt is upholstered in handwoven Pat McGann linen. It faces a 1970s stone coffee table by Angelo Mangiarotti, sourced from Bernd Goeckler Antiques, and a space-age pair of Pierre Paulin’s Fauteuil Alpha chairs wearing a mustard-yellow Jim Thompson textile.
A vintage nutwood daybed by Enjar Larsen and Aksel Bender Madsen upholstered in a striped fabric by John Rosselli & Associates ups the mid-century quotient. Swedish 1950s rope chairs continue the Scandi vibe, set on either side of a wooden tribal Senofu coffee table from Michael Del Piero Good Design.
The 1953 Mathieu Matégot nesting tables came from the Paris flea market, while the antique Moroccan rug was picked up in Marrakech. Beckstedt’s studio custom made the leather platform sofa, which sits underneath a vibrant ceramic wall piece by Fernand Léger.
“Mixing different styles and textures with pops of primary colors was a way to energize and give a youthful spirit to the space,” Beckstedt explains. “Nothing should be or appear to be precious in a vacation home — you really lean into it being the homeowners’ dream hideaway.”
In her family’s own Sconset, Nantucket, vacation house, Victoria Hagan designed the main living room to feel as expansive as the seascape outside. The layout also reflects the island’s social rhythms, which Hagan knows well. “I’ve been coming to Nantucket since I was a child,” she says. “There’s a very specific cadence to life here. It’s all about the juxtaposition of indoors and out.”
Open to the outdoors on both sides, the space looks east to the Atlantic Ocean and north to a pond, while one of Nantucket’s iconic lighthouses stands just beyond the southern windows. “Everything about it takes a back seat to the view,” Hagan says.
The palette echoes sea, sand and sky, and the furnishings were scaled to suit both large gatherings and intimate moments. A quartet of customized club chairs in a washed Rogers & Goffigon linen compose an ideal conversation area, with a wide wooden cocktail table in the center. Nearby, two vintage CH-27 lounge chairs by Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen & Søn offer versatile seating, suited to different configurations.
The curtains — crafted from a natural-toned Donghia linen — soften the abundant light streaming through windows on opposite walls. A pair of Charles Edwards sconces frame a textured abstraction by Barbara Zucker above one of the two fireplaces on either side of the space.
“Although we only built the house a dozen or so years ago, the room feels rooted,” Hagan says. “Coastal homes should reflect the location and lifestyle. Keep it pretty, comfortable and soothing — then let the family fun begin.”
For an 8,000-square-foot new-build house in East Hampton, Dan Scotti conceived the kitchen as a dramatic yet highly functional space. It’s meant to be the hub of family activity while reflecting the palette of the surrounding coastline.
“I lean toward these colors because they occur naturally in many of the exterior elements of the homes,” says Scotti, who cites the bluestone terraces, weathered teak and aged cedar shingles of traditional Hamptons houses as inspiration for his gray-and-blue scheme.
In the open space, soaring 15-foot ceilings accommodate a high, clerestory-like row of windows through which light filters in from three sides. The vintage milk-glass globe lights with custom dark-bronze canopies came from Olde Good Things.
A trio of blackened-steel and walnut bar stools from Wyeth line the island, echoing the custom circular walnut table nearby. Molded-fiberglass Eames side chairs, sourced through Patina NYC, bring to the space a touch of mid-century modernism.
In an adjacent lounge area, a cozy pair of 1950s Guillerme et Chambron barrel chairs reupholstered in bouclé from Maharam and a vintage Danish coffee table and driftwood lamp, both from Wyeth, serve as an oasis of relaxation on a plush Sacco rug.
“We wanted the house to feel comfortably livable,” Scotti says. “There are as many as four dogs running around, so we didn’t want to make the interiors feel overly precious or fussy. The dogs can scratch the reclaimed oak floors as much as they want, and it will only add to their beauty.”
In the living room of a beachfront villa in the Bahamas, Philippa Thorp created what she describes as “a gentle exhale,” a space meant to ease guests into the slower rhythms of the Caribbean. “It’s the first room you step into,” the designer says, “and we wanted it to feel calm, effortless and quietly luxurious.”
Devised to accommodate a houseful of guests as well as solitary moments, the space balances openness with a sense of sanctuary. Every piece of furniture, from the sleek armchairs to the commodious sectional sofa, was custom-designed by Thorp in the United Kingdom and shipped to the remote getaway by boat. “There’s a romance in that,” she says, “the idea that every piece had a journey, just like the people who come to stay here.”
Abstract paintings by British artist Deborah Tarr echo the colors and textures of the landscape just beyond the doorway. “Her soft coastal palette belongs here,” Thorp notes. When it comes to coastal homes, the designer avoids nautical decor in favor of restraint. “Let the quality of light shape the atmosphere,” she says. “Let the sea do the talking.”
Anyone living in California knows the value of rooms that open to the outdoors. Ohara Davies-Gaetano’s design for a residence in Corona del Mar embodies her beach-house philosophy: “Maximize the ability to be a part of the view.”
“The desire was to create a really comfortable living room that flowed seamlessly between the interior and exterior spaces,” she says.
Inside, chic, soft grays are accented with an abstract painting by her father, artist Nick Gaetano. Beyond the completely retractable door, white dining chairs face a custom table designed by Davies-Gaetano herself.
Asked by a couple with young children to create a relaxed yet stylish retreat, Timothy Godbold suggested embracing pastel hues “in a new, sophisticated way.” In the living room of the family’s Hamptons beach house, he focused on two serene shades. “Everything has a slight blue wash mixed with a fossil beige,” the designer says. In other words, he skipped the more saturated tropical colors.
Godbold gave the fireplace surround a polished-stucco finish, adorning it with a large-scale ceramic artwork by Carlos Otero. For the furnishings, he chose pieces with simple, modern silhouettes, such as a sculptural Jorge Zalszupin chair and a vintage marble coffee table.
Eddie Lee’s clients didn’t want a shabby-chic look for their 1958 Frederick Liebhardt–designed oceanfront bungalow in La Jolla.
Although an abundance of natural-toned wood lends a beachy feel to the modernist home, he leaned away from a full palette of sun-faded neutrals.
“One of my client’s favorite colors is purple, so we lacquered the living room’s fireplace wall and coordinated with purple velvets on the library chairs to draw your eye into the space,” he says. The library’s violet-hued rug is by Patterson Flynn Martin.
Formarch design director Brent Leonard took a novel approach to beach house decor in Sag Harbor, where he refreshed a Greek Revival home with clean, bright interiors.
“We wanted the space to be infused with light, giving it a sophisticated summertime feel,” he says, describing his vision for the living room. “We pulled part of our inspiration from old seaside hotel lobbies and played with adding layers of different design eras for a balanced yet eclectic sensibility.”
Aqua Verner Panton System 1-2-3 swivel chairs and blush drapes endow the space with an undeniably feminine edge. The table, designed by Formarch, provides a hint of gloss under the glow of the 1940s flush-mount ceiling light.
Damon Liss encourages his clients to stray from the classic blue-and-white palette that characterizes so many Hamptons beach houses. In the living room of a home in Wainscott, he broadened the color spectrum with an expansive and kaleidoscopic Damien Hirst painting, mounted beneath two equally large Stilnovo chandeliers.
“We envisioned a playful, down-to-earth room where friends and family comfortably gather with carefully curated vintage,” says Liss, noting that the pieces come from Brazil, Belgium and Italy. Ceramic vessels, like the trio of tall vases by Lone Skov Madsen, add a bohemian touch. “The design is a complement to architect Bates Masi’s use of weathered cedar shingles in the interior of the home.”
For a grand seaside villa in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, Cortney Bishop and her team “chose elements that were more polished and incorporated colors that tied in with the natural environment.”
One piece that brought the outside in was a landscape painting already owned by the clients. Bishop played off the art with a pair of curved Nancy Corzine sofas, an Orley Shabahang rug in the colors of the sand and surf and a Thomas Pheasant for Baker Furniture cast-brass coffee table and leather ottoman.
Two qualities Martyn Lawrence Bullard insists are essential in a beach house are evident in the breakfast nook of a Mediterranean-style home he conceived in Malibu: “The space was designed to feel warm and welcoming,” he says, an effect he achieved in part by hiding all traces of large electronics.
Cool-toned woods are another must for the designer, and in a cozy dining area, he covered the floors with wide oak planks.
Bullard polished the room’s look further with a round vintage dining table from Lucca & Co. and a custom pendant made from an old zinc wash basin that he banded in bronze.
