What’s in a Name? Defining Your Design Style
It’s not just the view of the ocean that makes this room say “coastal”! The soft blues, warm woods, and playful patterns all add up to a beach house vibe.
Design Language: How Trendy Names Influence Your Home
Capturing a feeling is central to the design process, but articulating a feeling in words can be difficult. When I’m collaborating with a client, the importance of a design label’s denotation can help (or hinder!) the design process. Oftentimes, appreciating well-designed interiors you’ve seen in magazines or online and trying to pinpoint what in particular you like or dislike about a room is hard to express when putting together the details for your own home. Perhaps you’ve used an Interior Designer in the past but didn’t get the result you were looking for? I just met with a new client who is unhappy with a newish coffee table they purchased at a high-end retail store with the help of the in-store design team. I can see why they are unhappy, although the table is “on trend” and well-made, it does not flow with their home’s aesthetic, and so they recognize it is not “right”.
Speaking the Same Design Language
In defense of design labels and recognizing their benefits, I’d like to keep “design” in the forefront (so to speak) of labeling. Names such as Mid-Century Modern, British Colonial, and Craftsman style are more universally accepted and understood as design terms and styles. When working with a client, I want to communicate a style idea in as objective terms as possible. Design labels can be a useful starting point — a shared shorthand that helps us align on an initial vision. But in luxury design, a label is never the destination — it’s the doorway.
“I like an interior that defies labeling. I don’t really want someone to walk into a room and know that I did it.”
Instead of Shabby (!) Chic, I’d shoot for Cottage Style!
or instead of “Clutter Core” let’s say “Collected Home” or better yet “Maximalist”!
The Real Design Work Starts Here
True collaboration begins just beyond that doorway. Through thoughtful conversation and intentional listening, I uncover the nuances of your lifestyle, preferences, and aspirations. From there, we move into curated visuals (your Pinterest boards!) and bespoke concepts (what makes you, you), refining every detail until the style feels entirely personal.
I work one-on-one with each client to select investment pieces and custom finishes that stand the test of time, ensuring the final result is not only beautiful, but unmistakably yours.
Defining Your Style: An Example of Using Trending Design Labels
For the past several years, capturing the “Coastal Grandma” aesthetic has been summer’s elusive word trek enthusiastically explored in Instagram, Pinterest, and various online articles. It’s new branding for a timeless style, but is the label appropriate for the style?
Mood board expressing the Coastal Grandma vibe.
To clarify, in case you haven’t been doing a deep dive into design aesthetic definitions: “Coastal Grandma” captures an idealized sophistication that you’d find during a July spent in the Hamptons. Think Diane Keaton in a breezy linen button-down, Ina Garten serving a summer peach salad at a garden party, or Natasha Richardson in The Parent Trap wearing tailored jeans with the chicest blonde pixie cut ever committed to film.
Chef Ina Garten in her fabulous East Hampton, N.Y. kitchen.
Design by Name: Why Labels Like ‘Coastal Grandma’ Matter
Labeling this aesthetic “Coastal Grandma” in theory, should be shorthand for an understood color palette and vibe. When a client and I are in the initial stages of design development, using terms such as “art deco-inspired”, “farmhouse style”, or “mid-century modern” can be helpful to ensure we are headed in the same design direction.
What’s not helpful, though, is when these shorthand labels conjure negative associations. No offense to grandmas—I know plenty of grandmothers with immaculate taste – but attaching a name to a design style such as “grandma” immediately conjures images of whatever “grandma” means to you. I doubt the first image that comes to mind is a classic, light-filled, comfortable, coastal space. Words have power.
“If it’s ‘in,’ it’s out.”
Let’s Ditch Grandma
Getting back to the minefield of design labels, let’s ditch Grandma and keep Coastal. In understanding this particular vibe, I prefer calling this timeless style “Hamptons,” “Classic Coastal,” or “Shoreline Chic.”
I’m going with Classic Coastal for this blog post example of classic beach house vibes. Let’s break it down on how you can go about welcoming a bit of Classic Coastal into your home, whether you live on the water or are more inland like Richmond, Virginia!
I designed our North Carolina beach house guest room with all the hallmarks of a Classic Coastal design. There’s a nod to the beach with starfish accessories, beach-themed coffee table books, and octopus embroidered pillows. You can’t go wrong with a blue and white color scheme with natural wood and rattan touches. Classic Coastal!
This bedroom design maintains a light and airy feel with a soft seafoam color palette, metal side tables, wicker and teak seating, and beadboard wainscotting.
Classic Coastal 101
Boiling down the who-what-where of the design: Classic Coastal is typified by whitewashed walls, crisp linens and cottons, and wood furniture upholstered in the light and bright colorways of the ocean and coastline. All working together to create interiors that bring the sunshine inside, even on rainy days.
A word of caution – whites are a tricky business! There are hundreds of whites! Make sure the white you select is not too white --- something that works great in the South, and south-facing rooms, can look clinical and cold in the North and north-facing rooms. It all depends on your home’s location and siting in creating that balance (here’s where an Interior Designer’s expertise can help!).
A coastal blue hall tree makes a beautiful and functional design statement customized for this little nook. Architectural features such as the beadboard ceiling and hallway paneling add to the beach house feel.
By and large, white – or variations thereof – offer Classic Coastal’s foundation. But that doesn’t mean we are defaulting to Minimalism (that’d be very unlike me, as my longtime blog readers would know)! As you can see from the previous portfolio examples, there are opportunities to dial up Classic Coastal to Maximalist levels by layering architectural details with textural materials, embellishments on window coverings and upholstered furniture, adding in unique lighting fixtures, and accessorizing with books!
Collections add a personal touch to this bookcase display. Collections of globes, sailing ships, and antique cameras all speak to a seafaring world traveler. My favorite in this TV room design is the mermaid painting created by a local artist “After a long day wrecking ships and drowning men, every mermaid needs a glass of wine.”
And that’s what I love about interior design: creating a thoughtful mixture of modern pieces, antiques, and salvaged finds that all dovetail together to create a sense of unpretentious elegance.
The bed’s woven headboard implies maritime roping that compliments the found seashell and coral accessories, folk art fish sculpture, and sunny yellow colors in this seaside bedroom.
I believe that our home spaces are the external articulation of our internal selves. When a client wants a “Classic Coastal” look in their interiors I think they want to re-create the feel of a beach vacation: lounging in bright, cheery spaces that are comfortable, calming, and recall the casualness of sunny beach living --- all accomplished with thoughtful design and high-quality finishes! It’s a bit like the “natural” look in make-up: it takes layers of application, from architectural features to upholstery details, to create a result that looks beautiful and effortless.
A custom dining table under a nautical-inspired pendant light is surrounded by banquette seating in blue linen with cushions accented with a contrast welt.
Another project where my client’s aesthetic vision was a “Hamptons” kitchen. The chandeliers add a touch of elegance to the classic white kitchen and sea-blue island. Living in New York’s Long Island, her kitchen truly is a “Hamptons” kitchen!
One of my favorite powder room designs features custom paneling painted in a Caribbean blue, nickel finish sconces, a clamshell sink, and a bamboo-detailed vanity all adding up to a Classic Coastal look. The Cole & Son wallpaper adds a touch of whimsy.
Ready to invite a bit of coastal elegance into your home? Whether you’re located in Richmond, Virginia, the Eastern Shore, or anywhere inland— if you’re ready to start naming — and designing — your own signature style, I’d love to help. Let’s talk. (or send me a message in a bottle!)
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