Colorful Houses by the Sea: Summery Design Inspiration Now

If the idea of peeking into the windows of unique and charmingly designed seaside summer home interiors appeals…buckle up for the joy ride! Because if ever there was a love letter written to enchanting summer homes, SUMMER TO SUMMER is it. We’re revisiting Houses by the Sea: Summery Design Inspiration so buckle up!

Meg Braff Designs' Swirls wallpaper in navy, combined with roman shades and seat cushions in China Seas' Malay Stripe in a breakfast room. Chairs are Francis Elkins Loop chairs in a Chinese vintage red. #interiordesign #traditionalstyle #megbraff #diningrooms #redwhiteblue #colorfulrooms — In a Newport breakfast room, wallpaper: Swirls in navy; upholstery: China Seas’ Malay Stripe; chairs: vintage Frances Elkins Loop chairs; interior design: Meg Braff. Houses by the Sea Summery Design Inspiration in a Lovely Book…certainly charming indeed.

Houses by the Sea Summery Design Inspiration In a Lovely Book

Summer to Summer

In Jennifer Ash Rudick’s Summer to Summer (Vendome, 2020), with photography from the amazing Tria Giovan, seaside design freaks are destined to experience blissful, Hampton High states ranging from Nantucket Nirvana to Newport Namaste.

Photography by Tria Giovan

The 25 homes represented in the book are varied, yet all tell a very personal story about their owners thanks to the genius of photographer Tria Giovan. For example, the book cover’s photo depicts an airy summer house (the Daniel Youngs Homestead, dating to 1651) transformed by designer Sallie Giordano of Leta Austin Foster & Associates.

The porch overlooks protected wetlands as well as Oyster Bay Cove.

Ken Fulk's charming seaside cottage porch in Provincetown - photo by Tria Giovan for Jennifer Rudick's SUMMER TO SUMMER. #cottagestyle #seasidecottage #porch #newengland #interiordesign #kenfulk #goldenretriever #englishcream — Interior Design: Ken Fulk…hello lovely indeed! Duncan, an English Cream Golden Retriever, presides over Baxter’s Landing, Ken Fulk and Kurt Wootton’s Provincetown summer house.

“When a home is a distillation of its owner’s distinctive taste, the story it tells is the equivalent of a personal portrait.” – JENNIFER ASH RUDICK

Charming bedroom in a Nantucket summer house with stenciled raffia wall covering and coastal blue and green accents - design by Tom Scheerer. Photo by Tria Giovan for Jennifer Ash Rudick's Summer to Summer. #coastalstyle #cottagebedroom #tomscheerer #interiordesign #nantucketstyle #bedroomdecor #stenciledwall #romanticbedroom #beachybedroom — In the master bedroom, Island Raffia wallpaper in San Marino beige from Phillip Jeffries was hand stenciled. Fabric covering headboard and above bed: Lorraine by Quadrille. Interior Design: Tom Scheerer…charming indeed.

Seaside Summer Home Design Inspiration: Tom Scheerer

The bedrooms (below and also above) are in a home known as “Driftwood” within Nantucket’s Brant Point neighborhood and enjoyed by four generations of family who gather on summer weekends.

Tom Scheerer designed coastal wallpapered blue and white bedroom in a Nantucket seaside home. Photo by Tria Giovan for Jennifer Ash Rudick's Summer to Summer. #coastalstyle #bedroomdecor #coastalbedroom #interiordesign #blueandwhite #wallpaper #lighthouse — Guest bedroom lined in a Quadrille wallpaper overlooks the Brant Point lighthouse (interior design: Tom Scheerer). Houses by the Sea Summery Design Inspiration in a Lovely Book…certainly charming indeed.

Believe it or not, the book reveals that no family member has dibs on a particular bedroom!

Designer Ken Fulk’s Rhode Island Home

Collection of dog portraits in the hallway of a Provincetown seaside summer home with interiors by Ken Fulk. Photo by Tria Giovan for Jennifer Ash Rudick's Summer to Summer. #dogpaintings #interiordesign #dogportrait #kenfulk #vintagestyle #traditionaldecor — Ken Fulk and Kurt Wootton’s prized collection of dog portraits lines the bedroom hall in their Provincetown seaside summer home…hello lovely indeed! Seaside Summer Home Design Inspiration as well as a review of Summer to Summer.

How charming is this moment (above) in a hall showcasing the couple’s collection of dog portraits? Have a ho hum hall you could enliven similarly?

Aerin Lauder’s East Hampton Home

White pergola over a skirted picnic table set for lunch in the East Hampton garden of Aerin Lauder. Photo by Tria Giovan for Summer to Summer (Rudick). #aerinlauder #hamptonshome #summerhome #pergolas #tablescape #outdoordining #coastalstyle — A picnic table is set for lunch beneath a beautiful pergola at Aerin Lauder’s East Hampton home…in case you live for summer afternoons.

Aerin Lauder inherited her grandmother Estee Lauder’s East Hampton summer house (above) whose blue and white interiors were decorated by the legendary Mark Hampton. Aerin loved the house but gently adapted it for contemporary living with the help of Daniel Romualdez.

Meg Braff Designs' Imperial Garden in leaf and lichen on blue wallpaper in a lovely bedroom in Newport. #megbraff #interiordesign #bedroomdecor #wallpaper #greenbedrooms #cottagestyle #traditionalstyle — In a guest bedroom in Newport by Meg Braff, Imperial Garden (in leaf and lichen on blue) wallpaper lines the walls…hello lovely indeed!

This elegant yet relaxed bedroom (above) in Meg and Doug Braff’s historic Colonial in Newport certainly has a collected, layered feel like the rest of the home.

Chic Home in the Hamptons

Chic midcentury style in a bathroom in the Hamptons with Palwa crystal sconces. Architecture by Michael Haverland. #midcenturymodern #bathroomdesign #hamptonshouse #michaelhaverland #vintagesink — In a Hamptons home (architecture by Michael Haverland), a guest bathroom has crystal sconces (Palwa, ca. 1965) and walls finished in painted Masonite.

I love how designer John Fondas explained to Jennifer Rudick the very casual approach taken to decorate their Maine summer home (below):

“We kept adding various blues and white, and we finally said, ‘With all this pattern, the only logical thing is to keep adding one more.'” – JOHN FONDAS

Hahahahaha…now that is my kind of partner in design! Also, how happy is the blue ikat on the sofa in this living room!?!

Vibrant blue in a traditional living room on Little Cranberry Island (Maine) with interior design by John Fondas. Fabric and wallpaper by Quadrille. #livingroom #colorfullivingroom #traditionalstyle #interiordesign #quadrille #wallpaper — Cheerfully vibrant blue Ikat fabrics and also wallpaper by Quadrille (John Knott). The traditional style living room is in a home on Little Cranberry Island. Interior design: John Fondas…whimsically lovely indeed.

Seaside Sister Parish House in Maine

One of my favorite quiet moments in Summer to Summer is this peek (below) into a seaside cottage bedroom. Rudick deliciously describes it this way:

“The interiors brim with an artful mix of painted wicker, handwoven baskets, mattress ticking, vintage quilts, and intricately patterned hood rugs, a look instituted by her late mother, Dorothy ‘Sister’ Parish, who reigned over three generations of American design as head of the legendary New York firm Parish-Hadley Associates.”