Interior Designer Carolyn Espley-Miller

Designer Carolyn Espley-Miller decorated her Carpinteria, California, beach house she shares with her husband and two sons, with white walls, slipcovered seating, and antiques to create a tranquil and serene space. Almost all the rooms and all the hallways are Benjamin Moore's White Heron, a nice, soft white, not glaring, not too bright. The kitchen and master bath are a seafoam color, Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware.


A trestle-leg desk is positioned in front of French doors in the office the designer shares with her husband.


A large mirror over a long French serving table gives the dining area the feel of a café in Paris. Sea grass rug and slatted chair complete the look.


In the entry, a well-worn Gustavian bench and blue and white striped rug.


Ocean breezes waft in through the entry's screen door.


Espley-Miller's living room has an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean, a massive stone fireplace, and big, comfortable sofas and chairs slipcovered in white cotton denim. A huge antique dhurrie defines the seating area.


In the kitchen, a light with a Victorian wicker shade hangs above a table made of antique corbels topped with glass.


Just about everything in the kitchen got a coat of white, including the hood. The light fixture is trimmed with antique fabric.


A distressed cabinet from a milk factory and the shutters against the wall make a statement in this corner.

A black banister and black chandelier help ground the bright, airy, open upstairs hall landing.


A winsome flea market portrait leans against a wicker lamp


In the upstairs hall, skipping ropes with brightly colored handles are piled under a French poster.


Stripes of red tile lend definition to the shower walls and tub surround in a boy's bathroom.


Striped bedding and a striped rug echo the lines of wooden French blinds in the bedroom of one of Espley-Miller's two sons.


The master bath opens to an oceanside deck. "It's very white and very simple," Espley-Miller says. "I wanted nothing to detract from the incredible view and the light."


Barn doors with their original seafoam color for the headboard in the master bedroom.


Shells fringe a custom shade on a lamp in the master bedroom.


The bedroom's mantel is a wooden French window frame. A framed grid of shells on fishing wire "sparkles and catches the light from windows and the fireplace," Espley-Miller says.


The patio fire pit takes the chill off after sunset.

All images and information from House Beautiful.

Alex Bates Beach Cottage

Happy Sunday to you my dear readers! Today I have a small beach cottage to show you. It belongs to Alex Bates, the creative director of West Elm and is located on Fire Island, New York.


In the kitchen contemporary chairs were paired with a weathered farm table that belonged to the home's previous owners. The oyster plates were a gift from Bates's mother-in-law.


A vintage breadbox, earthy vessels by Heath Ceramics, and blue Martha Stewart bowls stitch together the room's beach-inspired color scheme.


Alex covered her vintage sofa in easy-to-wash white canvas, and opted for a fuss-­free and affordable jute rug. An antique sea coral print hangs between the windows. High-gloss white paint on the ceiling reflects natural light.


The enclosed front porch doubles as a guest room, thanks to a built-in daybed decorated with pillows. The turtle shells were found at an antiques store.


Chinese wisteria and a hydrangea shrub give the cedar deck a sense of enclosure.
A few chalked lines turn the family's deck into a game board for oversize chess pieces.


A collection of old group photos — from summer-camp kids to sports teams — hangs in the house's only bathroom


For the guest room, Bates added cotton slipcovers to twin headboards from her own childhood.


Bates furnished the master bedroom with a headboard and linens from West Elm, plus a couple of vintage paintings.


Extra sun hats and beach totes await guests on the front porch, which also features a sisal-covered boat bumper.

All images and information from Country Living.

Beachfront House in Southampton

Today dear readers I'm taking you to see this beachfront house in Southampton, New York. It was decorated by Mariette Himes Gomez, while architect John Mayfield redesigned the interiors although the main architecture of the house was not modified.

Splendid views with the Atlantic on one side and ponds on two others. The house is also sited so that you see the sun coming up and going down, and you don’t see any neighbors.


The pool faces a pond, instead of the ocean.


Five rocking chairs in this minimalist porch.


A Dutch door opens onto a landing, leading to stairs to the public spaces on the second floor and the private spaces on the first. “It’s an upside-down house,” Gomez remarks. Jasper Johns’s 1968 Black Numeral Series, lines the walls.

In the living room, as throughout, Gomez chose a palette of multiple whites. A 1960 Sam Francis lithograph is above a sculpture by Brine, an investment manager turned artist and owner of this house. A 1977 work by Frank Stella is at right.

The dining room chairs were designed by Gomez. Joseph Stella’s Hibiscus Flower, a 1944 watercolor, hangs above the mantel.

“It looks like something out of the Adirondacks and makes for another mood,” Gomez says of the family room. Mayfield sourced the structure from a barn company, built it backwards and then inserted it into the already constructed house.

Pains were taken not to obscure sight lines with draperies and instead many windows were left uncovered. The kitchen looks over the rear porch to the ocean.


Love this painted four-poster bed. Geometric-patterned wallcovering in the guest room.

A pine cabinet in the master bedroom giving the room height and balancing the windows.

Except for the dining room, every room has a crowded bookshelf and stacks of books on almost every table. The bedroom has no fewer than five different shades of white.

Photography by Durston Saylor

All images and information from Architectural Digest.