The plans for the 2015 Coastal Living Showhouse had two master bedrooms; One light-filled room perched on the third floor, and the other conveniently located off of the main living space on the second floor. It is so smart to have two masters in a vacation home; my Mom taught me growing up that it was polite for the host to give the better room to your guests, and with a beach house so often it is multiple families coming together and with two equally comfortable masters, no one gets the “better room”. It was especially fun to design two master bedrooms in the same home, and I wanted to make them totally different to appeal to different tastes.

For the master bedroom on the second floor, I carried through the neutral color palette from the living room, with navy and orange accents for a more masculine vibe. The walls are a very pale gray- Horizon by Benjamin Moore- and the rest of the color palette feels very Texas with its muted oranges, navy blue, and taupes which are repeated in both the curtains and the southwestern rug from Dash & Albert.

Having a more muted color palette allows the hand-carved bed blue lacquered bed by Reid Classics to pop, and I wanted to play with different textures and chose side tables in a natural wood finish (from Stanley Furniture) as well as matchstick blinds to contrast with the lacquered finish on the bed and really make it stand out.

I love the warm metallic element provided by the brass hardware on the side tables, and chose brass table lamps and a chandelier (both from Circa Lighting) to make it a stronger statement in the room. For our accessories we kept to the same neutral palette which makes it cohesive, but the contrast in style between the longhorn print by artist Mary H. Case, seashell, and modern lacquered box gives a more layered look that makes each piece more interesting than if they were grouped with other similar items.

I am obsessed with the textiles we chose and how they work together. I nerd-out over fabrics. There is something magical about how the colors and patterns from different lines can come together in combinations that seem meant to be, but are actually serendipitous little accidents, unique to each project. While we are real talking my nerdiness, I also think of fabrics a little like celebrities. As in, I will be pulling fabrics from the dec center and stumble upon a familiar textile and I’ll be like OMG! That is the fabric Cynthia Rowley used on her dining chairs in Elle Decor shot by Roger Davies last year! And then I will pull it and hoard it in my archives until I have occasion to use it.

Anyway, I found this combination particularly pleasing. Our Harold bedding is one of my favorite prints, and I love how it looks with the bolster in chic camo from Clarence House, Lee Jofa suzani curtains that we accented with a tape trim by Suzanne Kasler, and Dash & Albert southwestern rug.

The room is much more understated than I am probably known for in my work, but it was fun to try something different and I really love how it came together.

Attached to the master is one of my favorite bathrooms we did. Bathrooms in general are some of my favorite spaces to design, but due to the timeline on this project, I had to be selective about what I could altar from the architects original plans since we couldn’t move much around with the plumbing. Also, the cabinetry was already in production, and any tile/fixtures I did choose had to be in stock and ready to ship immediately- which really limits your options.

When I first saw this space, the shower was in the same place, but half the size, and accessed through a little closet. There was already a closet and built in drawers in the master bedroom, so they didn’t need the extra storage, so I suggested widening it to fill the space (which wouldn’t require moving any pipes) and doing an extra-wide glass door to let the light flow through the space.

They agreed- and I decided to push my luck and showed them the steel shower surround I had done in Pete’s bath at our Austin house. That bathroom has to be the thing I get asked about the most, and this being an idea house, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try it again. Again, because they were so awesome and supportive, they agreed.

Pete, the contractor, gets all credit for actually making them happen. He went through dozens of sources until he found someone who said they could do them. I would say they totally make the space, but that would be disrespectful to the tile which is really bringing it in its own right.

The doors themselves were fabricated by Coastal Shower Doors.

Ann Sacks again for the win, this cement ikat tile is part of their stocked line, and they got it to us in record time. The mirrors are from Restoration Hardware and the sconces are from Circa Lighting. I am so happy with how everything came together, I actually got to see everything together for the first time when we went back for the opening party, because when we left our install the cabinets and shower doors were still not in- talk about last minute pressure!

If the first master was a little something new for me, the second master on the third floor is much more in my wheelhouse. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to use wallpaper in the house. I love wallpaper for a lot of reasons, but one of the most practical being the visual interest it provides which limits the need for other art and accessories. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good ‘cessory, and am a huge fan of how art looks layered on wallpaper.

However, I believe acquiring art and accessories should be a personal process of collection over time. Stuff is just stuff, but when things are brought home from a family vacation, or inherited from a family member, or given to commemorate birthdays and anniversaries, that is the stuff I want around me. Beyond that, stuff costs money, and in a room like this with its vaulted ceilings, it would have taken some major art that we didn’t have in the budget, to fill the visual space.

So, for those reasons, and it’s general beauty, I wanted to use wallpaper and this room with it’s vaulted ceilings was the perfect candidate. I went to my source room and started pulling all of my favorite beach-y wallpapers and laid them all out. I knew we were going to have an availability issue, and that our odds of getting everything in time would be better if we pulled from the same line. Cole & Son are a frequent favorite of mine, and I was so excited when we confirmed that they had stock and would be able to work with us!

This master was the largest of the three rooms we ended up wallpapering, and was the last room you would see on the tour as it is set off by itself on the third floor. I wanted to end on a real WOW moment, while keeping it as calming as such a moment can be. I chose this palm pattern not only for its general beachiness, but for the tone on tone color palette which would be less chaotic than a multi-colored paper, and in blue which is a generally crowd pleasing hue.

I wanted to keep the whole room tone on tone to ground the kookiness of the wallpaper by playing up the classic blue and white palette. The blue linen headboard from Lee Industries has some nice height to it, which stands up to the high ceilings, and we hung curtains floor to ceiling to further ease the height transition. I am obsessed with the embroidered trim on the curtains from Kravet’s echo collection.

At first I was planning to do white bedding with a border accent, but when the palette came together the blues matched exactly the blues in our Austin splatter print. Which -given my above noted love of kismet fabric connections- was a real joy to behold.

I just love how the room turned out. It’s classic, and kooky, and perched up high surrounded by the beach views out the wall of windows, you feel like you are in your own little nest. I can’t choose a favorite between the two masters. This one feels more me, but there is also something so pure and grown up about the neutral master. Staying there would feel like a vacation from the color I normally surround myself with (and feel more comfortable in) which is part of what is so fun about having two equal but opposite options under one roof!

[Photos by Molly Miller]

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