This week’s post is one that will make you feel as though you should be walking the red carpet every weekend, if living in a home like this! The featured design style is a first for the Luxe&livable blog. Week after week we scroll through endless properties to find one that really speaks to us and we hope will speak to you too. Our goal is to always provide content that you haven’t seen before. We have definitely given an array of architectural designs and concepts; and when it comes to the interior style of choice, we have seen quite a few of that as well. We’ve seen coastal…we’ve seen rustic…we’ve seen midcentury modern…we’ve seen traditional…we’ve even seen European. For this week, we present the ‘Artist Cove’, a coastal home on the outside with an ultra-contemporary inside.

Coastal Classic

The facade of this Portsmouth home exemplifies exactly what one would expect when driving through the neighborhoods along the coast. The weathered wood shingles, the bay window, the outdoor decks, and the abundance of green with perfect views of the water. It checks off all of the boxes when wanting to live in a traditional New England coastal home! With the amount of windows this home has, you can get panoramic views of the beautiful site. Then, when the spring and summer hit, you can go outside where you have plenty of spaces and opportunities to sulk in the fresh air and relax under the sun.

Artist Spotlight

As you walk inside, you’ll notice the featured interior design style strays away from the country, coastal feel and instead fills the 6500+ square footage with a clean, contemporary chic aesthetic. Don’t worry, though, the coastal ambience is present…with its grey and white color palette and natural lighting penetrating through every space, the home still provides you with that light and airy feel you’d expect when living on the coast! What qualifies this home as such a contemporary style is the ultra-minimalistic approach and having the art as the focal accentuated pieces. Hence the name ‘Artist Cove’…but don’t get confused, we didn’t call it that thinking this is an artist’s home, we’d envision that home to look more on the ‘organized’, messy side with paint and canvas sheets scattered all through out. No, this place is more of an art enthusiast type home. Some one that truly loves and appreciates art and design and the natural scenic environment that comes with living on a waterfront property. To really appreciate the art you put up in your home, you don’t want things obstructing the view or distracting from the main attraction, which is why we admired the design details that help facilitate this goal. The oversized, all glass doors provide complete transparency into the next room so one can perfectly see the art hung along the walkway. And then there’s the stair design…the beautiful stair design, which on its owns is quite a masterpiece to show off, but what is particularly great about its design is the use of cable wires and light wood tone that allow for one to visually see through the obstruction and land your eyes straight on the art once again. Whether it be from the downstairs looking up (see top left photo) or walking along the top level, the stair rails don’t bother the eye at all and create a seamless visual flow from one space to the next.

Framing the Picture

The art isn’t the only thing trying to grab your attention here. As mentioned before, the minimalistic design, coupled with the contemporary art and furniture pieces, are what really give that clean aesthetic; but it’s definitely done with a purpose. For someone that appreciates art, having as few distractions as possible is important in order to not take away from the beauty of the piece itself. The same is done here in relation to its views. Both in the common areas and in the bedrooms, the achromatic color scheme is complimentary to what the main focal point is aiming towards: the beautiful views of the water and surrounding landscape. A perfect example of how one can paint the perfect picture through design is the reading nook located in the living room (top right photo). The caved in nook functions almost as the literal frame to the scenic view…with simple, hue-less color scheme for the pillows, no patterns but still textured with a soft, fuzzy feel mimicking the grass outside and then with the backdrop of the wall to wall window, it creates the picture of a beautiful landscape setting.

Two-Tone

The kitchen is the exact personification of a ‘contemporary style’ kitchen. It has perfectly clear lines, simple and clean cabinetry, and a minimal color scheme. The white island with the ash grey cupboards introduce a nice and inviting blend of warmth with clean aesthetic. The inset ceiling panel above the kitchen island and backdrop to the fireplace in the living room provide a continuous flow for the two spaces. The material used for these design features are tied to the wood cupboards, offering a visual consistency across the room. Once again, this simplistic design creates unobstructed views from any standing point in the space…even the pendants above the dining table are an all white finish on the outside making it blend seamlessly with its environment.

Clean Canvas

The bathrooms, like the kitchen, have a white, porcelain finish complimented with a textured, wood material. In the bathrooms, though, the look that would really describe them is a pure white aesthetic. In the kitchen/living room spaces, there was more of an equilibrium among the cleanliness of the white and the warmth of the wood. Here, while there is use of wood in the space, and at a darker tone, it is so minimal that the dominant look is still the light, crisp finish. The design style in these bathrooms exemplify exactly what they are intended for: to feel clean and refreshed!

Saturated Warmth

One of the only spaces that is not a dominantly white aesthetic is the wine cellar. The deep-toned, warm colors mimic the feeling one would get by sipping on a glass or two of wine. The bronze, stringed wall panels offer a clear separation of the room but allow a visual transparency into the space. Also, once again, the design of this space is what creates the picture it wants you to look at. When stepping back and looking onward into this space, the white ceiling and light concrete flooring guide the eyes and frame the wine cellar as an art piece in itself.

Designer’s Touch

This home was such an exciting one to write about and the beautiful foundation it provides had our wheels turning with so many inspirational ideas! We just couldn’t help ourselves and wanted to share with you some first-instinct design touches we would add in to really highlight the elegant, chic ambience that is already very clear in the interior styling of the home.

Above:

1. Wet Bar: Use the openings in room separating wall to showcase contemporary, brass sculptures that tie to the gold finish of the interior walls in the open shelving.

Below:

2. Office/Studio: Add a contemporary ottoman in the center of the space. It’s a single furniture piece that doesn’t require any added decor, keeping the space clutter-free as it already is. Now offering an opportunity for relaxation or additional table space for a current project/work or can simply just be an accent piece for the room.

3. Bedroom: Replace the fan with a stunning chandelier that will add a new layer to the space. There’s no need for more color or decor if you want to keep the minimal aesthetic but adding this statement piece will turn a semi-sterile look into a beautiful, contemporary space that matches the rest of the home.