A note from our editors: Thank you so much for all your support of Rue in 2018.  Before we launch into new content for the new year, we wanted to share the posts of 2018 according to you, our readers! So we’re republishing our most popular posts, including this one. We hope you enjoy it!

“This beautiful family home is located in Dana Point, just minutes from the beach,” designer Lindsey Brooke explains. “My clients are a busy young couple who manage and balance work life and raising two kids under three and two dogs.” When Lindsey was first brought onto the project, she would often arrive to find her client playing with her son. “He loves to run around and copy everything you do,” Lindsey laughs. “He often would be my assistant in helping me roll out rugs, or place accessories.” 

The home was in great condition at the start, but needed a bit of a facelift. “It was really dark and not used ideally to maximize their space,” the designer recalls. The family, who loves to entertain, was already in the process of remodeling the kitchen, living room fireplace, and putting in new floors. Lindsey’s goal was to make sure everything was brighter and the entire home had a fresh new feel. Though the clients knew it might not be their forever home, they still wanted it to be highly functional yet beautiful for their growing family. 

Upstairs, you’ll find the main living spaces as well as the master bedroom. “The walls were a dark grey which they wanted to stick with but we lightend them quite a bit,” Lindsey explains. “The space is very open and flows very easily into each room so we wanted to make sure that each space was being utilized to its fullest potential.” The living room had previously been used as a game area, with a pool table and television, and Lindsey transformed it into a casual living space where they could also entertain. “We decided to add built ins where there were already cut outs on either side of the fireplace and fill in that space for storage,” she says. “They used a white quartz as the fireplace surround to brighten up the room and then decided to paint all the built-ins white to contrast the grey walls.” The room is very kid-friendly, with an extra large custom coffee table ottoman and smaller blue and white ottomans from Kim Salmela. This space opens up to the formal dining room, though Lindsey made sure it wouldn’t feel too formal alongside the comfortable living space. They reused their original dining table and chairs, and then added in layers of color. She smiles, “My client and myself share the love of blue so we made sure to use that in key pieces like the rug, pillows and ottomans. We were not afraid to use multiple patterns and loved mixing different textiles in the space.”

The kitchen, which boasts an incredible view, is the real show stopper of the home. Lindsey laughs, “Can you imagine making your eggs and looking at the ocean everyday?” Here, the countertops have the same quartz from the fireplace with a gorgeous waterfall edge. Lindsey brought in a lot of warm woods in the form of accessories as well as the furniture in the breakfast nook. She also wanted to bring a lot of greenery, which adds color without drawing the eye away from the thoughtful design elements. “Soft plants like succulents scattered around really made a difference,” she tells us.

Through the home, coastal elements like warm wood accents offer cohesion without being obviously beachy. “From the accessories in the built-ins, the buffet in the dining room, the bar stools and chairs in the kitchen, it really felt like it warmed up the home and added that ‘casual beach’ element with out needing to add anything that was themed coastal,” Lindsey concludes. After all, modern coastal living is all about letting the natural elements — like that view! — shine. Take a tour in the slideshow.