When a young and chic power-couple from New York City (she works in marketing, he’s in finance) approached Maureen McDermott of Winter McDermott Design with the renovation of their vacation home in the Hamptons, they hoped that she and her team could transform it into a space that reflected their personality and style. The home wasn’t in disrepair, but its dated ’90s appearance certainly didn’t reflect this 30/40-something couple’s fashion-forward style. Yellow oaked floors, a dark kitchen, and a heavy fireplace weren’t gelling with what the homeowners wanted.

The first thing that Maureen and her team suggested was to create a small addition to the house to give it a better layout and create a more dramatic entrance. “Originally you would walk into a non-de-script space to then enter the dark kitchen right away,” the designer said, “it left no surprises or intrigue. The entryway is now a long hallway where you have to experience walking through the home before entering into the main space. Also by closing the wall to the kitchen, we added a blank wall for photography and furniture.” The idea of creating the right experience for when guests walk into the home speaks to the couple’s love of entertaining. The new addition not only gave the home a more dramatic entrance but also open up the kitchen to the living areas.

The kitchen best displays the stylistic characteristics that Maureen applied to the re-design of the home. “The wife wears black a lot and I thought a black kitchen with concrete would be so chic,” she explained, “we followed that modern sleek intent into the master bathroom.” The couple decided to choose porcelain tile instead of limestone for their spa-like bathroom to stay on budget and selected high-end fixtures to create that sense of casual luxury. Whether it was visiting the kitchen showroom to decide on materials or approving the design and schematics of the renovation, the homeowners were a part of the process throughout the project. Maureen said, “When the clients bought the house they saw the potential which was exciting to envision with them and make a reality. They are a young and chic so just being on the same page aesthetically was really great.”