For Salt Design Company, an award-winning interior design studio serving New Jersey and beyond, their Club Drive Project creates the soul of a quaint beach cottage through layered patterns, thoughtful millwork and nautical details that feel fresh.
For Salt Design Company, designing the Club Drive Project was all about striking a delicate balance: creating a custom home that felt cozy, character-filled and relaxed rather than formal. Inspired by the charm of older seaside cottages, the team layered color, pattern, millwork and playful coastal references to give this Bay Head home a spirited yet sophisticated sense of place.
“Although it’s a larger home, our goal was to give it the feeling of a quaint seashore cottage-something cozy, inviting and layered with character rather than overly grand,” the Salt Design Company team says.
From the earliest stages, every detail was considered, from trim profiles and casing selections to the handrail design. “This home was entirely custom, and we were involved in every detail,” they say. “Every element was considered as part of the overall story.”
Thoughtful millwork, tailored proportions and subtle repetition throughout the home help create warmth and continuity. The result is a house that feels elevated, but still relaxed, fun and livable.
“It was especially important to us that the home evoked a feeling the moment you walk through the door,” the team says. “We wanted it to have that same sense of ease you feel when returning after a day at the beach in Bay Head.”
For homeowners hoping to add their own architectural character, Salt Design Company encourages starting with intention rather than ornamentation. “You don’t need overly ornate designs,” they say. “What matters most is consistency with your point of view, proportion and making sure every element feels intentional.”
Pattern plays a starring role throughout the home, but it never overwhelms. According to the designers, successful pattern mixing comes down to balance and hierarchy.
“Mixing patterns is less about strict rules and more about balance,” they say. “I typically begin with a dominant or most exciting pattern, something that anchors the space, and then layer in secondary and tertiary patterns that vary in scale.” A large-scale pattern, a medium-scale pattern and a smaller or more textural element can work beautifully together, as long as each one has its own role. “Not everyone can be the star of the show,” they say.
Color is the thread that ties it all together. While the home is undeniably colorful, the palette was carefully planned. Materials and samples were laid out again and again, with the team considering not only individual rooms but also how each space related to the next. “We were extremely deliberate in how those colors were used,” they say. “It was important that colors worked together rather than competed.”
That same restraint guided the kitchen. While other rooms in the house embrace more expressive color and pattern, the main kitchen was designed as a visual exhale. Inspired by older seaside cottages, the space features vertical V-groove cabinet fronts and a white textural backsplash, adding quiet dimension while keeping the room calm and cohesive.
“Because the home as a whole embraces color and pattern, it was important for the kitchen to act as a bit of a visual exhale,” the team says.
A mix of closed cabinetry and open moments keeps the room both practical and personal. Closed storage creates a clean, tailored feeling, while open elements allow for warmth and a more collected look.
The butler’s pantry, however, offered the chance to be a bit more playful. There, Salt Design Company introduced a dual-toned blue-on-blue palette with subtle nautical references in the plumbing and styling. The result nods to the coast without feeling overly literal.
That careful approach to coastal style continues throughout the home. Rather than relying on expected beach-house motifs, the designers focused on capturing a feeling of ease.
“For us, creating a coastal home is all about capturing a sense of ease,” they say. “It should feel light, lived-in and full of personality rather than overly themed.”
Lighting and plumbing fixtures offered opportunities for subtle nautical references, including captain’s wheel-inspired knobs, caged lanterns, ship-style lights and sculptural rattan fixtures. These harder materials were balanced with softer layers such as linens, tailored stripes, drapery, wallpaper and layered textiles.
In some moments, the team embraced more literal coastal motifs, but with intention. Playful patterns featuring seagulls, lobsters, blowfish and swimmers appear throughout the home, but they are placed carefully and balanced with quieter spaces. “For instance, in the living room, it’s very clean and beautiful with a focus on the stone fireplace,” the team says. “But when we saw the lobster table, we had to place it in there for that reminder of fun!”
Even the stairwell carries a subtle nautical note. The railing was painted navy and designed with horizontal spindles rather than a more traditional vertical treatment, giving a slight nod to ship architecture. Throughout the home, new pieces are mixed with local art, vintage antiques and collected accents to keep the look personal and layered.
The clients’ love of a classic preppy blue-and-white palette also shaped the design, but Salt Design Company gave the familiar scheme added depth by layering multiple shades of blue. Stripes appear throughout the home almost as a neutral, from the stair runner with its two blue borders to tilework that creates a striped effect through the pairing of blue and white tiles.
“Ultimately, it’s about reinterpreting traditional coastal elements in a more nuanced way,” the team says, “balancing playful, literal details with tailored, sophisticated ones so the home feels both elevated and full of life.”
That sense of joy is exactly what the clients hoped for. They wanted a quirky beach home full of life for their young family, and they trusted the designers to lean into that vision.
“Our clients truly encouraged us to go for it, and we couldn’t be more grateful,” the team says. “It’s not every day that you’re given that level of trust.”
From the conceptual phase through the final styling during the photoshoot, the project carried a spirit of creativity and excitement. The finished home is colorful, layered and liveable.
“We hope this home brings their family joy for many years to come,” the team says. “It was designed to be lived in, loved and full of life.”
Learn more about the design/build team here:
Design: Salt Design Company: Jessica Chepauskas McDonald, Karen Vazquez, Peyton Waters
Contractor: Siano Brothers
Architect: Vickery Studio
Photographer: Linda Pordon Photography @lindapordonphotography and Linda Pordon Photography
