coastal chic home office | newport wedding photographer

COASTAL CHIC HOME OFFICE | MARIA BURTON PHOTOGRAPHY 

I have a passion for design. In fact when I applied for colleges I thought I’d either major in interior design or photo journalism. I ended up majoring in neither and obtained a business degree! 10 years later, I’m back to my passions – interior design and photography! And my new coastal chic home office is inspiring my work daily!

For the last 6 years, my husband and I have been restoring + renovating our 1906 New England charmer. We have taken down walls, replaced every window, insulated, re-wired, etc. etc. to just about every room in the house. All by ourselves for 6 whole years!! This past fall I yearned for a new office space. One that could be downstairs and close to the kitchen:) We also needed to build a half bath for our downstairs (relocated from the kitchen).

DESIGN INSPIRATION 

So we set out on the journey of building a new half bath and coastal chic home office! Once we had established the size and scope of the room, I set out to design a perfect little space. I had to utilize every inch of the room as it was a tight fit. My design theme was coastal chic. I love all things blue + white and I die for that Nantucket vibe. I didn’t want a cheesy nautical look – I wanted something that was sophisticated, bold, and inspired my work. My first piece of inspiration was the Sublime Blue Octopus Fabric for my roman shade. 75% of my windows have roman shades by the wonderful “Windows by Melissa”. I cannot recommend she and her team enough for their quality, quick turn around and affordability!! My second piece of design inspiration was a custom oyster shell painting by Bellamy Murphy. I discovered her work on Pinterest years ago and vowed to commission a piece from her when the time was right!

FURNITURE BY AC GRAYLING 

I also knew my antique post office desk wouldn’t quite fit in the space. So I asked Andrew to build me a new live-edge desk! Luckily my husband has his own furniture design company, AC Grayling Furniture, and had a beautiful slab of oak “laying around”. He even made me a floating shelf for the printer. Another goal of mine for the space was bookshelves. Lots of open space to display my favorite novels + coffee table reads, along with photos of friends, family and my pups. Andrew also built these bookshelves and I spent a week spraying them Benjamin Moore, “Kensington Blue”.

COASTAL CHIC HALF BATHROOM 

The second part of the office was our coastal chic half bathroom. I literally spent MONTHS scouring the internet for the perfect wallpaper. I finally found this Wave Wallpaper on Etsy and got them to shift the color to a more light turquoise color. Andrew built the vanity and I scoured this great mirror from Ballard Designs! So happy with how this small space turned out!

DESIGN SOURCES | Rug: World Market | Oyster Painting: Bellamy Murphy | Paint Color: BM Kensington Blue | Octopus Fabric: Sublime Blue Octopus | Bathroom Mirror: Ballard Design | Nantucket Sign: Etsy | Desk: AC Grayling Furniture | Desk Chair: Owl Chair | Bathroom Wallpaper: Etsy