A Coastal Home lends itself with ease to decorating in nautical blue & white especially in a kitchen and family room flooded with sunshine!

Blue & white decor carried outside to our garden furniture.

The décor of every room in our Nantucket home shares some version of this color scheme to provide a cohesive and restful palette for island living. It’s a cool combo for summering on the island, and a neutral palette that beautifully receives changes of accent colors throughout the year; my favorite are autumnal corals and oranges at Thanksgiving and bright yellow at Daffodil time in spring.

Blue & white porcelain and cobalt extends to the family room.

Creativity begins with inspiration

My inspiration for this tablescape came from a Facebook friend whom I do not know personally. She sent me these beautiful porcelain globes accompanied by a lovely note and a print of Nantucket. It was one of the kindest gestures I’ve ever experienced. She taught me the importance of paying-it-forward, which I have done many times since.

Step out of your life for a few minutes each day and be gentle to the world around you…

As I began to “gather my nuts”, I knew these precious globes would take center stage. I placed them in the center of each bowl. To keep them from rolling around, I hot glued (my favorite tool!) hydrangea leaves to the bottom. When guests and family members were seated, they were easily removed as a single unit.

My personal treasure and inspiration for this tablescape.

For this summer’s no-muss, no-fuss family vacation, I decided to freshen things up with the use of a tablecloth to add a huge punch of fun to the epicenter of the house, the kitchen.

I usually use placemats for the ease of upkeep for everyday use. But, I’ve gotten into using tablecloths recently, a FUN divergence. And boy, does it change the scape of not only the table, but the whole room. I love it! I left most everything else white to keep the eye restful, except for the addition of new accent pillows for the five Family Room club chairs. Best deal on the planet! These 100% cotton (look like velvet) Pottery Barn pillows were delivered in a week to the front door. They arrived with an exquisite quality custom monogram, A C K, in bright white, the aeronautical symbol for the Nantucket airport! The deep rich color of navy astounded me. The pillows were $39 each with a 20% discount code and an additional $8 for each monogram. They were far more than I had anticipated and looked a lot more expensive than they were. And did I say they are washable? Love a summer deal!

Swapping pillows from room-to-room is allowed!

The table was designed for a light summer make-ahead dinner served after a long day at the beach. I love straw anything; chairs, ice bucket, casserole dishes, placemats and every other thing you can see here, including the family room coffee table which you can see below.

Straw accessories spell warm weather and carefree living, and are a fun change from the winter when everything turns to more formal silver.

The casserole dishes go from oven or refrigerator to table, and look great against the blue & white. The straw ice bucket has been a keeper for years. We use it for chilled wine or Prosecco, or simply for ice. And last, but not least, my favorite purchase of all, the beautiful blue & white porcelain wine stopper from The Nantucket Hospital Thrift Shop I found for $5! There are always birds, boxwoods or pineapples somewhere in my tablescape designs. I used small boxwoods which I placed in blue & white porcelain containers I found years ago at Whole Foods. They were planted with Paper Whites at holiday time. I scooped them up knowing I would have them forever.

And of course, cobalt…

What’s a blue & white tablescape without something cobalt? I love it for its richness of color and the magical way it receives sunshine. If you look closely, you will see that I alternated stemware styles to jazz it up a bit, and used my high vases in both the kitchen and family room to draw the eye from one end to the other.