COMMON LAW

THE VERDICT IS IN ON THE INTERIOR OF A NEW YORK HOME: PLAYFUL AND POLISHED PROVES THE SPIRIT OF SUMMER

- KRISSA ROSSBUND

The legalities of homeownership, such as structural codes, real estate regulations, and financing requirements, are plenty familiar to Kevie Murphy. And the New York attorney-turned-designer also insists that each of her projects upholds one unspoken clause: that interiors are daring and always a lot of fun.

At a project in Plandome, New York, on Long Island’s North Shore, Murphy never doubted her clients’ commitment to rooms that were sophisticated with boosts of whimsy.

After all, homeowner Marni Gahan and her husband, Michael, fully embraced the scheme that called for surfboards to be hung in the formal living room, drawing attention to the water sport’s primary and iconic equipment. Marni, who hails from Australia, has a strong connection to the ocean’s stand-on-water activity. Her father spent his career as an acclaimed surfboard designer, earning accolades in the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame and having his boards displayed in museums worldwide. Instead of propping the surfboards in a corner, Murphy decided to hang them as art.

“We never knew how to make them feel special,” Marni says. “One was in one room, another in the attic. These were commissioned pieces that my dad made. It’s nice that we can commemorate his work and enjoy it daily.”