BRIGHT AND BEACHY

A DREAM DESIGN TEAM RE-IMAGINES A RHODE ISLAND ESCAPE.

- ALEXANDRA PECCI

When your home is within walking distance of an idyllic stretch of Rhode Island beach just outside Newport, you can expect a flurry of visitors all summer. That's exactly the case for a Middletown, Rhode Island, couple who wanted their home to be a comfortable and welcoming summertime gathering place for friends and family.

"When summer comes, the house is pretty much booked every week and weekend from our friends from childhood, high school, college, and our family coming through from all over," the homeowner says.

That's why when they redesigned the house, they did it with an eye toward entertaining. Both the upstairs and downstairs have full kitchens and living areas, so the homeowners created their home's lower level with guests in mind.

Working with designer Justine Sterling of Massachusetts-based Justine Sterling Design and the Rhode Island-based contractor Innovative Design Concepts, the couple reimagined their home by eliminating unneeded storage areas, maximizing ocean views, and creating bright, open spaces for people to comfortably gather, whether it's playing games in the kitchen or having dinner in the more formal dining room.

"Whatever it may be, we can all get together now," the homeowner says. "The space has been maximized in a way that it hadn't before."