The Beach House - Portland, Maine, Featured in Better Homes & Gardens August 2026
We have some very exciting news to share — our Portland, Maine beach house is featured in Better Homes & Gardens!
The story “This Charming Beach House Gives Coastal Style a Colorful Makeover” by Ella Field is live on BHG.com, with photography by Max Kim-Bee. To be featured by Better Homes & Gardens is such an honor.
The Brief - When Christina and Christian first toured this 1920s cottage just minutes from the beach, it was a pass. “It wasn’t that pretty — we knew it would need a full gut renovation,” Christina said. “The back addition was questionably done, the ceilings were too low, and the kitchen wasn’t functional at all.”
But after months of searching in a crazy market, they toured it again. This time they saw it differently: “It had the best vibes, and the light was really nice. It felt like a happy house.”
Christina is a former architect, so she started by reimagining the layout herself. It’s a very small, cozy house on a very small lot, so we were limited by how much we could build. She kept one of the few original details worth keeping — the screened porch — which is now the family’s favorite spot in the summer for reading and needlepoint.
For the interiors, she wanted a fun, vibrant, and coastal look without playing into the more expected navy blues or nautical motifs. In what she calls a twist of fate, she came across a magazine story featuring one of our homes and reached out. “We were able to use colors Christina loved, and I challenged her a bit,” I said in the article. “It was kind of the perfect pairing.”
Starting With a Statement - Apart from the full renovation Christina led, this was mostly about finding the right moments of color and letting them lead.
Together we picked a statement piece or two for each room and designed around it. It’s one of my favorite ways to work — let one thing you love tell you where to go next.
The Kitchen - Christina chose slate floors to stand up to sandy feet and paws. I encouraged her to run the citron yellow tile all the way to the ceiling and we kept the cabinetry white so the yellow could really shine. All-white cabinets and counters, bright yellow tile. Simple, happy, and so durable.
The Dining Room & Lounge - In the dining room, it was a statement light fixture and cloud print wallpaper. In the lounge, a large print Christina fell in love with 10 years prior became the starting point. Bright, patterned textiles bring in that playfulness we wanted.
The Primary Bedroom - In the primary bedroom, wallpaper is the focal point: “You look up, and there’s wallpaper,” I said. “It’s such a fun, unexpected moment.”
The Powder Room - And because this is truly a beach house — for the dogs, too — the powder room pulls double duty. A custom soapstone dog wash doubles as the bathroom sink so the pups can hop right in when they get back from the beach.
Making It Work - “Christina has amazing taste and loves color but also has a sense of restraint,” I said. “She likes to simplify at times, which is what made the project work so well.”
And it had to work hard. We needed spaces that looked good but could hold up to wet dogs and lots of sand. Instead of white paint in some rooms, I convinced Christina to use vinyl grass cloth — it adds texture but still feels neutral, and you can wipe it down.
The white paneled walls in the loft were inspired by traditional ship quarters. The house is only 1,600 square feet with three bedrooms, but it can sleep eight, including the lounge under the bedroom loft that doubles as a sleeping space for guests. And those custom built-in bunk beds? Pure nostalgic warmth.
The functional-yet-stylish interior is exactly what Christina originally envisioned: “Rainbow unicorn meets cottage.”
Thank You - Thank you to Ella Field and the whole Better Homes & Gardens team. To Max Kim-Bee for the gorgeous photography, and to Christina and Christian for trusting us with this happy house. It was the perfect pairing.
Read the full article: BHG.com
See the Project: Beach House — Portland, Maine