Room of the Day: Nautical Chic Brings the Cozy to a Family Room

This long, narrow room in a historic home once belonging to a sea captain needed to work extra hard. Interior designer Jocelyn Chiappone of Digs Design Company was hired to create a comfortable gathering space for a family of five that could also serve as a home office and stand up to wear and tear. With careful space planning and color selection, she gave the room a fresh look that suits the original Victorian-era architecture and makes crisp navy and white unexpectedly cozy.

Photos by Nat Rea

Because the room receives lots of natural light, Chiappone knew she could go dark with the wall color. “Saturated color adds warmth,” she says. “We wanted a cozy feel because it is a family room.”

Tip: Matching the sofa color to the walls can prevent a large piece from clunking up a room. “I picked out the sectional sofa first, then matched the wall color to the fabric,” she says. “This allows it to blend in and disappear and not look too chunky.” In addition, she picked a trunk coffee table that also disappears because it is made of clear Lucite.

Chiappone slyly nods to the Cowesett, Rhode Island, home’s history as a sea captain’s home. “We do nautical chic; we don’t do kitschy,” she says. The room’s subtle nautical touches include the trunk’s brass and rope handles and the brass lighting, upholstery nails and hardware. Elements like suzani-inspired pillows, woven bamboo shades and dashes of chartreuse keep the nautical from going overboard.

Dip a Toe Into Modern Nautical Style


Across from the sectional, Chiappone reworked the existing built-ins, adding new details, including the brass hardware, the lower cabinets, a desktop and an upholstered tackboard to create a seamless home office space.

The brass upholstery nails on the tackboard create a Greek-key-inspired pattern that suits the traditional architecture. The cabinets hide computer accessories, such as the printer, as well as media equipment (a wall-mounted TV is just to the right of the shelves).

The office chair is covered in a lively chartreuse zebra-patterned fabric. “One of the nicest thing about this chair is that it’s on wheels,” Chiappone says. “It’s comfortable and can be wheeled around to provide an extra seat for TV watching.”


Chiappone planned this end of the room around a Thom Filicia canvas giclée of a mother and child at the beach, working the built-ins around the piece. This area can also serve as a library.

The armchairs nod to traditional style, but their hand-blocked John Robshaw fabric brings in a fresh pattern and a British colonial feel.

A long flat-weave striped wool rug grounds the long room and connects it from end to end. The same brass picture lights used over the desk appear here, creating more continuity.

Wall paint: Symphony Blue, Benjamin Moore; Abacus Relax Chairs, Noir; rug: custom, Barrier Islands; Dean Picture Lights: Alexa Hampton for Visual Comfort

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