Design Your Dream Beach House

Interior designer Ally Maloney shares how second homes offer the perfect opportunity to blend style, comfort and carefree living.

Destination Design

Many New Englanders flock to Ally Maloney of Maloney Interiors to craft luxurious yet welcoming and comfortable abodes, and second homes are no exception. In fact, due to being located in Newport, Rhode Island, her main clientele base is summer home residents. And with that, Maloney gained immense experience in designing for them. “People are more willing to step outside their norm when it’s their second or vacation home,” she says.

When envisioning their homes, the Wentworth Institute of Technology alumni always asks clients what they want their homes to feel like. “It’s a place where they’re going to make family memories,” she adds. But with second homes comes new concepts to consider when designing, like choosing appropriate furnishings for sunscreen-drenched kids to plop onto after a long day at the beach or extra trundle beds to host family members throughout the summer months. Maloney explains, “We’re a little bit more cognizant of making sure that we’re furnishing spaces appropriately… that it’s a little bit more carefree.”

She touches on other components to consider, like whether or not clients want to host throughout the summer, which leads to a need for extra seating. Clients know how they want to utilize their homes, which is key. With this in mind, Maloney, who also has experience in yacht design, has noticed a few more significant trends throughout recent years in her projects, especially a need for more connection to the outdoors. This means more outdoor living spaces, larger patio doors, gardens, pool houses, and more. The best part, perhaps, is the flexibility that each space brings to second homes. “You have a little bot more freedom in terms of what you can convince clients to do,” she says. Maloney looks to the classic New England coastal aesthetic as an example. Traditionally filled with lots of hues of blue and white, the interior designer tries to push clients to look to other color palettes that still evoke the same feeling but surpass what is seen throughout so many different homes. “There’s every color under the rainbow, and it can have a coastal feel,” she says. “My message to people is to think outside of the box.”

As Featured In: Modern Luxury Interiors Volume 2, 2025

Written By: Antonia DePace