Photos by Carmel Brantley.
When you have a long open-plan space, it’s common practice to visually divide it into two spaces, such as a living area and a dining area or two seating areas. In this Palm Beach condo, designer Caitlin Kah went one better. She divvied the room into three sections, with a cosy coffee/cocktail area separating the dining and living areas.
Here bucket chairs wrapped in rather fabulous braided rope look out toward the Atlantic Ocean. The space could easily have been incorporated into the living area. But making it a distinct section of its own gives the overall room a unique rhythm that distinguishes it from the more typical two-area configuration. Besides, I’m sure that savouring your morning beverage solo in this cosy spot feels more indulgent than slurping it at the dining table. Likewise, relishing a nightcap with that certain someone as you both gaze out at the starry sky is certainly more romantic than doing so on that white sofa facing a television.
Beyond the configuration, what I love about this room is the fun it has with the totems of Palm Beach chic. Yes, it’s decked out in the Lilly Pulitzer-approved palette of coral, pink, sky blue, and Egypt blue set off by crisp white. Yes, it boasts Chinese Chippendale-style dining chairs with chinoiserie-print cushions and faux-bamboo lighting and accents. And yes, along with the obligatory Slim Aarons photograph there are seashells and coral galore.
But accompanying all of the above are pieces that wink at the goings-on: the faux tortoiseshells on the dining area walls, the scalloped woven shades of the chandelier above the dining table, the wonderfully OTT wall mirror behind a demure skirted table.
Whoever lives here is unabashedly in love with Palm Beach. Palm Beach—all of Florida, tbh—is not my cup of Earl Grey. But I adore that it clearly is this homeowner’s.