Tour a Chic Beach House Filled With Neutral Tones and Tons of Texture

Lots of people dream about moving to the beach. Holly and Mike Izard took the plunge, leaving behind Northeast winters for balmy Atlantic Beach, Florida, and rounding out the fantasy by having a house built there in 2019 for their family. “We wanted a more active lifestyle all year long that included biking, swimming and surfing,” says Holly. Pictured: Mike and Holly with Margaux, 7, and Julien, 4.

Their home, located a few blocks from the beach, fully embraces its identity with woven textures, light woods, and nearly every shade of blue under the sun. “It’s practically a neutral when you live on the coast,” she says. Designer Lauren Leonard helped steer rooms to be less traditionally nautical and more lighthearted with waves of pattern. The result is, says Holly, “a vacation home we never have to leave.” Coastal cool: An aluminum roof can withstand salty air, and the porch’s three shutter panels between the columns offer a bit of shade.

When the fireplace in your coastal home is one of the first things people see after they walk in, you surround it with a sea of tile (by Mosaic House). The blue surge continues in drapery fabric by Lee Jofa and patterned cushions by Taylor King on rattan and seagrass chairs by Palecek. Chosen for its lack of undertones, the white paint (Snowbound by Sherwin-Williams) is as crisp as can be.

A true vacation at home means never having to scrub off food stains. Designer Lauren had the bench cushion fabric, from Lee Industries, laminated for easy cleanup. Bistro chairs from Ballard Designs are also wipeable. Serendipity: The base of the CB2 table they already owned had a sunlike shape.

“This space feels like a retreat whether I’m pouring a glass of wine or making PB&Js for the millionth time,” says Holly. A glossy blue-green ceramic tile backsplash (by Wizard Enterprise) shimmers like light hitting the ocean. Pale oak floors and RH stools, with pendants by Visual Comfort above, bring beachiness too. Says Lauren, “They’re coastal without going overboard.”

It’s all casual elegance, emphasis on casual — the room is mainly used for bracelet making and Play-Doh creations. To set a relaxed mood, walls were painted chambray and a chunky pine table was paired with distressed white oak chairs, both from RH. The beaded light fixtures are by Jamie Young Co.

Botanical touches, like the leafy Serena & Lily wallpaper, are a natural fit. Simple frames keep the gallery wall from looking too busy on top of it. (The largest print shows the region in Southwest France where Mike is from.) For a cozy lounge area, a sectional and a rocking chair surround a big coffee table, and there’s a soft wool and denim rug, also from Serena & Lily.

“Life as parents is busy, and at the end of the day we needed to walk into a quiet room,” says Holly. Decor conducive to decompressing that’s no yawn: block-print Euro pillows (with Kravet fabric) complemented by the smaller-scale geometric print (by Thibaut) on the bench. Holly uses it when folding laundry — can’t escape from that!

Brushing teeth is almost fun with a perky vanity (painted Blithe Blue by Sherwin-Williams) and porthole-esque mirrors. Hung on the low side, they’ll be raised as the kids grow. Rather than doing a full wall of shiplap-style boards, Lauren had the idea to make it half wallpaper, and they picked one by Quadrille with a bold aqua color. The floor is tile but matches the light wood floors in the rest of the house.