My Real-Life Big Beach Build

...When you live at the beach. If you happen to be an expert at designing beach houses, like fifth-generation home builder Marnie Oursler is, expect family and friends to stay a while. The host of DIY Network’s Big Beach Builds wouldn’t have it any other way.

After moving around Bethany Beach, DE, for years, Marnie finally bought an unsalvageable house in her ideal part of town, tore it down and put up a 6,400-square-foot retreat. The decor strikes a balance between relaxed and refined. “Some beach houses are so nice that you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to mess anything up,’ ” she says. “I’m laid-back, so it’s OK to sit on my sofa even if you’re sandy.” But her lack of house rules doesn’t mean there aren’t beautiful details, like coffered ceilings, herringbone-pattern floors and whitewashed barnwood. Marnie also thought of everything to make guests comfortable: There’s plenty of cushy furniture to sink into, a screened-in porch and three roomy balconies for breathing in the salty air, and a bunk room for her nieces and nephews. She situated her bedroom on the top floor so overnight guests have the lower levels to themselves. “The privacy helps it feel more like a vacation for them,” says Marnie. “But I admit, my room has the best views!”

Now that’s an island! Marnie built a 14 1/2-foot-long stunner with two countertops: a 4-inch-thick walnut one for the seating area, and white quartz for the rest. “I did that partly to break up all the white surrounding it,” she says, “but also because I like the wood for mealtimes. It resembles a kitchen table.” She put beadboard in the squares in the coffered ceiling. “It adds character to what otherwise would have been just drywall,” she says. The barstools are from Restoration Hardware; their chambray slipcovers by Bemz pick up the blue in the mosaic tile backsplash by AKDO.

“You can’t go wrong with blue and white—it’s beachy and classic,” says Marnie. A U-shaped brushed-linen sectional from Restoration Hardware is the pinnacle of cozy. It faces the fireplace, but it’s easy to talk to people in the kitchen while lounging on it. Marnie did shiplap walls (painted Pearly White by Sherwin-Williams), added white oak floors from Old Wood Delaware in a herringbone pattern, and painted the back of the bar and the coffered ceilings pale blue (Iceberg by Sherwin-Williams). A polished nickel light fixture and a stainless steel range hood tie the spaces together.