Beach Town Bungalow

How to add seaside sophistication to a coastal cottage

- MERYL SCHOENBAUM

ROOM FOR A VIEW. The den, where the family gathers to watch TV and movies, is one of the most used rooms in the home. The designers chose a performance fabric in a light heathered gray for the sectional. The chair is a woven-lower lounge accent chair with nautical ties-but it's not overtly nautical. The wool-blend area rug can be ordered from the design firm's shipping site (shopbysalt.com).

RED CARPET TREATMENT. The foyer's statement-piece runner is an antique Persian rug from esalerugs.com, a large vendor of one-of-a-kind, antique Persian rugs. The oars on the wall were recovered from the original house as a way to pay homage to it. The table in the background is a solid wood pedestal side table added as a modern touch to contrast the classic silhouette of the sofa.

Building a house near the beach is the foundation for fun in the sun, but how to decorate it in a casual style befitting its surroundings with a sophisticated ambience that goes beyond the beachy look can create "waves" of confusion.

Kristy Parise wanted her new-build home in the quaint beach town of Manasquan, New Jersey, to be stylish for entertaining guests while being comfortable for her young daughters.

She contacted interior design firm Salt Design Co. (saltdesigncompany.com) to come to the rescue. Sarah Brady, the company's founder and creative director, and Kiera Gannon, its senior interior designer, turned the beach bungalow into an outstanding oasis.