Nantucket Is Always a Good Idea
Some mornings the whole island seems to conspire in your favor — the harbor glassy, a lone sailboat idling in front of Brant Point Light, the shingled cottages catching the first proper sun of the day. This is the outfit for that morning: a pink floral one-piece that photographs the way summer feels, a tiny hot-pink starfish on a gold chain, oversized gold-and-amber sunglasses, and a cheerful yellow canvas boat tote spilling over with just-cut hydrangeas. Add a straw hat, a plastic tumbler of pink lemonade, and the town-seal beach blanket spread out on the sand — and you have the postcard I'd send from every July weekend on Nantucket. It's the look I reach for at Jetties, at Steps Beach, at Cisco with a paperback. Easy, colorful, entirely un-fussed with — and impossibly Nantucket.
Nantucket Sunshine Boat Tote
Our sunny yellow canvas boat tote with a blue gingham bow at the handle and a hand-embroidered 'Entering Nantucket' patch — the cheerful weekend bag I'd pack with a paperback, a sweatshirt, and an armful of blue hydrangeas from the farm stand.
If you only bring home one piece from this room, begin here — it sets the palette, the scale, and the mood of everything that follows.
View This Piece →The Nantucket Formula
Every layer that makes this room work — and why.
- 01A Pink Floral One-Piece
Soft pink botanicals with a deep white V — flattering, timeless, and infinitely more chic than any two-piece on a Nantucket beach.
- 02Gold Wire Sunglasses
Oversized square gold frames with an amber gradient — the quietly glamorous pair that finishes the swimsuit and the sundress and the linen shirt afterward.
- 03A Little Pink Starfish
One playful bit of jewelry on the collarbone — a hot-pink enamel starfish is the summer pendant that makes the whole outfit smile.
- 04A Cheerful Canvas Tote
A yellow boat tote packed with a book, a bottle of water, and a bunch of blue hydrangeas — the bag that makes a beach day into a photograph.
- 05The Town-Seal Blanket
An oversized ivory blanket printed with the navy Nantucket town seal — the sand-shedding centerpiece of every beach afternoon.
Nantucket is always a good idea.
Complete the Look
Every piece was chosen to work beautifully with the next. Build the room in three chapters — foundation first, then layering, then the finishing touches.
Layering Pieces
The layer that adds warmth and personality — pillows, throws, hydrangeas, baskets.
Finishing Touches
The small details that make the room feel collected — candles, bowls, trays, greenery.
Nantucket Sunshine Boat Tote
Our sunny yellow canvas boat tote with a blue gingham bow at the handle and a hand-embroidered 'Entering Nantucket' patch — the cheerful weekend bag I'd pack with a paperback, a sweatshirt, and an armful of blue hydrangeas from the farm stand.
Lilly Pulitzer Women's Nioma One-Piece (Pink Floral)
Soft pink botanicals with a crisp white plunge V-neck — the flattering, wear-it-everywhere one-piece that reads chic from Jetties Beach to a late lunch at Galley Beach.
Kendra Scott Parker Starfish Pendant Necklace (Hot Pink)
A tiny hot-pink enamel starfish on a delicate beaded gold chain — the little bit of summer jewelry that lives on your collarbone from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
SOJOS Oversized Square Metal Sunglasses — Gold with Amber Gradient
Wire-thin gold square frames with a warm amber gradient — the quietly glamorous sunglasses that finish the swimsuit today and the linen shirtdress tonight.
Complete the Look in Stages
The best rooms are never finished in a weekend. If you're building this room slowly, here is the order we'd bring things home.
- 01Foundation
Begin with the anchor — the sofa, the rug, or the bed. It sets the scale and the palette for everything else.
- 02Lighting
Layer the light next. A pair of lamps and one small warm bulb do more for the room than any wall color.
- 03Textiles
Add the softness — pillows, throws, a runner. This is where the room begins to feel like yours.
- 04Accessories
Bring in the ginger jars, the trays, the framed watercolors. Style in vignettes of three.
- 05Finishing Touches
Candles, greenery, the small found thing. The details that make the room feel collected, not decorated.
Editor's Notes
Pink, blue, and one bright yellow
This is the palette of a Nantucket July — hydrangea blue, cottage pink, sunshine yellow. Anything from those three families will mix beautifully.
One good one-piece is worth ten bikinis
A flattering plunge one-piece photographs like a magazine cover and doubles as a bodysuit under linen shorts for lunch.
Always the hydrangeas
A bunch of blue hydrangeas in a yellow tote is not a coincidence — it's the whole styling secret. Grab a $6 bunch from the farm stand and every photo gets better.
Best For
- Beach mornings
- Ferry days
- Jetties, Steps, and Cisco
- The July packing list
- Every photograph you'll take this summer
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The Coastal Cottage Styling Guide
A 12-page Nantucket-inspired playbook — hydrangea-blue rooms, weathered cedar curb appeal, and the pieces I'd buy again tomorrow. Plus the weekly Sunday finds. Free, no spam.
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