Jewelry Designer Ashley McCormick’s Dream Home

In the great room, Ashley McCormick (shown) worked with decorator Eileen Lane to realize her vision for a new mantel. RH sofas are softened by pillows in textiles from designers like John Robshaw, Nina Campbell and Madeaux. The coffee table is from Boho Patio. Photographs by Ellen McDermott.

Ashley McCormick and her husband, Naveen, moved into this Fairfield County home in May 2021, and celebrated their wedding there only four months later. With such a tight turnaround, it’s a good thing that Ashley had been preparing for this for years. “She’s been designing since she was nine years old,” says her mother, Mayling McCormick, who regularly took Ashley along on trips to the D&D Building throughout her childhood. With such well-honed taste, it’s no surprise that Ashley grew up to be the designer behind the well-known jewelry brand ASHA by Ashley McCormick, which she founded in college and has since expanded into fine jewelry, handbags and dresses. 

In many ways, the home is a culmination of the style she’s been refining for years. “My aesthetic overall is classic, modern, fresh,” says Ashley, “and that’s definitely infused into the house.” Ashley and Naveen had always loved the road along which the house lies and thought it would make a wonderful home for their blended family of five. “It’s very coastal and reminiscent of summers that I spent on Nantucket growing up,” says Ashley. It just needed a few edits to make it their own—plus a little help from Mom.

“I had a vision of almost like Nantucket-meets-Malibu-meets Connecticut,” says Ashley, who also incorporated her husband’s well-traveled taste into the design. Ashley leans a little more modern than her mom, but as they waded through fabrics, paper and paint chips together, Mayling helped her find the right balance of clean lines and traditional style to capture the serene, coastal feeling she was after.

To take full advantage of the shingle-style home’s beautiful bones and gorgeous light, it was more about editing than adding. Stripping and restaining the floors in a lighter color instantly gave the place an airier, brighter feel. (“It’s amazing what White Dove will do,” notes Mayling.) Removing some heavier molding and built-ins gave the house a sleeker, more serene feel. 

The bistro chairs and dining table on the patio are from Serena & Lily. Photographs by Ellen McDermott.

From there, they layered in a mix of modern and classic. A cool, angular sectional sofa next to a patterned wingback chair. Luscious wallpapers that are pretty but not precious. Each room is serene, created through clean lines and a rich palette of subtle color and texture. “We like to decorate with touches of Morocco coupled with Paris,” says Mayling. The overall effect is cozy but unfussy, modern but warm. 

Oscar de la Renta for Lee Jofa Sameera wallpaper adorns the dining room.  Photographs by Ellen McDermott.

In the dining room, Ashley used an Oscar de la Renta for Lee Jofa wallpaper that she’s loved for years. “I knew that I wanted the dining room to be a ‘wow’ room,” she says. “I deliberately kept the rest of the house more serene so that the dining room was really a punctuation point.” It’s now the setting for many dinners with family and friends. Both Naveen and Ashley love to entertain at the house—their first party there was their wedding reception, to set the tone. 

The family of five uses every room in the house, but there are some favorites. The primary bedroom is a sun-filled haven with gorgeous water views. The couple surprised each of their three children, ages 8, 10 and 11, with their own beautifully decorated bedrooms. Each are sweet enough for now, and chic enough for later.  One of Ashley’s most-used spaces is the laundry room, where she used a quatrefoil floor tile, a motif that often shows up in her jewelry designs. And her love of gardening, which also frequently shows up in her designs, is often on display in the mudroom. She enjoys creating arrangements there with flowers gathered from her back garden. 

Says Ashley: “The house is really a mélange of all of my favorite things.”

The print version of this article appears with the headline: Coastal Collaboration.