A natural palette with organic textures brings this Connecticut home to life.Clean lines are abundant throughout the home.

Warm, minimalist and Zen are three words to describe Boston-based interior designer Sashya Thind’s (sashyathind.com) recent waterfront Connecticut project. The four-bed, four-bath abode was originally purchased to be a family vacation home. “They had several discussions with the architect at that point around layout and how they wanted to maximize the views from every level,” Thind explains of the new clients. Because of this, when it came to the goals of the home’s pending aesthetic, fluidity came to mind. “One of their key goals was to make sure that it didn’t seem like an interior designer had come and staged the space to feel almost perfect,” Thind says, further describing the clients’ dream space to be livable, highly functional, durable and family friendly.

Upon first entering the home, a stunning vestibule area presents itself. Intended to be a formal mud room of sorts, storage was key—although a separate mudroom in the home is used on an everyday basis. “It’s really almost like the guest-facing front door,” she adds, noting the custom cabinet by New Antiquity (newantiquity.com).Views from the dining room are unparalleled.

Follow the flow of the home into the open-concept dining room, where bright whites, creams and wood accents complement large picture windows of the water. “We chose a pendant that was very visually lightweight,” Thind says as an example. The Foscarini (foscarini.com) pendant floats above a simple Ethnicraft (ethnicraft.com) table, where natural light floods through its shape.A dark blue sectional anchors the living room, while a custom Angela Adams (angela adams. com) rug adds texture and dimension.

A family room also sits within this floor plan, where Thind kept the aesthetic fairly simple and grounded throughout. Shades of blue mimic the outdoors in the custom sectional and & Tradition (andtradition.com) side chair, but it’s the schist fireplace that takes center stage. The medium-grained, metamorphic rock dates back millions of years. “When I saw this schist at the stone quarry, I immediately thought of the sky touching the beautiful golden-hued grass that you see outside of their window. … It’s almost like taking a snapshot of what’s happening in the landscape and bringing it into the home. And that was the fun part—tying things back to their existing geographical location to make it very, very contextual,” the award-winning designer says.A dark-hued schist stone adds contrast as the backsplash in the kitchen.

A different version of the dark-hued rock makes an appearance again on this floor, where it plays as a backsplash in the kitchen. Juxtaposed by white oak, modern cabinetry and natural wood, the room is entirely organic with points of interest at every turn. A large island plays as the perfect center focal point, where anyone can sit and chat while the client cooks. Here, and for the rest of the countertops, quartz washes over, adding another fresh touch to the space.Warm wooden accents create a dreamy aesthetic in the guest bedroom.

When recalibrating the floor plan, the clients added one more room to the first floor: a primary bedroom. “They were really intelligent about the floor plan… because they were thinking ahead,” she explains, noting that the suite will turn into their primary bedroom as they age. While the couple currently uses the upstairs bedroom as their primary suite (views of the water and plush bedding abound), the downstairs version is used as an extra bedroom for one of the children or guests. An en suite and walk-in closet also accompanies the space. Thind continued the palette upstairs, starting with a laundry room-turned-library. She took inspiration from her own family, who loved reading in cozy spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. A custom-designed window seat plays this role for the family of the home, perfect for people-watching and enjoying views of the water. Another special room exists on the second floor: a study for the mom. Custom built-in shelves provide ample storage, but it’s a Persian rug that holds much more meaning. Thind concludes, “She had this beautiful Persian rug from her grandmother, passed on to her mom and then to her, and that had a lot of meaning to her.”The shower in the main bathroom features two shower heads and a crisp white subway tile.

Design Details

Type
Single-family home

Interior Designer
Sashya Thind
sashyathind.com

Architect
Michael Hawkes
Acorn Deck House
deckhouse.com

Builder Steve Saldibar

RESOURCES

RADNOR
Coffee table, living room
radnor.co

NORMAN CHERNER
Stools, kitchen
chernerchair.com

THE FUTURE PERFECT
Side table, living room
thefutureperfect.com

ASTRO
Lamp, bedroom
astro-furniture.com

LAWSON FENNING
Nightstand, bedroom; armchairs, bedroom lawsonfenning.com

LINDSEY ADELMAN
Light fixture, office
lindseyadelman.com