Montauk – the new Hamptons
The decorating theme with the House Rules ‘Giveback’ house was Montauk – the Hamptons’ younger, hipper sister.
It had everyone Googling madly, but the unexpected Montauk House Rule handed to the teams this week had them reinventing the Hamptons look.
Heralded as the newest trend in interiors and located on Long Island New York, (not far from its more famous neighbours, Southhampton and Bridgehampton), Montauk is a slightly edgier and smaller locale, allowing all the teams the opportunity to create a fresh interpretation of classic American interiors.
Judge Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen loved the idea of Montauk, instead of the Hamptons, which he feels has been done many times before.
“It gave everyone an opportunity to think about the ever popular Hamptons’ style, but reincarnated a little bit of Boho to it, which I think is the secret,” he says.
“The Montauk lifestyle is very monied; it’s where wealthy New Yorkers go, but it's where the computer moguls, the app designers, the graphic designers or the advertising executives hang out rather than the other end of the Hamptons, which has the old money connotation.”
“It was about using a lot of the Hampton’s motifs, the ‘seasidey-ness’ and the things like textured walls and blues, but underpinning it with a little bit more Boho.”
Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen
Blues still reign supreme in Montauk, a theme that all the teams embraced, along with faded linens, soft greys (we loved the tiled feature wall separating the butler’s pantry from the kitchen) and natural materials.
One of the key elements of Montauk interiors is to make sure the entry makes an impression, says judge Wendy Moore, and she thought Shayn and Carly did a great job with their renovation.
“That was a really lovely entry, just creating that little inset area,” she says. “One of the things about the Hamptons and Montauk is that they all have a real statement entry. That was a nice way to give the sense of being a large entry, even though it wasn’t that generous a space.”
Jamie Durie loved the seagrass wallpaper in the master bedroom, which he felt captured the Montauk theme really well.
“It gave the room a touch of the Hamptons, but it also was textural,” he says. “Because it absorbs light rather than reflects it, you don’t see any of the imperfections in the wall, so it covers a multitude of sins, and it's a great way of treating walls, I think.”
“I'm a big fan of matte finishes. And finishing the room with a ceiling using VJ board was a really smart decision, because it added an edge – it wasn’t the Hamptons, it was clearly Montauk.”
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