Office With An Ocean

Design by Sheila Rich Interiors
Photography by Lauren Hagerstrom
Text by Donna Rolando

A beachfront city, Asbury Park was a natural fit for a transplanted New Yorker looking to trade skyscrapers for the Shore. For one thing, there would be less culture shock. The pandemic had revolutionized work styles and thrown commutes into question, but it hadn’t erased one’s taste for urban-style pleasures. “Asbury Park offered a feel of NYC at the beach,” explains this homeowner, who also appreciates that his new location stirs childhood Shore memories.

A three-dimensional effect makes this West Elm media cabinet (visible from the living room’s sectional) a wonder with wood patterns.

Bold art pieces, including a mirrored circular wall hanging, offer a contemporary statement in the dining-room alcove.

With walls of windows maximizing a beach view, his luxury highrise condo was naturally stunning, and new construction to boot. But to get his new workplace/home just right, he reached out to designer Sheila Rich of the eponymous Monmouth Beach firm, who created an environment that was bright even in gloomy weather.

“Sheila provided a variety of options to choose from for each area of my home,” says the homeowner, whose project was completed last summer.

For the overall scheme, contemporary notions redefine the luxury, Rich says, of a “coastal chic” style she deliberately kept simple for impact. “The kitchen, living room and dining room are all in one big open space, and it’s all a backdrop to the views of the ocean,” she explains. As a bonus, two local landmarks—the convention center and Tillie mural art—are both on view.

A wow in the kitchen is the stainless-steel hood, which spans the room’s width and offers matching shelving on either side. Contrasting simple white cabinets, the backsplash and countertops make a splash with gray-veined quartz. “The kitchen has a very nice vibe,” says the designer, who loves that the chef can watch both his recipe and the waves. With the main living spaces all connected, Rich strove to coordinate elements, such as the luggage color harmonizing both kitchen and dining room seating by West Elm.

Balconies galore make wave watching easy and breezy in this high-rise condo. Even the bedroom, with its blue velvet, king-sized platform bed, has a balcony alcove perfect for dining or just soaking up rays.

Sitting in a sky-high glass alcove, the dining room uses abstract art by Uttermost to introduce “very sophisticated, bold, vibrant colors” and mirrored circular wall art to reflect light, Rich says. Another highlight—carefully curated so as not to block nature’s glory—is a contemporary LED fixture whose clean lines “coordinate beautifully with the rectangular table,” she explains. With its X base and beachy weathered wood, this table can suit a gathering, as last Thanksgiving demonstrated, and still get style points.

To define the dining space and add warmth, Rich relied on a gray-and-white striped wool rug by Masland Carpets over gray wide-plank flooring.

In the living room, Rich again let the view take center stage by reining in the height of the tweedy, performance-fabric sectional, accented with zebra and yarn pillows and paired with a black leather ottoman. She then grounded the sitting area with a Nyland geometric rug in gray and black.

“I wanted the walls to be filled with something really eye-catching,” says Rich, who went bold with a 6-foot-long oil on canvas by Uttermost in a monochromatic space.

To truly appreciate the beach day or night, the bedroom—with its blue velvet, king-sized platform bed, mid-century nightstands and marble lamps—offers a balcony alcove. A style statement perfect for outdoor living is the rope-and-metal furniture by Southern Home that joins black-and-white accented loungers and cabana-striped chairs. There’s other balcony space as well, all enclosed by glass, so “there’s nothing that prevents you from looking straight to the ocean,” Rich says. The bedroom itself offers sophistication and serenity for the man who gave up skyscrapers.

Working from home never looked so good. It’s a case of how “life changes provide opportunities,” the designer says. After COVID, “people just continued to work from home, so he decided to change his home.”

For her client, who prizes the comfort of his setting, every possible room now passes the workspace test.