Get the Look: Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica
We recently went back to visit friends and family in California and stayed at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. Shutters holds a very special place in my heart (more on that below) and the moment we pulled in I was reminded how much I loved this hotel. The gray shingled siding, the classic blue and white color palette mixed with traditional dark wood furniture, the chinoiserie accents, the collected coastal touches...you get the picture! You feel like you're stepping into a New England beach house that somehow found its way to Southern California.
My husband and I met in Santa Monica. Our first daughter was born there. For years, we lived a quarter mile down the beach from Shutters. Close enough that going there was part of our life. Countless date nights on the patio, leisurely brunches with girlfriends, my baby shower in one of those beautiful sun-drenched rooms, and then, during maternity leave, some of my most treasured mornings: pushing the stroller down the beach path, settling in at Coast Bar with a coffee and an omelet, watching the Pacific, and enjoying the newborn bliss (while she was asleep, of course!). I'd stay until she started to stir and walk home. Those memories are ones I'll carry forever!
(circa. 2014: me and my husband when we were dating and at Shutters)
Why Shutters Has Always Felt Like Home to Me
Here's what I've always found a little paradoxical about Shutters, it's a California hotel that doesn't feel Californian at all. It feels like New England and that's probably why I've always loved it. There’s no denying the beauty of California’s Mediterranean-coastal vibe, but it’s a look you see everywhere. What makes Shutters so special is how it maintains a unique point of view, bringing a refined East Coast sensibility to the Pacific that feels refreshing and entirely its own. It always reminded me of home, which made home never feel too far away.
In their branding they say that the hotel was intentionally designed to evoke a private retreat on Cape Cod, it leans fully into that old-world coastal aesthetic that I've been drawn to my whole life. Gray shingle siding weathered by salt air, blue and white in every corner and loads of coastal accents. Even down to the seersucker staff uniforms, it nails the New England coastal esthetic!
This is the aesthetic I’ve built my entire brand around, and seeing it in person again reminded me exactly why. A few years ago, the Nancy Meyers and "Coastal Grandmother" looks were everywhere. But the reality is that this aesthetic isn’t new or trendy, it’s timeless. Shutters epitomizes that enduring style perfectly!
I thought it would be fun to share exactly how to recreate this look in your own home. Here is how to bring that classic and collected coastal look into your own home...
And if you want to skip right to the good stuff, you can shop this look in our Shutters on the Beach Edit here.
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
The Palette:
The Shutters palette is so disciplined and it never strays far from this anchor of crisp whites, shades of blue and dark wood.
What to Incorporate:
- Crisp Whites: White-painted woodwork, white slipcovers, white ceramic lamps
- Shades of Blue: Throw pillows, striped rugs, quilts, lamp shades and upholstered headboards
- Dark wood: Mahogany or walnut furniture, dark-stained floors
If you commit to this color palette, everything else falls into place.
(Even their pool cabanas are in theme!
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
The Furniture:
The furniture at Shutters is what keeps it from feeling beachy-chic and gives it the sophisticated and elevated coastal sensibility. It's serious furniture, with beautiful frames and textiles, dark,old-world finishes that ground all that white.
What to Incorporate:
- Dark wood case pieces: think antique mahogany dressers, campaign chests, tall bookcases
- Upholstered pieces in navy, indigo, or chambray: a club chair, a linen sofa, a slipcovered ottoman
- Wicker and rattan in rich honey shades: a side chair, a side table, a hanging pendant
- Brass or aged bronze hardware: on everything
The combination of dark furniture against light walls and blue textiles is what creates that signature Shutters richness.
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
The Textiles:
Shutters does textiles so well. Their patterns are bold but timeless. Nothing is too precious or too pristine. It's beautiful, but it all looks lived in and loved.
What to Incorporate:
- Blue and white stripe in every form: pillows, throws, roman shades, shower curtains
- Gingham & block prints for lamp shades, quilts and pillows
- White linen for bedding, curtains, slipcovers. The more rumpled and relaxed, the better
- Sisal or jute rugs as the base layer, layered with a navy or ivory flatweave
- Grasscloth on walls and furniture
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
The Decor:
These are the details that establish a true sense of place, signaling immediately that you’ve arrived at the shore. The design at Shutters transcends generic beach house stereotypes; it’s intentional, curated, and captures that perfectly crisp, New England coastal spirit.
What to incorporate:
Hang on your walls:
- Framed sea fans (real or resin, mounted and framed in simple black or dark wood)
- Antique botanical or nautical prints — old maps, hand-drawn fish illustrations, coral specimens
- Blue and white chinoiserie plates arranged in a gallery cluster
- Oil paintings of seascapes, harbors, wooden boats
Style on your shelves:
- Coral sculptures and natural shells
- Blue and white ginger jars and chinoiserie vases (mix scales)
- Stacks of coffee table books about travel, interior design, coastal living
- A glass apothecary jar filled with sea glass or shells (keep it subtle)
On your tables:
- Aged brass candlesticks
- A simple silver or pewter tray to corral objects
- Fresh white flowers in a blue and white ceramic vase
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
The Lighting:
Shutters glows. It's never harsh or overhead-lit — it's layered and warm.
What to Incorporate:
- Rattan or wicker pendants over dining tables and in bedroom corners
- Chinoiserie table lamps with crisp white linen or grasscloth shades on nightstands and consoles
- Brass wall sconces flanking a bed or mirror
- Hurricanes clustered by a fireplace or on a coffee table
- Dimmers on everything. Always.
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
A Note on Chinoiserie
I want to call this out specifically because it's so central to the Shutters look and it's something I personally love and we've always sold: chinoiserie.
Blue and white Chinese export porcelain, specifically in the form of ginger and temple jars and garden stools. This aesthetic has been a fixture of east coast coastal interiors for centuries, and at Shutters it's woven in perfectly. It keeps the space from feeling too rustic or too nautical and adds that layer of history and sophistication.
You don't need a lot of it to get this look! Start with a pair of ginger jars on a console, or use a garden stool as a side table, or a chinoiserie lamp. Done right, it elevates everything around it.
Credit: Shutters on the Beach
Recreating That Feeling
What I love most about Shutters, and what made me feel it so acutely walking back in is that the style is quintessentially coastal and timeless. It's a love letter to a particular kind of coastal American style, which happens to be my personal favorite. It's unpretentious but refined, relaxed but considered.
That's exactly what I try to bring into every piece we design at Cailíní Coastal.
If you love this look as much as I do and if you get that same warm feeling from a gray shingled house, a blue and white stripe, a coral sculpture on a shelf, this hotel is for you!
Shop this look in our Shutters on the Beach Edit - our curated collection of pieces that capture this exact aesthetic!
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