A Shore Thing

When Fiona Newell Weeks moved her family from Potomac to Easton, Maryland, a water town across the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore, their new home "signaled a fresh start," she says, not to mention an exciting design opportunity.

Weeks and her husband, who had previously owned a weekend home in the community, were sold on the house, which is on the Tred Avon River, before they ever entered it. "We walked around it," Weeks recalls, "and when my husband saw that the garage had a view of the water, he pronounced it 'The One.' "

Inside the two-story, 1940s Cape Cod-style house, the architecture was unremarkable, but there was abundant natural light, and every room offered a sublime, watery view. "It was basically a blank slate," says Weeks, who gave the house what she calls "a minor face-lift," rather than a complete renovation. "We wanted to live in it for a while before doing anything major," she says. "But now, the difference is like night and day."

Weeks' Potomac home was dominated by vibrant, fiery tones of red and orange, which couldn't be further from the spectrum of cool blues and rich browns that pervades the Easton house. Here, Weeks chose a subtle palette inspired by the water and attuned to the effects of natural light as it changes from hour to hour. "Every window has a view of the river, and I wanted to pull it in," she says. "I made sure that the interior looks crisp, never cold or downcast."

The house's most formal areas, the living room and dining room, which are joined by a center hall, are at once refined and relaxed. Working with a diverse collection of antiques that she had assembled over the years, from a Louis Philippe chest to a Gustavian painted settee, Weeks created flexible, crowd-pleasing rooms that have an elegant and offhand feel. "I could never limit myself to one style," says Weeks of the variety of fabrics, furniture, and objects she used in the house. "My goal was to make it all flow." To that end, Weeks achieved a careful balance of color, pattern, texture, and scale throughout.

The effect is soothing but never monotonous. She is quick to point out that "there is a welcome note of whimsy in each room." In the living room, where walls are painted a pale blue, the dark-stained floor is covered with a basic sisal rug; windows are topped with simple cornices; and furniture includes a zebra-striped ottoman, slipper chairs upholstered in a quirky chinoiserie toile, and a brilliant blue Moroccan pouf.

In the dining room, shimmering chartreuse silk curtains and a crystal chandelier in the shape of a ship are fanciful complements to the Prussian blue-and-white damask-patterned wallpaper.

In the family room, which has sliding glass doors on three sides (Weeks suspects that it was originally a porch), the designer created an appealing, unpretentious setting that is as stylish as it is practical. A comfy chocolate-brown velvet sectional sofa and spotted antelope carpet resonate with the other rooms, but more important, "they hide all sins," she says.

"This is the room where we can all flop down. Between the boys, the dogs, and my outdoorsman husband, it gets the most traffic, but you'd never know because the carpet was already spotted." Sheer curtains, a pair of curvilinear window panels, and shots of hot pink give the room feminine flair.

The master bedroom once again underscores Weeks' ability to mix periods and styles with seamless results. Walls are painted a serene sky blue, which sets off the room's coral motif. The blue-and-red color scheme was inspired by an expansive Oushak carpet, she says, which "cozies up what is actually the largest room in the house."

Weeks reused pieces from her old place: a large French desk, a painted mirror, and a pair of wing chairs covered in vintage Fortuny fabric. Alongside such beloved treasures, however, there is a coral-shaped ceramic bedside lamp, which, she admits, was an inexpensive catalog find that "keeps things from being too serious."

Although Weeks' Easton home looks seriously chic, she is quick to say that it is also full of fun surprises. When her son Griff requested a blue-and-brown dragon theme in his new room, she knew that he thought he had finally stumped her. "But I was so excited," recalls the designer, who met the challenge with a wild Chinese dragon-print fabric that she had always wanted to use, along with illustrations of birds of prey. "He loved it," she says with a triumphant laugh. "It was a slam dunk."

RESOURCES: Interiors by Fiona Newell Weeks, Fiona Newell Weeks Interiors, 410/763-7940, web.mac.com/fnweeks. All window treatments and custom pillows fabricated by Corbin Volk Interiors, 202/246-7891. Sectional sofa by Lee Industries from AmericanEye, 202/554-5744; slipcover fabric by Duralee (T); sheer linen curtain fabric by Robert Allen (T); large pink-and-white embroidered pillow from Anthropologie, 800/309-2500; pink-and-brown pillow fabric, Paradise Garden, by China Seas through J. Lambeth (T); white finial lamps and large white round table from David Bell Antiques, 202/965-2355; white rectangular side table by David Iatesta (T); vintage armchair fabric by Osborne & Little (T); pink plaid blanket by Nina Campbell for Johnstons through Lynn Courtade (T); coffee table custom-designed by Fiona Newell Weeks Interiors, 410/763-7940; iron curtain rods from Restoration Hardware, 800/910-9836, www.restorationhardware.com; round footstool from Peel & Company, 888/451-7335, www.peelrugs.com, with fabric by Duralee (T); antelope carpet from Carpet Palace (T); ceiling color, Spring Melt, by Martha Stewart for Sherwin-Williams, 800/474-3794, www.sherwin-williams.com.