We’re thrilled to share that Brooke Taylor Designs was recently featured in Southampton Social! This month, Brooke shares her insights on creating Hamptons family homes that are both stylish and built for real-life summer living—from bunk rooms to mudrooms and spaces designed for extended family gatherings.

Designing the Hamptons Family Home

If you spend enough time in the Hamptons, you start to notice a rhythm to the houses here. Everything shifts starting Memorial Day weekend, when quiet winter homes begin to come alive. Homes fill with friends arriving for the weekend, children bringing cousins or classmates, and the kind of last-minute guests who appear on a sunny Saturday afternoon. A house that felt perfectly sized in February can suddenly feel overwhelmed by the start of summer. It's something I notice every year living and working here.

One of the most common things I see when I walk into a Hamptons home is that it simplywasn't planned with the full rhythm of summer living in mind.

The most successful homes here do something different. They anticipate real life.

They create places where sandy feet are welcome, where guests can stay comfortably for long weekends, and where a house can expand and contract with the rhythm of the season.

Designing for Real Life

When we begin designing a home, we start with the architecture and the way the house will function day to day. Before we talk about materials or furnishings, we focus on how thefamily actually lives.

Do they host large summer weekends? Are there multiple generations visiting? Are there teenagers bringing friends? 

These lifestyle questions often lead to some of the most loved spaces in a home. 

Mudrooms that catch the sandy feet, beach bags, and towels that come home after a day by the water.

Comfortable secondary sitting areas where teenagers can disappear with friends.

And increasingly, one of my favorite features in a Hamptons house: the bunk room. 

Why Bunk Rooms Work So Well in the Hamptons

Bunk rooms have become one of the smartest and most popular design solutions for homes that regularly host guests. I see this often when working with families designing homes acrossthe Hamptons. Flexible sleeping spaces almost always become one of the smartest decisions in the house. 

Instead of dedicating large square footage to multiple guest bedrooms that sit empty much of the year, a thoughtfully designed bunkroom can comfortably accommodate children, cousins, or visiting friends while retaining flexibility for the rest of the house. Bunk rooms also offer a wonderful opportunity to have a little fun with design, introducing color, patter, or details that bring a sense of personality to the room. 

The best bunk rooms feel intentional and elevated rather than like an afterthought. When they are designed as part of the architecture of the room and built by a skilled millworker, they feel less like furniture and more like a natural extension of the house. 

The most successful bunk rooms usually include a few thoughtful details; built in millwork that gives the space architectural presence, integrated reading lights and charging stations, and layered bedding and soft materials that make the room feel just as inviting as any other bedroom in the home.

For families, these rooms often become one of the most loved spaces in the house. Kids pile in,cousins stay up talking late into the night, and the room becomes a place where friendships deepen and memories are made.

Homes That Welcome People In

What I love most about designing in the Hamptons is that these homes are meant to be shared.

They are places where friends arrive on Friday night and stay through Sunday. Where extended families gather in July and August and life spills easily from indoors to outdoors.

When a house is designed around how people truly live, it becomes something more than beautiful.

It becomes the kind of home people return to again and again, layered with the memories made there season after season.

Brooke's Hamptons Notes

A design detail I love right now: Built-in bunks with individual reading lights and niches for books or phones. They make the space feel custom and thoughtful.

A detail that makes bunk rooms special: When bunks are built by a skilled millworker and designed as part of the architecture of the room, they feel integrated and intentional rather than like added furniture.

A common mistake I see: Homes with plenty of guest bedrooms but no flexible sleeping spaces for kids and teenagers.

A small design decision that makes a big difference: Durable, washable fabrics in family homes. Summer houses should never feel precious.

A space worth prioritizing: A mudroom that actually works. In the Hamptons, it quietly becomes one of the hardest-working rooms in the house.