August carries with it a slower rhythm. Across Europe, the cities empty, the shops close, and everyone heads seaside. There’s a sense of collective pause, the long, luxurious exhale of summer. Whether it’s the Côte d’Azur, the Amalfi Coast, or the quiet pink sands of Bermuda, August is for sun-drenched days, palm-shaded afternoons, linen dresses, and lunches that stretch into dinner.

Our muse this month is the ever-elegant Grace Kelly, an American who became royalty and found her home along the glittering coast of Monaco. With her white swimsuits, headscarves, and oversized sunglasses, Grace embodied the refined ease of European summers. She was polished but never fussy, a reminder that beauty can be both effortless and composed.

We thought of Grace often while designing one of our favorite interior projects: a Bermuda retreat for a European client who longed for a home that captured the essence of vacation, romantic, transportive, and whimsical. The house is a love letter to color: bright reds, shell pinks, and leaf greens. Palms sway and vines of bougainvillea climb just beyond every window, echoed inside in decorative painting details, vintage botanical prints, tropical wallpapers, and patterned textiles. The result is a home that feels both sophisticated and joyful.

The architecture is colonial, with crisp white shutters and archways that frame the landscape like a painting. Inside, we paired raffia and rattan, hand-blocked linens, lacquered finishes, and a curated collection of European antiques, giving the house an Old World spirit grounded in island ease. It’s a place made for waking late, drinking coffee under the palms, and hosting friends long past sunset.

This August, we are embracing that same spirit of European leisure by taking inspiration from the pink sand beaches, vintage resort style, and icons like Grace who understood that summer isn’t just a season, it’s a state of mind.