Tammi McCleery and her husband Henry have given a great deal of thought to the interior design of their 2021 Aqua Lodge houseboat and the results are gorgeous. They built their houseboat this year through Catamaran Cruisers and keep it at Jersey Shore at a marina on Long Beach Island.

“It is our happy place and we look forward to our time on it so much!” shared Tammi.

They ordered the houseboat during the pandemic which allowed Tammi and Henry to have a lot of time to think about how they wanted to decorate it, especially since everything seemed to be delayed and on back order. Tammi spent countless hours studying color patterns and textures, imaging how things might look once in place, and thinking of a theme for their little floating home.

Since they’re on the bay and only two blocks away from the beach, they knew they wanted a coastal theme, but not with the typical bright and tropical feel.

“I wanted a cool, calm color palate,” described Tammi. “A place where when you walk in, you immediately feel at peace, like you can breathe!”

With that feeling in mind, Tammi decided to go with mild blues, grays and splashes of aqua for the main cabin and stateroom. Henry chose the cabinet in the main cabin, which is technically an antique blue, however, it pulls the aqua color from its surroundings nicely. He also chose the carpet.

The stripes in their sofa are a brighter blue, but the charcoal carpet pulls the gray from it which supports the calming color theme Tammi wanted, dimming the blue a little bit. The coffee table was chosen for its unique texture and feel. It’s simply different than any other table Tammi saw and she made the centerpiece for it with the wooden whale. I love this!

“Every little nook has its items strategically placed to set a mood,” explained Tammi. “I love this room!”

Up in the loft, Tammi wanted to do something a bit different with more of a nautical theme. So again she poured over colors and patterns and decided on a regatta theme. She wanted whoever used the space to feel like they were camping on the water or in a sailboat berth, all cozy and warm.

Tammi picked the bedspread for its bright regatta directional flags. The window treatment gives it a ship’s canvas feel (the curtains are like a canvas material). The basket side tables give it a rustic feel and opens from the top for storage. Then the vintage oil lamps help set the mood in this little alcove. She added the throw pillows for extra comfort and threw in the oars to complete the theme. Now kids love it up there!

In their bathroom, Tammi kept the gray going but with some neutral colored coral and seahorses in the shower curtain with a touch of light pink. She looked for a while for something just perfect to hold toilet paper because they didn’t want to put holes in the walls. This turned out to be harder to find than anticipated, but Tammi finally found a basket she liked.

Tammi felt that the stateroom had to be light, cool and comfy with fluffy pillows of different sizes and shapes. She kept the cool gray and blue theme going but added more aqua with a bit of green. Her blue floating fish pulls the blues from the bedspread nicely too, and her beautiful lamp from Thailand was chosen as an accent piece.

“This is our happy place,” added Tammi, “a place to come and let all our stress go and enjoy life. And we do that every weekend to the fullest!