Top tips for creating a Hamptons style home
The Hamptons style is a popular design trend for Australian homes. It seamlessly blends classic elegance with a relaxed coastal vibe, perfectly suited for the Australian lifestyle.
The Hamptons style is beautiful, classic and will stand the test of time. Its versatility allows for personalisation and adaptation to different environments, from coastal regions to urban areas.
No matter which floorplan you choose, a Hamptons style house can be achieved with many Henley home designs.
So, we've created this guide to help you make design choices that will bring your dream Hamptons-style home to life!
What is a Hamptons style home?
The Hamptons style comes from the beautiful beach area called the Hamptons in Long Island, New York, where many celebrities and wealthy people own homes.
A traditional Hamptons home can be achieved in two ways:
- The ‘coastal' traditional Hamptons with light oak floors, white walls and touches of blue.
- The ‘French style' Hamptons with striking dark timber floors and beige tones.
The Australian Hamptons style home has emerged as a variation of the traditional Hamptons aesthetic that has been adapted to suit Australian living. It retains the Hamptons vibe but caters to our local climate, lifestyle and building practices.
Common architectural features in Australian Hamptons homes
Standout features of this popular look are its clean lines and light-filled spaces. When choosing a design to base your Hamptons style on, look for the following.
Gabled or skillion roofs: Gabled roofs have two sloping sides that meet at a peak, forming a triangle shape. Skillion roofs have a continuous flat surface with an obvious pitch or slope.
Window mouldings: Casings around the windows painted in fresh white or a contrasting colour.
Covered porches: Covered porches or verandahs in the front or back of the house.
Large windows: Windows, sliding doors and skylights that allow more natural light into the home.
Open floor plans: Hamptons-style homes often feature open floor plans that create a seamless flow between living spaces.
Hamptons colour palette
Less is MORE when it comes to your exterior Hamptons colours and facade. Most Hamptons homes have a very simple colour palette of 2-3 colours.
Whitewashed walls and beachy tones are the foundations of the Hamptons exterior colour palette. Interior Hamptons colours reflect the exterior colour tones for continuity of style.
Popular Australian Hamptons style exterior colours:
White
Whites with soft grey or blue undertones, such as Dulux Lexicon Quarter, Dulux Miller Mood, Dulux Snow Season and Dulux Tranquil Retreat are perfect indoor and outdoor white paint colours. COLORBOND® Surfmist is also a popular exterior house colour, inspired by soft mist rising from the surf.
Neutrals
For a more French country-style home, choose beige and taupe to bring warmth to the space. Also include touches of natural textures from timber.
Greys
Soft greys are another popular choice in the Hamptons colour palette. They'll make your home feel modern but keep it bright.
Blues
Many people like to use blue accents in their Hamptons home to introduce a pop of colour into a typically neutral colour palette.
Materials used in exterior Hamptons styling
Using a mix of textures for your home's exterior helps to create depth, interest and warmth to give your home serious street appeal. Here's what materials are typically used in an Australian Hamptons home.
Render
Choose light and neutral colours for your concrete render. The ever-popular COLORBOND® Surfmist is perfect for render and features that polish the final look – roofing, windows and the garage.
Bricks
Take inspiration from natural elements such as pebbles, sand dunes, sea foam and sunlight. Get inspiration from the light greys, whites and blonde tones of our coastal landscapes.
Cladding
Most Hamptons style homes feature some kind of cladding. Popular options in addition to bricks and render are weatherboard cladding and stained timber cladding.
Roofing
The go-to roof for a modern Hamptons style home is a COLORBOND® steel roof that offers many possibilities to put your unique spin on your Hamptons look. With Henley, a COLORBOND® steel roof is a standard inclusion with 22 colour options.
Textures
Introduce natural materials such as stack stone, travertine and limestone to add more texture. To create a more relaxed and organic look, stagger stones rather than laying in a linear pattern.
Single and Double storey Hamptons features
Whether you prefer the charm of a modern single storey Hamptons home or the elegance of a double storey, Henley Homes has a house design to suit.
When planning your Hamptons style home, consider the following key design elements and decorative features.
Single storey Hampton style home
- Covered porch with classic columns
- Large open floor plan with high ceilings
- Crisp white finishes
- Spacious kitchen
- Wide doors opening to outdoor entertaining areas
- Relaxing landscaped backyard
- Inviting entryway with a charming front door
- Modern weatherboard cladding.
Double storey Hamptons style home
- Grand facade with a covered porch or verandah
- Statement front door (single or double)
- Spacious kitchen
- Clean lines and crisp white exteriors
- Indoor-outdoor living areas, such as a large alfresco area
- Upper balcony
- Modern weatherboard cladding.
Key interior design elements for Hamptons style homes
Kitchen
Start with the classic white benchtop, as it works perfectly with the Hamptons theme. Introduce a faint grey spec or marble vein for a more sophisticated look. Popular stone benchtop choices for Hamptons style homes are Caesarstone Snow, Frosty Carrina, Organic White or Calacatta Nuvo.
Cabinetry
The Hamptons style kitchen is all about simplicity and balance. For starters, opt for one cabinetry colour. On-trend organic colours such as Laminex Ghostgum, Oyster Grey and Polar White are ideal. Or, if you’re feeling bold, try Laminex Steel Blue.
Kitchens with a Hamptons design usually feature unique cabinetry profiles. Choose the Laminex Shaker profile, which is the most popular style of Hamptons cabinetry. For a more modern kitchen, try Laminex Country V profile.
You can also mix kitchen cabinets with open shelving to display decor items like vases or beautiful plates.
Accessories
It’s the little details where you can bring some light-hearted fun into your design to enjoy as part of everyday life. The traditional Hamptons style is simple and elegant rather than bold to keep this in mind when selecting accessories.
Classic knobs for doors are just right! And for drawer handles, you can try something quirky yet understated, like a shell pull handle. Keep it simple by using chrome finishes, or add a touch of glam with brushed gold.
Flooring
A lighter timber floor will keep your home bright but bring warmth as well. Our design team recommends a blonde timber tone such as Timbertop Bora Bora Oak Matte, Timbertop Dubai Oak and Laminate Brooklyn Ridgewood. Avoid timbers with an orange/pink/red undertone as they’re too rich for a coastal theme.
If you want to go more country than coastal, try a dark oak floor laid in a parquetry pattern.
Lighting
Lighting styles for Hamptons homes aim to create a warm and welcoming feel while accentuating the home’s unique architectural features.
Chandeliers with crystal or glass accents add a touch of elegance to formal dining areas. Pendant lights featuring wrought iron, metal or woven materials lend a casual yet sophisticated touch to kitchens and breakfast nooks.
Wall sconces and table lamps with crisp white shades provide gentle light for living spaces.
Furniture and décor
This is the really fun part where you get to put the finishing touches on your Hamptons-style home. Add sheer curtains in light tones and white plantation shutters to windows. For your living room, use neutral-coloured couches with luxurious throws.
Add plenty of pot plants and fresh flowers (hydrangeas are a Hamptons home favourite). Use natural jute rugs for a coastal Hamptons vibe or blue patterned rugs for a classic feature.
Your dream Australian Hamptons inspired home built by Henley
Speak to the team at Henley Design about how you can transform your chosen floorplan into a Hamptons style home.
