If your idea of a summer vacation rental is an apartment with a “Lodi Dodi We Likes to Party” welcome mat, stop reading now (and no, we didn’t make this up – the mat is
If your idea of a summer vacation rental is an apartment with a “Lodi Dodi We Likes to Party” welcome mat, stop reading now (and no, we didn’t make this up – the mat is in a Nashville rental that caters to bachelor and bachelorette parties). But if you’re like us, a summer rental leans to laid-back cottages on lakes and ocean beaches where décor and rugs channel the relaxed vibe of mocha mousse colored sand. Read on as we set the scene with the classic-meets-modern style of interior designer Kate Marker who relies on “salty sandy” vintage Oriental rugs to ground the décor of client homes and her Kate Marker Properties rental cottages on Lake Michigan and Rosemary Beach, Florida.
Vintage rugs in salty sandy shades, tones, and tints are a hallmark of Kate Marker Interiors. Pantone selected Mocha Mousse as its 2025 Color of the Year, while Dunn-Edwards’ Color of the Year as featured at this year’s Pasadena Showcase House of Design is the deliciously named Caramelized. Both shades reflect sandy summer style, and both have warm undertones that move with ease from summer into fall.
“Simple, natural touches” make a summer rental “feel like home” says Marker. Summer – if only for a two-week vacation – is when many of us unwind and slow down. Movies that capture the dream-like qualities of lake and beach homes include fantasy-romance The Lake House where Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are united by an idyllic lake-front house. Less dream-like, but still aspirational, is the Hamptons beach house in Something’s Gotta Give. The interiors of that house sparked the 2022 trend for “Coastal Grandmother” (CG) style. Elements of CG style overlap with Kate Marker’s aesthetic, but Marker has refined beach style. She avoids CG “beach glass” colors and clutter and instead streamlines her interiors and translates the texture, shades, and zen qualities of sand through her décor and rug choices.
Let’s look at a few of the rugs in Kate Marker Properties and suggest rugs you can buy that capture her look. Vintage Orientals that differ in pattern but are united by shades of sand and textures that warm the soles of bare feet are scattered throughout her rentals. “Townie Cottages” on the Lake Michigan shore are four side-by-side “miniature” cottages that feature vintage Oriental rugs in main rooms and runners in kitchens and baths. Leo Cottage features a southern Persian flatweave in the all-white bunk room, and a mocha Moroccan in the living room. Salty Rose House in Florida features a sun-bleached Oriental in the kitchen.
We have hundreds of handmade vintage and antique rugs that capture the Kate Marker look. Four for you to consider include our sand dune colored vintage wool Persian Heriz with geometric medallion design; our mocha mousse hand knotted wool Moroccan runner with Berber design influence; our coral white Moroccan geometric weave hand knotted runner, and our hand knotted vintage Persian with medallion design in shades of brown like the crushed shell and quartz crystal sands at Playalinda Beach, Florida. Wherever you spend your summer vacation – backyard or beach – we wish you a happy and restful August!