In 2023, when Nancy and Kevin Rummel purchased their forever home on a Chesapeake Bay tributary in Virginia, they were drawn by the river’s familiar calls.

“My aunt has lived in this neighborhood for over 40 years. We kept our boat on her dock where we spent endless hours with my cousins,” says Nancy Rummel, a homemaker married to Kevin, a technology and national security executive. “When the opportunity arose to buy a house in the area, we jumped on it.”

The couple, who originally hail from California, have two adult sons, and relish the sporting life that riverfront proximity allows. Refinishing their dock was an early renovation undertaken after moving in. “We have two boats and enjoy taking others out on the water for a day of fun,” she relays. “When the elements are ideal, we also love to kayak and canoe.”

Their three-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot, Cape Cod-style house with a large above-ground basement was built in 1992. Though it had been updated over the years, it was time for a refresh. The couple recruited interior designer Ame Gold of Ame Gold Design to steer that ship. “It’s always a treat to work with a house that has incredible views,” says Gold. “My job was to enhance them.”

The Rummels had already tapped Sun Design to trade smaller windows at the kitchen’s eat-in table for a wall of sliding glass doors, opening the space to river vistas; they did the same in the primary bedroom located on the main level, among other improvements.

Still, there was work to be done. Gold began in the two-story center hall, which previously had a living room on one side and a dining room on the other with large cutouts above each cased opening to the rooms. “We wanted to create an entry with warmth and intimacy, so we eliminated the cutouts, as the house already has plenty of light flowing through it via open dormers and full glass sliders,” she says.

To ground the soaring space, Gold added wallcovering to the lower walls of the entry hall, topped by architectural trim. The textured grasscloth by Annapolis-based artist and designer Victoria Larson is aptly called River Story, and depicts ethereal herons in their natural habitat. “The wallpaper is welcoming and sets the tone for the décor, which is inspired in palette and style by the waterfront setting,” notes Gold. “It makes you feel the river right away by bringing that experience into the house,” adds Nancy.

The owners decided to forgo a formal living room in the redo and use the family room as their key gathering space. The prior living room was split, with one half absorbed into a new closet for the primary bedroom, and the other becoming a charming office with shiplap walls, a built-in desk, an integrated bookshelf and a window seat.

Shiplap became an architectural through-line showing up on both the dining room’s ceiling and niche, and on the family room’s double built-in bars. “It added an architectural element to the home’s otherwise unadorned bones, making the rooms feel more intimate and interesting, and also introducing that nautical feel that was important to the homeowners,” says Gold.

All the trim, walls and ceilings are washed in Benjamin Moore’s Steam. For soft contrast, oak floors throughout are finished with a clear water base. New beams accentuate the dining room’s sloped ceiling. Striped blue-and-white window treatments wear a playful pom-pom trim, while botanical-print curtains by Schumacher dress up the shiplap window niche, which also holds a pair of mother-of-pearl sconces for shine and symmetry.

In the family room, two large sofas, a pair of stools with woven bases and twin swivel armchairs create ample seating around a white cocktail table edged in crisp navy leather and nail-head trim. White oak is used for the open shelves and cabinet doors in the family room’s custom-built double bars, designed by Gold. “We stuck with a new traditional style with a coastal spin; then we added a pair of woven light fixtures above the bars,” she explains.

Bluestone pavers, a firepit and stone benches sit right outside the family room. This area was finished by Elite Landscaping to ensure the Rummels could maximize entertaining on the property with its prime dockside views.

“Entertaining is a big part of our life,” says Nancy. “We wanted our house to feel cozy and intimate for a small group, but also be scaled for larger events that spill outdoors.”

Other spaces that were touched in the redesign include the kitchen and eat-in area, whose red brick fireplace was whitewashed and given a reclaimed-wood mantel. Dark, dated granite counters were replaced with white quartz ones, and backsplashes were added in a shell finish. The island was leveled by removing a taller bar segment and its base was painted a powder blue.

That’s not the only pop of color employed: “We added a touch of blush pink to the textured feature wall in the primary bedroom across from our new built-ins,” says Nancy, adding, “It’s my favorite hue and a surprise element in the room.”

From the River Story wallpaper and other unexpected design moments to the unpredictability of the river itself, sometimes it’s good to have a surprise ending.

Interior Design: Ame Gold, Ame Gold Design, Arlington, Virginia. Builder: Sun Design, McLean and Clifton, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland. Landscape Design: Elite Landscaping, Manassas, Virginia.