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Home Design Goals: Nautical and Nice

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Lori Joyal has loved the ocean her whole life. Her parents rented a home in the coastal enclave of Quonochontaug for decades, buying a small cottage there in 1973 and ultimately retiring in the Charlestown community in 1986. Nearly 20 years ago, after Lori and husband Bob welcomed daughter Jacqueline to their family, they knew they wanted to live in Quonochontaug full time. “It was one the best decisions we have ever made,” Lori says. They moved there in the spring of 2012 and worked with local contractor Jamie Aluzzo to make some much-needed adjustments to the home, including her sea-inspired living room – an open space that blends seamlessly with the kitchen and dining rooms.

“[He] put up with me and did the basic simple things that we wanted with coastal charm. I’m just the kind of person who wants simple, coastal comfort,” says Lori, a realtor with Lila Delman Real Estate International. “He knew what I wanted and the rest is history.” Inside, Lori has furnished and decorated with seaside charms from local shops including Simple Pleasures in Charlestown (which furnished the requisite “Quonochontaug” sign) and Miceli’s Furniture in downtown Westerly. Often, the Joyals bring the outside in as well. “Jacqueline can clam and fish and even grab a few oysters anytime. She puts her waders on and out she goes,” says Lori. “I just wish my mom and dad were alive to see where I wound up. I can see my dad jumping up and putting down his martini and saying, ‘I’ll be right back – I am going to grab a few clams!’  We used to ask his friends along the pond if we could clam as kids and now here we are, bang, [just] walk out our door…. there is not a day that goes by that I don’t pinch myself as I drive down the driveway. Life simply doesn’t get better and I am grateful for what I have.”

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