Interior Yacht Designer Ally Maloney

Eastbay SX 54 photos by Elaine Fredrick Photography. Portrait by Robyn Ivy Photography.

Not many designers watch their projects cast off and sail away. But Newport, Rhode Island-based Ally Maloney is one of the exceptions. With degrees in interior design and interior yacht design and time logged working with well-known yacht builders, including the late, legendary Ted Hood’s company, Maloney is as at ease in a shipyard scaling a ladder to outfit a premium vessel as she is toting an armful of beautiful pillows into an upscale house.

In fact, many of Maloney’s clients have recruited her first for their yachts and then, charmed with the results, their homes.

Pressed to choose whether she prefers putting her skills toward land or sea, Maloney hesitates. “Loving them both allows me to blend my talents,” the thirty-year-old designer says. “And the finished look for each is always high-end coastal.”

Blue, of course, is a favorite color for her clients. But Maloney deftly introduces a nautical theme minus the obvious, especially when it comes to, say, creating a handsome salon (a seaman’s term for the main gathering area down below). “No anchors, starfish, or seashells are needed. You’re already on a boat,” she points out.

The busy designer, who also has a retail shop in Newport and sits on the board of directors for ASID New England, recently flew to Turkey to help oversee the birth of a gorgeous new yacht. “Tiles, hardware, soft goods—there were lots of decisions to be made,” she says. “A boat, just like a house, needs to be comfortable and welcoming.”

Maloney Interiors, Newport, R.I., maloneyinteriors.com