Shop Visit: Coral in Stonington, Connecticut

Interior designer and shop owner Lindsey Coral Harper operates her firm from her Stonington shop, Coral.

A vintage rattan quatrefoil table is topped with handcrafted cutting boards and a garnet-colored- glass match striker based on an antique design.

A photograph by Troy House is the focal point of an eclectic wall display featuring art by Mary Maguire and antique ship paintings that Harper bought at auction on Nantucket. The chairs, reupholstered in a cinnabar mohair fabric, exemplify stylish upcycling.

Coral’s welcoming facade at 77 Main Street often has its glossy double doors swung open during balmy weather.

The mirror in this vignette can be custom made in a variety of finishes, and the shell boxes are crafted by Susan Lloyd.

The shop’s fabulous finds include a sofa upholstered in fabric by Alan Campbell for Quadrille, a vintage pencil-reed cocktail table featuring a palm leaf design, and vintage carpet beaters that flank contemporary photography. Harper customized the barstool with the location of her South Carolina wedding, a palm tree, and a burgee flag.

Stonington’s town green took on a whole new glow when Coral opened its doors last spring. Interior designer Lindsey Coral Harper, who brings her keen eye and a serious design pedigree to the coastal community, founded the shop, housed in what locals call the old pharmacy building.

Born and raised in Georgia, Atlanta would have been an obvious place for Harper to start her design career. Instead, she set her sights on New York City and landed her first job at the storied Carleton V showroom. After that stint, A-list designer Richard Keith Langham snatched her up. “I learned more in six months of working with Keith than in four years at school,” she says. A seven-year tenure at the firm prepared Harper to launch her eponymous company.

Harper’s colorful interiors and modern-meets-traditional aesthetic put her on the radar of magazine editors. Her work has been featured on the pages of House Beautiful, Traditional Home, and Southern Living. She has also participated in show houses up and down the eastern seaboard, most recently the prestigious Kips Bay Decorator Show House New York.

It was actually a show house that launched her career as a shopkeeper. “In 2017, I did the Southern Living Idea House, which means I had to furnish the entire house,” she explains. “When it ended, I had all this furniture and pieces we had custom made. What do you do with it?” A friend suggested that Harper open a pop-up shop in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to off-load the whole kit and caboodle. “It was a big success and lots of fun,” she says. So, after a retail pause during Covid, Harper relaunched the shop in Stonington, where she now lives.

The store welcomes shoppers with a crisply tailored navy awning. Inside is an airy space swathed in Benjamin Moore Whispering Peach (a longtime go-to hue for Harper) and layered with an assortment of furniture and accessories in a style Harper describes as “comfortable coastal.”

While international travel inspires, a crew of local artisans is represented. Cheese boards from Soundview Millworks, shell boxes from Susan Lloyd, and hand-marbled matchbooks by Shandell’s mingle with antiques and attention-grabbing colored-glass hurricanes, bamboo daybeds, boldly patterned pillows, and statement-making mirrors.

And while Coral buzzes during the summer, Harper ensures it is chock-full year-round, making the shop worth a visit in any season. Coral, Stonington, lindseycoralharper.com