Explore Nantucket with Ten Easy Street

Step inside Ten Easy Street, a reimagined 1933 Nantucket artist’s home where design, creativity, and community come together under the thoughtful direction of Eileen Kathryn Boyd.

Originally built for artist Florence Schepp, the home once served as a gathering place for the island’s early creative community. Today, Eileen continues that tradition, curating each room with a layered mix of color, heritage, and contemporary design. More than a traditional showroom, Ten Easy Street brings together like-minded brands and makers within a space that feels personal, lived-in, and distinctly Nantucket.

For anyone drawn to the Nantucket look, the home offers a fresh interpretation of classic coastal cottage style. Weathered textures, collected furnishings, crisp bedding, soft bath linens, and unexpected moments of color come together to capture the ease of an East Coast summer without feeling overly themed or predictable.

During Nantucket by Design, Kassatex popped up at the Boathouse and styled the bedrooms and baths throughout the main home with our bedding, towels, robes, and bath accessories. The result was a natural meeting of shared values: an appreciation for craftsmanship, thoughtful details, and pieces designed to be both beautiful and lived with.

Below, we speak with Eileen about the story behind Ten Easy Street, the enduring influence of Nantucket, and how to style a home with the layered, collected character of a Nantucket coastal cottage.

Q&A with Eileen Kathryn Boyd

Kassatex: How would you describe your design philosophy for Ten Easy Street, and how has Nantucket’s landscape influenced it over time?

Eileen Kathryn Boyd: Ten Easy Street has been my most personal project to date. The house was built in 1933 for Florence Schepp, an artist who used it as a gathering place for the island’s early creative community, and that spirit of gathering has served as my constant inspiration. My philosophy has always been that heritage shouldn’t be replicated, but reinterpreted through what we choose to keep and what gets layered in alongside those pieces.

Kassatex: Are there specific materials, colors, or textures you consistently gravitate toward for Nantucket interiors, and why do they resonate with you?

EKB: Forty-plus summers here taught me that Nantucket’s light does a lot of the design work! The fog softens color, the salt air ages everything on its own schedule, and nothing on this island wants to look brand-new. So the rooms really lean into that. I wanted each space to feel composed, well-edited, a little worn in the right places, and the right amount of lived-in rather than staged. That said, I don’t fully abandon my New York sensibilities just because I’m on-island. I love playing with contrast, pulling something sharp or unexpected into a room built on all that soft, weathered texture. I think it’s that push-and-pull that gives the house a distinctly fashion-minded feeling as you move from room to room.

Kassatex: Three under the radar favorite Nantucket spots you find yourself always returning to:

EKB: A secret cut through path from the back of my house on Brant Point that leads me to the harbor beach on Hulbert Avenue. I grab my sun hat, chair and my watercolors, and leave my phone at home.

Corner bar at Queeques restaurant for a sushi roll and a glass of white wine.

Drive out to Ladies Beach, 80’s music blasting.

Driving my boat through the Coatue cut 30 miles per hour feeling the rush of being on the Nantucket harbor!!!

Kassatex: Three words to describe your design aesthetic:

EKB: Color-forward, layered, storied.

Kassatex: Finish this sentence “Nantucket to me is…..

EKB: “My youth, the elixir of life, suspended animation of the good life.”

Kassatex: Currently listening to:

EKB: Our Ten Easy Street playlists on Spotify are on repeat this summer.

Kassatex: What is the best time of year to visit Nantucket for design sourcing, fabric or furniture shopping?

EKB: Honestly, the best window is right around Nantucket by Design, which lands just before Antiques & Arts Weekend each July, so for a few weeks the island turns into one long design conversation, with the best dealers, makers, artists, designers, architects, and collectors all on one tiny island. Beyond that, the little Saturday street markets in town are not to be missed. They set up right around the corner from Ten Easy Street and I always find treasures there.

Kassatex: What sparked the idea to start 10 Easy Street, and what were the pivotal moments in that journey from concept to opening?

EKB: I knew I wanted to take on a project that let me put forth my design in a way that was true to me. When the house at Ten Easy Street presented itself, I knew it was the right moment, for me and for Nantucket. The home had already been such a prominent gathering place under Florence Schepp, and continuing that tradition was important to me. It also felt right for the island, to be a part of the thriving design scene that has continued to grow and flourish, thanks in large part to everything the NHA has built through Nantucket by Design.

Kassatex: Are there Nantucket-based artisans or suppliers you particularly enjoy collaborating with, and what makes those partnerships special?

EKB: The island has always attracted true artisans who flock here to be amongst the true tastemakers who know that divine art and style live here effortlessly. The island has a mystical spell that attracts artists and artisans to want to collaborate and be in a community of design. I reach out to the painters and carpenters that are on island to let them know I will be on island. They wait to hear from me and are always ready to start the next project to see my vision through.

Kassatex: For someone visiting Nantucket for the first time, what design-forward experiences would you recommend, and what advice would you give to aspiring designers looking to draw inspiration from the island?

EKB: The Whaling Museum is a must see, the island’s history is there. Nantucket Looms on Main Street is still weaving using the warp and weft method on the large looms on the second floor. If one has a chance to pop upstairs you will be inspired. Head to the artist association’s new gallery space on Center Street, one of my favorite places to find real working artists that love Nantucket and sell their work there.

Of course, Nantucket By Design, now in its 10th year, started as a humble idea to shine a light on the humble design community on Nantucket. It’s turned into a must-attend on the East coast design circuit.

The old world humble quaker design style has lasted through the decades with a recognizable staying power that will last for generations of design enthusiasts to come.

Kassatex: Classic color palette (whites, creams, and sea-glass blues) or bold, saturated hues for Nantucket homes?

EKB: Well, neither, exclusively. I’ll use the classic palette as the bones of a room and then break it up with one bold color application, because an all-neutral Nantucket house can tip into predictable fast. Color is what keeps a “classic” interior feeling fresh.

Kassatex: Best Nantucket stroll—Sconset Seawall walk or Main Street shop-hopping?

EKB: I am a shopper… through and through but if I can, I will often disappear and quietly go solo to Sconset seawall to center myself and stay in a state of gratefulness.