Beach Dwellings

We had previously hired a designer and had a terrible experience. Items took much longer to arrive than guaranteed, work was shoddy and prices far exceeded what was quoted. So we were extremely hesitant to work with a new designer. We can honestly say Maria far exceeded our expectations. She’s honest, extremely knowledgeable and a joy to work with. There was never a time when she didn’t deliver what was promised. Maria worked with us from the pre-construction phase through its completion. Building a home from scratch can be challenging and overwhelming but she made the whole process (picking appliances, lighting, paint colors, tile, cabinets, etc) easy and fun. Now that we have been living here for over a year we are having her come back in for additional projects. She really listened to our input and thoughts and made our house a lovely home. We highly recommend her.

We can not say enough about Maria. She is extremely efficient, easy to communicate with, responsive and such a pleasure to spend time with. She cared about what was important to us and always provided choices with visual examples to ensure that we were satisfied. She was clear on timelines and kept us on task and on track so happily the project finished on time. The contractors she collaborates with were all excellent. As a team they were thorough and worked seamlessly with one another. We have already identified future projects for her to help us with and are thrilled to have an ongoing working relationship with her. We are grateful to have worked with Maria and highly recommend her.

This is my second time working with Maria. I am very pleased with her decorating choices in our new home in West Cape May. My favorite thing about working with Maria is her professionalism mixed with her great personality. I feel like I’m talking with a sister when we make decisions. Any vendor that she sets me up with is just as professional and easy to work with. I highly recommend Beach Dwellings. You will love her work!

Maria helped us design our new beach home from start to finish. From the very beginning of the project at the drawing stage, Maria's input was invaluable as she helped us navigate countless selections. Given our open floor plan, it was especially important that each room blend with the others but not be carbon copies of each other. Maria's impeccable eye helped us coordinate all of the elements in a new build (cabinets, counters, hardware, plumbing fixtures, tile, blinds, furniture, accents and more) that ended up blending beautifully. Her advice helped us understand where it was important to splurge and where we could save. In addition to her excellent eye, what makes Maria special is that she really listens to the client and helps her vision come to life. In interviewing designers, I found that many of them design a beautiful home, but all of their homes end up looking similar to one another. After seeing examples of Maria's work, I was sold because I loved everything I saw, but the homes were all different and clearly reflected the tastes of her individual clients. She is easy to work with and fun to be around as well. We are thrilled with our new home, and I cannot recommend Maria enough!

Maria is a pleasure to work with! Every step of the way is front loaded with JOY - even the tedious chores. By the time I had to select bathroom cabinetry hardware I was out of time and patience. Enter Maria, with her big heart and firm knowledge. Job done! Maria will help you design and decorate your dream home - your home, not her home. I'll never work with anyone else. Kathleen N.

As a recent beach front Condo owner in Cape May I went looking for someone to help with my decor choices. I contacted Beach Dwellings after looking at their website. What can i say, Maria is a creative genius with a team of professional resources to back her up!. I had a complete renovation of my condo done on time, within budget ,no surprises! Maria thought of every detail, many unique ideas with impeccable taste!

Total renovation of my North Wildwood condo. I hired Beach Dwellings to decorate the condo. Maria was great to work with. She nailed the initial design which I only made a few minor changes to but I was impressed with here design ideas. She coordinated ordering, delivery and set up. She is a true professional and easy to work with. I highly recommend her if you need design help.

Imagine building and decorating a home with your best friend...one with impeccable taste, who keeps your best interests in mind, who works tirelessly with you to make selections that honor your vision and your budget and your need for compromise with your spouse...all in a non-stressful and fun manner. That is Maria Toczylowski, the owner and designer of Beach Dwellings in Stone Harbor, NJ. She guided us through the selection of flooring, furniture, cabinets, countertops, hardware, window treatments, lamps, outside house colors, garage door selection, fireplace designs, and more. She worked diligently with our building staff to become an essential, dependable, and innovative partner. We all cannot recommend her highly enough!!

Maria is amazing! She has a great sense of design and was so easy and pleasant to work with. I wanted to have input on the project and she let me while making sure I didn't make any big mistakes. She had so many creative and unique ideas that we implemented from the blueprint phase through the final touches. I love that she doesn't decorate every home the same way; she really works with the homeowners to customize the house based on their style. Our house was on the 2017 Cape May Hospital House Tour and Maria pulled everything together perfectly and on time so it wasn't a stressful experience. I would absolutely hire her again!

Working alongside Maria could not have been easier. Her style and design expertise took the quesswork out of every decision. Maria combined a good mix of classic furnishings to create a beautiful, comfortable living space with inspiration taken from our coastal location. Our home is sophisticated, polished and fresh, yet still functional and timeless in a soft palette of blue and calming grays. Our goal was to make everyone feel welcome as they walked through the front door and feel the tranquility of the space. Maria accomplished that for us!

My husband and I contacted Beach Dwellings to help guide us with our whole-house renovation. Wow, did we hit the jackpot! We couldn’t be more pleased with that decision. Maria worked closely with our architect and contractor to ensure that we had an intelligent layout that worked beautifully for our home and family. She was integral in that initial design process, making sure the spaces were functional, as well as aesthetically pleasing. She and her amazing assistant, Kathy, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that we had a stress free experience with our renovation and we are so grateful for that. They were available from day one. What a difference! Maria’s love for design is apparent and the quality one sees in her work reflects that. She is definitely the most talented designer we’ve ever worked with and we would use her again in a second. Maria has a personality that is warm, engaging, enthusiastic, and she’s a complete professional. Her gift for design and is a true pleasure to see. She delivers and she’s fun to work with! Sent from my iPad

We contacted Maria to assist us with updating the interior of our old beach house in Stone Harbor. The challenge was the old "Stone Harbor" pine paneling in the front room. Maria was extremely easy to work with and she understood what we wanted to accomplish. She worked within our thoughts and improved them. Her color palate was perfect. Becky and I could not have been more satisfied with the way our interiors turned out, exceeded our expectations. We are so much more comfortable and at home thanks to her patient effort!