For a long time beach style decorating was limited to actual beach houses and bathrooms. Now, more people are taking a little inspiration from their vacations to give their own homes, wherever they may be, that warm, sunny feel. Finally top line decorators and designers have left the shell shaped soaps and cutesy faux shell bathroom décor in the past and shifted to mainstream coastal themed decorations for every room of the house.
Just visit a popular decorating store or flip through their catalogue and you’ll not only see the traditional hurricane vase filled with sand and shells, but you’ll see pale blue couches, sea grass green accessories, and sandy beige wall colors. In fact, you could pick up everything you need to do an entire room with a beach theme and still have keep it muted enough that the feeling is somewhat neutral and not overwhelming.
Choose a Coastal Decorating Palette
The key to coastal decorating that is tasteful and classy without being too kitschy and over the top is selecting your palette based on beach themes rather than being too literal. Think about the colors that remind you of your favorite ocean side resort and work within their color families. A sand color is a nice literal translation that can be accented with a bleached sand hue. These are neutral shades which don’t smack of Tropicana pinks and turquoises.
Or how about taking those turquoise and pink shades and toning them down some until they’re gentle, soft pastels and then pairing that with a crisp, cool white? If the citrus tones appeal to you, consider using a bit more muted tone and mixing them together for a vibrant unexpected look or use them as accents to set off more neutral basic elements.
Getting a beach theme to look right in a northern home takes more work than it does in a southern one where a bit of beach is expected. If you’re going to go with the unexpected then you have to tone it down a little and blend in more neutral basics.
Use Beach Accessories Sparingly
Another big mistake people make when accessorizing their coastal decorating style is trying to incorporate all of their beach treasures and then adding more. Consider storing your shell and beach glass collection in large glass vases that come in a variety of sizes. This adds architectural interest as well as making a shell statement. Whereas spreading all of your shells across every available flat surface only adds clutter and isn’t nearly as appealing.
Do whatever you can to resist the temptation to buy everything in a shell shape or with shell fabric. The number of shell motif accessories is unlimited so try to limit yourself. If you can, steer away from the obvious shell shape entirely and look for something unusual, like a turtle or a fish, and only use these pieces as accents. Be careful, too much and your home will look like a seafood restaurant.
The real message to take away is to use a coastal theme sparingly, in neutral and understated ways, and with some unexpected surprises that make it refreshing and unique. This way you’ll create your own unique beach style that will last for years and never feel tacky or overdone.
