If you’re like me, you love the idea of having an easy, breezy beach house that overlooks the ocean and has an immediate sense of calm. If you are indeed like me, you’ll instantly realize that this whole concept is probably not going to happen. We can, however, take the whole beach house concept and attempt to decorate our suburban or city dwellings with a little coastal flair to at least bring on some of that calm. Here are a few beach decor ideas that you can steal for yourself, without making your house look like a nautical cliché.
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Easy Beach Decor Ideas
Don’t Do the Typical Beach Theme
First and foremost, resist the urge to go straight to the nautical or beach theme. This means no seashells, netting displays or boat sculptures everywhere. Instead, think about what your own personal style is and then add nods to the coastal or beach decorating theme in one or two spots around the room.
Consider a Beach Color Palate
If you think about sitting on the beach, or gazing out your non-existent beach house window, you can easily get a color palate. Think soft sand beige, sky blue or deep ocean blue, light white sunlight or even a pale green sea glass color. These colors easily lend themselves to that coastal feel without being a clichéd theme. Starting with clean white walls and then adding in these beachy colors is an easy way to get started.
You could also go with the classic deep or navy blue and white color palate. It is timeless and you can find thousands of home accents at many different retailers while still having everything coordinate.
Use Natural Elements
When you think about a beach house, you don’t think thick shag carpet, you think hardwood floors. In the same arena, you can add natural elements with a jute or sisal rug, contemporary wicker furniture, or a rattan lamp shade. These natural elements help bring the outside in.
Try Slipcovers and Paint for Your Furniture
Not so thrilled with the current state of the furniture you have? This can actually become a positive if you are looking for beach decor ideas because many beach houses judiciously use slipcovers and paint to update their furniture.
Slipcovers are almost a necessity if you live at the beach since they can easily be cleaned when the thousands of house guests get them dirty. Try a more fitted style over your couches and love seats, and even your dining room chairs. Be careful not to get the ones that you have to tuck in everywhere, because it can end up looking more college apartment that beachy chic.
If you have an old dreary wood night side stand or end table, get out a paintbrush. You can even consider painting your woodwork or cabinetry. Think about your coastal color palate and go with a traditional white, or a deep blue. The great thing about beach decor is that your paint job does not have to be perfect. Think chippy white paint or a distressed chalk paint. Chalk paint is very forgiving and easy to use. You don’t even need to prime, and if it chips off, all the better.
Don’t Forget the Fabrics
Fabrics are an easy way to bring coastal décor into your house. Ticking stripe, cotton matelassé, sheer white, and ball fringe are all perfect examples of beach décor ideas. You can easily find a blue and white ticking stripe curtains, or shower curtains, seersucker duvet set or white sheers for your windows at most stores or online pretty inexpensively. Ticking stripe and ball fringe also work really well on accent pillows or throw blankets. A crisp white cotton matelassé or ticking stripe bedspread and shams also adds that perfect beachy feel to a bedroom.
The Decorative Accents
Last but not least, consider all of the different home accents that you can add to your space to pull everything together. The easiest one to think about is artwork. In looking back at tip number one, try not to instantly go for seashells and boats. Look for something that evokes the beach or coast, but isn’t so overt. An abstract or impressionistic beach landscape or water view are always popular and easy to find. An inexpensive gallery art wall with matching frames and images in your color palate is also and easy DIY and a great way to fill up a large wall. Affordable printable wall art is easy to find on Etsy. (Check out NLS Design and NLS Design Abstracts on Etsy for coastal printable art.) You can also get your get artwork sent to you already framed and matted when you do everything online. Check out my website print shop or check out places like Fine Art America or Society6.
When you are thinking about table top accessories, think slightly outside of the nautical beach box. You can have a decorative coffee table bowl filled with sea glass and sand, a rope style vase, or a glass lamp with a natural shade. Weathered wood boxes, abstract coral sculptures, old world globes, and apothecary or cloche jars with beachy elements or colors are also easy and inexpensive pieces to pick up. You can find many of these types of pieces at big box stores and on Amazon.
Decorating your dream beach house that’s actually in suburbia does not have to be overwhelming. With these beach decor ideas, you can easily pull together the look you want without going overboard. (See what I did there? 😊 )
