Beach Lover Design And Decorating Tips

There are few sounds as soothing as the waves crashing on the shore. If you live in a beach town, you get to wake up to this sound and everything that goes with it every day. If you live in the city, however, you can bring a little of the beach home with you by designing your home with a nautical theme.

When you are infusing your home's design with nautical touches, you can translate a beach theme literally, or you may simply pull your inspiration from sandy shores.

1. Select Colors

The color theme that you choose for your design will really define how your nautical theme translates into your home. If you want to create the feeling of wiggling your toes in the sand at sunset, neutral tans and pastel blues, pinks and yellows will set the tone. This muted color palette creates a relaxing, calm environment in your home. You can even paint your trim a pearly cream to add a little shimmer to the design. Accessories for this interior are easy, and your best ideas will come straight from the beach.

A clear, glass bowl of seashells or pillar candles in jars half filled with sand. Add a seascape painting to the wall, and drape soft, neutral colored throw blankets across the couch for comfort. Area rugs made of jute or sea grass are a nice detail for the floor, and you can finish the room off with a driftwood lamp.

You can also take your color palette and go in a completely different direction. For a shipshape interior design you can choose navy blue and crisp white. Use khaki as your neutral color, and heavy cotton fabrics like canvas for fabrics. For your flooring, a dark wood color is a nice complement, and you can use wide stripe blue and white patterns on your throw pillows.

Hang ocean photos in circular frames at regular intervals along the wall to mimic the idea of portholes, and add an occasional pop of bright yellow, green or red for accents. Add a brass lamp to your space, and your shipshape, nautical theme is complete.

2. Create an Eclectic Dining Room 

If you are adding a little nautical flavor to your dining room, you can create an eclectic room design in your nautical colors. Add a solid wood table to your room for dining, and then surround it with chairs that are similar but not matching. Tie them together by painting them all white, and use a navy blue and white print for your seat cushions. Add hurricane lamps to the center of your dining table, and you can even fill them with seashells or colored sand. Add coastal dinnerware with a shell or even embossed rope motif.

3. Bright Bold Colors in the Kitchen

When you want to bring a nautical look to your kitchen, think of your vacation at the beach. Add some shades to your windows to block the midday sun. Matchstick blinds are great for diffusing bright light without making a room too dark. Bring in some brightly colored wide stripes in bold colors in fabric selections. Look for wall art that has a nautical theme like boats, shells or lighthouses.

4. Beach Inspiration for your Living Area

As you turn your attention to your living room think of adding some beach wall art to add interest and depth to your walls. Bring in accessories that support your nautical theme like a beach lantern, seashells and candles. You can use a wicker trunk for your coffee table, and you can use it to store blankets and throws. Add an area rug with your sandy neutral, pale blues and greens to tie everything together.

5. All Hands On Deck in the Bedroom

To bring a nautical feeling to your bedroom use blue or red striped ticking for a fresh, crisp look. Add throw pillows in bold colors like yellow, green and white and go ahead and combine patterns like stripes and checks. A bold color canvas chair with contrasting piping set beneath a brass, floor lamp makes a cozy reading corner.

6. Create a Tropical Bathroom

To bring a beach aesthetic to your bathroom, use your palette of saturated, pastel colors, and add some fun, wall art with subjects like fish or birds. Add a shower curtain full of tropical flowers and a brightly colored bathmat.

Andrew Johnson is a speaker and contributing writer for http://www.americanartisanart.com/ and offers design advice about how to decorate with wood wall sculptures and metal wall sculptures.