What do you picture when you think of a coastal cottage? Chances are it’s a blue and white colour palette, stripes, and seashells everywhere. All those elements typically fall under the ‘nautical’ category, and coastal is a style all of its own. Coastal interior design is much more subdued and relies less on the obvious elements associated with being at the beach. Instead, it channels a beachy energy, pulling together light, soft fabrics and hues, and natural materials to create a relaxed and summery feel all year around. Below you’ll find the tips and inspiration you need to turn your home into a modern beach house.
Bright and airy hues
Picture a sunny day at the beach - the sand is pale, the water shimmers, and everything looks just a touch washed out under the sun’s bright rays. There’s some greenery around but no colour pops too much. Take this as a starting point for your beachy house interior. Getting as much light into a room as possible is the first step. This might mean giving your walls a refresh if the paint is looking tired and choosing warm shades of white, beige, and cream. Keep window treatments minimal and sheer to not interrupt the flow of light. Choose items in neutral shades with small pops of blue, green, and terracotta to create a timeless interior you’ll enjoy for years to come.
When shopping, look out for:
- Neutral colours
- Sheer and minimal window treatments
- Timeless design pieces
Soft natural fabrics
Bringing natural elements indoor is key to achieving the beachy look. Using fabrics like cottons and linens throughout the home, and layering them together, will help to achieve a relaxed mood. Slip-covered furniture is synonymous with the beachy aesthetic, it lends that laid back and airy feel without feeling too matchy-matchy. You can choose different shades of linen for the armchairs and the sofa to further enhance the organic mood you’re channelling.
Don’t forget fabric accessories too; table runners and napkins will soften wooden tables, while a selection of cushions in different textures will make a sofa or a bed even more inviting. Fringed and tufted textures look fantastic against cotton and linen, as do fabrics with an obvious weave. Stay away from synthetics and anything with gloss or shine, like satin and velvet.
When shopping, look out for:
- Slip-covered furniture
- Cotton, linen, and other natural fabrics
- Fabrics that are fringed, tufted, and woven
- Fabric accessories and wall hangings
Wood and wicker
No coastal cottage is complete without wood and wicker furniture. Continuing with the theme of nature, pieces in those materials effortlessly complement airy spaces and textured fabrics. Don’t feel like you need to match everything. In fact, choosing different shades and grains of wood (but keeping them in the same tone family, like warm or cool) will better suit the relaxed aesthetic of a modern coastal home. Beach house furniture shouldn’t look completely new, be on the lookout for details like distressing and colours that look a touch sun-bleached.
Use wicker and rattan as accents, too much of either can look overwhelming and a little dated. A slip-covered sofa could be joined by wicker armchairs and a wooden coffee table; a wicker headboard will likewise look incredible with wooden bedside tables. Look to accessories too - wicker fruit bowls and baskets, planters, even wooden twigs and ornamental driftwood all have a space in a coastal-style home.
When shopping, look out for:
- Accent wicker and rattan furniture
- Wooden furniture with a distressed feel
- Fruit bowls, baskets, rugs made out of wicker
- Wooden accessories
Found object statements
Using ‘found objects’ to accessorise a coastal home is a great way of injecting unique elements. Twigs, branches, dried grasses, shells, and stones can all be repurposed. First, ensure that you’re allowed to remove the natural materials when you come across them - preserving the environment is more important than accessorising after all. Once you’re sure that you can take some grass stems or shells, for example, think about where they’ll fit in your interior. A bowl of shells will look great on a coffee table or a sideboard, while grass stems always look elegant in tall vases. Driftwood can be used as a dining table centrepiece or even hung on a wall as organic art. You can also fake this by purchasing reproductions at your local centre.
When shopping, look out for:
- Real or fake wooden accessories
- Dried grasses
- Accent shells
- Fake coral decoration
Tidy and light-filled spaces
Laid-back and relaxed spaces have one thing in common: absence of clutter. While a modern beach house doesn't have to be minimalist, it should never be filled with too much stuff or appear excessively ornamental. A coastal living room will always be airy and light, with furniture and accessories used to highlight the space - not mask it. This does mean that decluttering is usually the first step to achieving that beachy interior design, or rearranging elements to better serve any given room. Look for storage solutions that blend into the space, you don’t want to draw attention to these, and maximise how you use storage by only keeping what you need and use.
When shopping, look out for:
- Neutral storage solutions
- Way to maximise storage, like under the sofa or bed
- Beachy storage boxes in rattan or wicker
Bring a timeless style to your home
When channelling coastal design principles, remember to stay away from anything too nautical and cliche, like anchors, stripes, and overuse of shells. Use sandy tones to invoke a feeling of beachy relaxation, mixing fabrics and natural materials to create a relaxed, timeless interior. Combine new furniture and accessories with a few vintage pieces and statement ‘found objects’ to make your home feel like a modern beach house.
Visit our Centre to find inspiration for your home.
To keep up to date with all that is happening at your local centre, subscribe to our newsletter.