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Elements of Classic Coastal Style
Crisp whites and marine blues, nautical accents and tailored furnishings combine for classic coastal appeal
After 14 years of living in Western Australia, I returned home to Falmouth, Cornwall, to live in a terraced house built in 1846 overlooking the harbour. My personal style is an eclectic mix influenced by my travels and my heritage. My favourite projects are those which allow me to design something especially for the client, from a fabric or wallpaper print to a piece of furniture.
After 14 years of living in Western Australia, I returned home to Falmouth,... More »
What is classic coastal style? Think French Riviera meets the Hamptons. The look is sophisticated: crisp linens, perfectly painted beadboard, bold stripes and a distinct palette of whites, neutrals, blues, charcoal and black. Classic coastal style uses beautiful accessories, such as specimen shells, coral, maritime instruments and coastal art, and it aims for a clean, sophisticated feel.
You don't have to live by the sea to get a coastal look for your home. Just by putting a few tips into practice, you will feel like you've got the ocean on your doorstep. Classic coastal is easy to achieve — keep it simple and edit ruthlessly to get this look.
You don't have to live by the sea to get a coastal look for your home. Just by putting a few tips into practice, you will feel like you've got the ocean on your doorstep. Classic coastal is easy to achieve — keep it simple and edit ruthlessly to get this look.
by Random House
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Light neutrals and stripes
Painting the whole room in varying shades of white makes a great background for showing off soft furnishings and accessories. Use striped fabric — particularly widely spaced stripes — for upholstered furnishings to create an instant coastal look.
Painting the whole room in varying shades of white makes a great background for showing off soft furnishings and accessories. Use striped fabric — particularly widely spaced stripes — for upholstered furnishings to create an instant coastal look.
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| Paint your fireplace surround and alcoves in neutral shades to create a great backdrop for displaying specimen shells, coral and coastal art. A limed or weathered oak coffee table completes the look. |
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Wall art
Gather nautical or coastal images in a specific theme to hang on your walls. You might choose photos classic yachts in black and white and mix in some closeups of rope, a ship's bell and other maritime accessories. Frames can be bought really cheaply from discount stores or from your local flea market, auction house or eBay. Paint them, lime-wash them or just use a mix of different woods for a well-weathered look.
Gather nautical or coastal images in a specific theme to hang on your walls. You might choose photos classic yachts in black and white and mix in some closeups of rope, a ship's bell and other maritime accessories. Frames can be bought really cheaply from discount stores or from your local flea market, auction house or eBay. Paint them, lime-wash them or just use a mix of different woods for a well-weathered look.
| Window coverings Roman blinds always look smart. I often have them made with a mitered border to add definition — try matching the borders with the paint color of your walls. This deep indigo instantly says classic coastal. |
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| Simple linen curtains are perfect for this look. To create more impact, use a white pole and put a contrasting border on the curtains to complement the walls and soft furnishings. You also can use a striped fabric with a plain border to give definition. |
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by Mary Prince
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| Shutters are a great option for a timeless look. When painted in a neutral color, they won't detract from a fabulous view. |
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Furniture styles
Revamp a piece of furniture by painting it — use a strong color to make a bold statement. This deep blue creates a perfect backdrop for model yachts.
Revamp a piece of furniture by painting it — use a strong color to make a bold statement. This deep blue creates a perfect backdrop for model yachts.
An ottoman provides extra seating for visitors and also works as a base for a lovely display of shells and coral.
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by Tara Bussema
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| This traditional Chesterfield leather suite is softened with a mix of fabrics in ocean colors. Crisp linens and soft velvets in a coastal palette work well with the life-buoy wall art. Shells give the classic chandelier a twist. Rugs in bold, monochromatic stripes ground this room. |
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| Traditional and elegant furniture styles and layouts work best for the classic coastal look. Slipcovers are a great idea for sofas and chairs — white or cream always looks upscale, or you can mix it up with some stripes as well. Experiment with contrasting piping to match your wall color for a sophisticated look. |
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| Materials Beadboard — known as butt and bead in the United Kingdom — is a decorative wood paneling often used in coastal homes. It's easy to install and you can get it in sheet form. Here, crisp white paint keeps the look simple. |
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| Use beadboard as wainscoting in a bathroom to give it a nautical feel. Tip: An easy way to work out wainscoting height is to divide the height of the room into three, then cut your boards to two-thirds the height of the room. This will ensure that the wainscoting is perfectly proportioned and easy on the eye. Finish it off with decorative molding and a coat of oil-based eggshell emulsion for durability in a wet area. |
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by Olga Adler
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| Natural flooring, such as coir, seagrass and sisal, make great rugs. This rug looks very effective against the dark timber floor. It would be very easy to give this room the classic coastal treatment — simply swap the green paint for deep blue, change the cushions for stripes to complement the wall color and add a few well-chosen accessories. That coffee table looks perfect for a display of shells and coral. |
Comments
mary954 After years of saving, my husband and I just realized a dream and bought a small house near the ocean. My first task? Throwing out all the beach-house tchotchkes (shells! fish! sailboats!) left by the previous owners. I get that a home should have some sense of context, but it seems to me that "coastal style" too often verges on the tacky.
9 months ago · Like
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Rebecca Heane Hi Mary, glad to hear you finally got your dream house - there's something very special about living by the sea. I also think that the coastal look can look tacky when overdone and that's why I've recommended really editing one's selections.Less is definitely more for this look! I'd love to see what you've done in your coastal home.
9 months ago · Like
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Rough Linen Yes, I agree, no lighthouse doorstops! I rationalise by using only decorative things I have found while scavenging - I love them and they are never 'cute'.
9 months ago · Like
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olldbobbi The white Roman shades with the blue trim agains the blue wall - stunning! And the view is to die for. What a beautiful home!
9 months ago · Like
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law6 absolutely stunning and fantastic coastal pctures ..thank you so much!
9 months ago · Like
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jenniel34 Perfection!
9 months ago · Like
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yomarg1 Love almost all the different looks. We had a house on the bay in Avalon, NJ in the late 80's, and I went with pale teal with peach accents-big colors at the time-just to get away from the blue and yellow look. Lots of wicker, and a big canvas sectional that could stand up to almost any stains. Not crazy about the formal chandelier up over the buoys-something a little more rustic would have been my choice.
9 months ago · Like
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maddecorator Maybe the Chinese garden seat, but not really buying the Chesterfield leather suite in a coastal home. As for the tcotchske discussion, I think a coastal home filled with found objects that are meaningful to the owner and family can never be considered 'tacky,' but rather, loved.
9 months ago · Like
dianna3 Living by the ocean as I do, I've found mix and match works best for me. I also dislike lots of visual chaos. So mixing old pictures of your own seafaring community with higher end textiles and more warm rich colors, still gives me the personnal seaside look that I love. We even used a thick rope as a chair rail after staining to a richer brown, and added an heirloom oar held up by two circles of the same material as the chair rail. You can take nautical all sorts of places. If you include what you love, and is meaningful, you can't go wrong.
9 months ago · Like
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Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc. There is one great place for beach found objects...and that's a trunk! I've always had this idea of having a lucite trunk (end table) made to hold all the treasures you might bring back to the beach house after a walk along the ocean...finally got to do one...everyone loves it. Lucite and some internet ordered hardware is all it took. 
9 months ago · Like
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Rebecca Heane what a great idea - are you selling them?
9 months ago · Like
jojosail2 I have the same pelican hanging in my stairwell on the larges/tallest wall. Looks wonderful, I'm so glad I ordered him after seeing him in the slideshow. Mine only cost $125, it's about 4' x 5', huge. One of those oil printed on canvas copies of an Audubon. Really worth the tiny cost and the huge effort to frame it it hang it on that wall - tricky to do since it's hard to use a ladder on a side wall in a stairwell in a house with 10 foot ceilings!
5 weeks ago · Like
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Rebecca Heane So glad you got inspired from seeing something in a post, nice to know it works! Sounds precarious hanging him but obviously worth it!
5 weeks ago · Like
Ideabook published on Aug. 23, 2012.
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