ad collaborative post // Beach interior design is all about airiness, light colours, pops of blue, natural materials like driftwood, and seaside elements like shells. However, it’s easy to overdo the beach theme with too many elements. The trick is to balance natural materials, neutral tones, and pops of blue to create a bedroom that oozes coastal style rather than shouts it.
Here are our favourite décor ideas for the beach theme:
Go blue and white with hints of beige
Blue and white is the quintessential beach/coastal colour theme, but it neglects an important aspect of the beach experience – sand. Sandy beige is the perfect colour to break up blue and white while keeping your design on point.
For example, you could have white walls and white furniture, a striped, blue feature wall, blue bedding, beige cushions, and décor.
Keep things light and balance colours
We recommend sticking to the 60-30-10 colour rule with beach themes – 60% white, 30% blue, and 10% beige. This ratio will ensure your colours are on point.
White is best for most of your bedroom because it gives the illusion of space and reflects more light than any colour.
Get a bed with a slatted headboard
Wooden beds with a slatted headboard give off beach hut vibes, complementing coastal and nautical décor. The Tour Low bed frame is a perfect example, available as a king size bed or a double bed with a white frame and slatted headboard that oozes beachy style.
Pictured: Tour Low Wooden Bed Frame – White, Available from Bedstar. The Online Bed Superstore.
Another attractive option is the Birlea Belford, which has open slats on the headboard and footboard with a subtle curved finish.
Pictured: Birlea Belford Wooden Bed Frame – White, Available from Bedstar.
Embrace shabby chic furniture
Weathered wood and distressed furniture (vintage or otherwise) are hallmarks of all beach themes. The simplest way to get the look is with whitewashed shabby chic furniture, where signs of wear give the appearance of age.
Wardrobes, chests, and dressing tables are perfect for the look. Alternatively, you can buy vintage pieces, although you’ll probably have mismatched furniture.
Wicker is your friend
Natural wicker is your best friend for the beachy look if you need baskets, storage boxes, buffets, and chairs. The light beige wood has a sandy undertone and provides a rough texture that goes beautifully with clean, white walls.
Something as simple as a wicker washing basket or wicker chair for the corner of your room will elevate your coastal theme to another level.
Create a show-stopping coastal feature wall
The wall behind your bed is perfect for a feature wall. Blue/white or blue/beige striped wallpaper is ideal for creating a nautical theme, or you can keep it white and hang décor like paddles, fish ornaments, and shells from the wall.
If you want your bedroom to use as little blue as possible, go for an off-white or sandy feature wall and use natural décor to create something unique.
Pictured: Natural wicker is your best friend for the beachy look in the bedroom.
Use coastal hanging decorations
Hanging decorations like shells, artificial vines, woven wall hangings, tassels, and wooden chimes are fantastic for elevating your beachy bedroom. You can hang them on walls or the ceiling to give your bedroom lots of character.
Our favourite beach decorations are shells and wooden features like driftwood. Anything that looks authentic will fit in perfectly.
Bring nature into your bedroom
Houseplants and trees are essential for completing the beach theme. The Areca Palm Tree is perfect for giving your bedroom an authentic coastal feel, while Bamboo Spectabilis grows wide and tall, giving your bedroom a coastal-jungle vibe.
Our favourite houseplant for the beach bedroom theme is the Kentia Palm, which tolerates low light and spans out with fresh green leaves.
Finish things off with coastal artwork
Paintings of coastal scenes will perfectly complement your beachy bedroom. Look for depictions of sandy beaches and turquoise waters, and look for local artists who paint the coastlines surrounding their homes (Google is the best way to find them).
Etsy is fantastic for finding original coastal artwork from independent artists, and you can find prints at places like Amazon and Dunelm Mill.
I loved this post…so many good ideas. We do tend to think of blue and white for summer, but that can be overdone. I like that you highlight beige and white, and even pinky-beige as the dominant theme with accents of blue. Very inspiring ideas for summer!