Coastal Interior Design
Coastal design can be characterized by kitschy coastal décor and vibrant colors against a slightly neutral backdrop. It’s a complete antithesis of the modern movement of minimalist and bold shapes. But a combination of both styles is a simplified and candid version of traditional coastal design.
It helps modernize a seaside atmosphere to have aesthetic appeal and functional aspects. Modern Coastal design can deliver the beachy lifestyle without the tackiness. It means that there would be fewer elements in the name of décor. Instead of a visually screaming aesthetic consisting of colored surfboards or wall art, it is replaced by a subtle design language.
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What is Coastal Interior Design? (History and Origins)
Imagine the tranquillity and serenity you feel when you are near the coast. Coastal interior design is the visual interpretation of this emotion. The interior design style has been around for a long time, invisible to the social eye. The coastal design scheme is an organic culmination of the way people who lived around the coast designed their homes.
Although the base values have remained the same, there are visually striking changes as the design is incorporated in different country areas. You can observe darker wood stains in north-eastern homes, whereas the southern getaways have a very light shade of wood to combat the humidity and salinity in the air.
The design in the southern states is also more on the tropical side, promoting pops of color everywhere. The coastal look has gradually merged with more modern and central principles to become less literal and imbibe the values of the homeowner and the location of the home.
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Coastal Interior Design Elements
Like all other design languages, the coastal design look is characterized by certain key elements. The Mediterranean style is played by vibrant colors, pottery and very free use of light-colored woods. You can visualize the sun-soaked hills and architecture of Santorini when you think about a Mediterranean-inspired coastal design.
The classic American coastal style will house elements like seashells, netting, healthy use of rattan and wicker, and very soft use of light shaded pastel color scheme everywhere.
If you are keen to explore the more upbeat tropical style of coastal design, you need to include fun elements like colorful patterns, vibrant shades of yellows and reds, and tiki-themed decor.
Apart from the various types of coastal designs, you can broadly divide all the styles into common elements such as:-
- Décor showcasing trellis patterns
- Decorations inspired from oceans such as a piece of driftwood or coral
- See-through sheer curtains and drapes to let in plenty of natural light and air.
- Wall art showcasing ocean views and beaches.
- Flooring that can resist or is immune to sand, moisture and salinity.
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Characteristics of Coastal Interior Design
You can break down the coastal vibe into four main factors that define the style. If you get these characteristics right, rest assured you have successfully brought the beach lifestyle to your home design.
1. Colors
Colous such as crisp whites, light blues and greens resembling the sea, and sandy beige shades imitating the sand can be primary coastal design colors. You can also incorporate serene secondary colors such as pastel grass greens, rock greys, driftwood greys, and browns. You can add pops of color like yellow and orange to compliment the pastel neutral backgrounds as an added visual appeal.
2. Space and Openness
You can automatically feel a sense of calm and peace when you take a walk by the beachside. If you hope to achieve the true essence of coastal design aesthetics, you must incorporate this feeling of calm into your home.
The design of your house should be severely uncluttered and breezy overall. Don’t over-accessorize your coastal living rooms. Leave it at the bare minimum in terms of beach house décor, and you can achieve the goal.
3. Simplicity
The biggest highlight of coastal-inspired spaces is their straightforward demeanour. The room design has to be relaxed, casual, and comfortable, whatever the style of your home be. You can achieve this irrespective of the coastal design you are going for.
Simple items like distressed furniture and weathered wood are all excellent directions. Healthy use of outdoor décors like rugs and carpets is also encouraged to promote this feeling.
4. Natural Textures
Coastal design is now mimicking the landscapes and visuals one observes in waterfront areas. Textiles like cotton, linens, jute and natural elements are instrumental in delivering the coastal style. Some natural materials go a step ahead and are made from grass found in some coastal regions.
Visually speaking, a jute rug against a predominantly white palate in the coastal bedroom design can bring out the “beachiness”. If you don’t like how the natural weave feels on your feet, you can add a secondary smaller carpet for additional comfort.
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15 Best Coastal interior design Ideas for Your Home
1. Minimalize Your Palette
Minimalize your coastal color palette and break it down to the bare essentials if you want to design a modern coastal space. You can use an overall soft and subtle shade of all the colors you want to incorporate. Doing this can help you achieve that visual peace you are looking for.
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2. Include in Natural Textures
The coastal design style comprises a vast texture palette because the feeling you are trying to recreate is also full of different textures. Items like driftwood, seashells, and seagrass are directly incorporated into the design for this effect. By getting these elements into your home, you can convert an existing space into a coastal home.
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3. Play with Classic Stripe Patterns
The sure-fire way to immediately turn your space into a coastal design haven is to use the classic blue and white stripe pattern on your upholstery and soft furnishings. The stripe is a symbol of everything aquatic. The colors resemble the serene shades of blue and white that are predominantly seen at various beach houses worldwide.
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4. Encourage Abstract Art
Avoid being cliché with portraying pictures and artwork related to waterscapes. It comes across as a room trying too hard to be coastal in the broader sense of design. Although you may find attracted to showcasing ocean-inspired realistic artwork, you must make it an effort to imbibe abstract art into the scene.
You can always go for art that showcases the colors followed by the coastal design primary color scheme. Simply put, you can hang art pieces that give you the feeling of the ocean rather than an exact image of the sea.
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5. Imbibe Warm Accents
You must bring in warm shades of browns and yellows with the help of naturally sourced textures. Items like jute rugs are some of the materials that look timeless. This means you can pair it with modern and sleek elements like Carrara marble tiles, and it will dissolve effortlessly into the coastal language.
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6. Overuse Linen
There is only one fabric associated with the aesthetic appeal of the coastal design wholeheartedly- Linen. The texture of linen is very versatile and can be shown in different colors ranging from classic whites and beiges to subtle pastel shades and hues. You must use linen as a primary fabric to enhance the warmth of your space.
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7. Redo your Bathroom into a Coastal Masterpiece
We naturally ignore the thoroughly used space when we undertake remodeling projects. The area in question is the bathroom. We can choose to avoid making this error by giving the bathrooms a healthy makeover as well. Bathrooms prove an excellent opportunity to try out different materials and shades.
The selection of tiles gives you a lot of options to choose from. Sticking with a palette with light coastal colors accompanied by minimal accents can help make your bathroom a coastal masterpiece.
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8. Use Sleeker Tiles
The safest way to convert a space to a modem coastal style is to use tiles that are a little glossy and have a cool color scheme overall. They can be easily applied to an existing surface and bring about a drastic change in looks. Go for any tile with some nautical prints and a sleek look, and you are halfway done creating a contemporary coastal haven.
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9. Showcase Slipcovered Furniture
Avoid getting trapped with traditional prints like fishes and boats for your upholstery. If you genuinely want to make your space more modern but contemporary, try getting some simple prints like plaids and paisleys with a cool hue. This will result in your furniture looking more in sync with current trends and paying homage to the coastal sense of design.
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10. Use light colored Woods
The first rule of a thriving coastal interpretation is to keep your aesthetics light and airy. To achieve this, you need to find the right shade of wood that compliments your design’s other textures and patterns. Unfortunately, dark wood proves to be too overpowering and doesn’t give you that light and straightforward emotion.
Hence, you would want to go for a lighter, pale shade of wood used in your dining tables, chairs, and coffee table. Wood is not a necessity, but wood is a widely used element that cannot be discarded in most cases. In a nutshell, you need to keep in mind that the selected wood should bring about light, airy and breezy emotions in the space.
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11. Infuse Pampas Grass
If you want to include plants and nature-based home décor ideas, you can go for a bunch of pampas grass. But the trick is not overusing this fantastic piece of natural décor everywhere. After all, Modern coastal design is all about de-cluttering and having a clean open space.
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12. Go crazy with the Dark Shade of Blue
Sometimes light and pastel shades of blue can be underwhelming, and you crave darker and bold colors. In this case, a deep dark ocean blue is always on the cards. You can use dark blue without any stress. If you feel overused dark blue by accident, you can pair it with classical décors like rattan chairs and woven jute décor in the neutral backdrop of a coastal dining room.
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13. Experiment with Modern Nautical décor
Traditional Nautical elements have always been a part of coastal design traditionally. But since it can be classified as mostly kitsch, it is next to impossible to make it a part of modern coastal design schemes. But there is a way to modernize some nautical elements. For instance, you can go for minimal linen fabric with tiny prints of an anchor or sailboats as an upholstery choice.
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14. Include Kitsch Very Carefully
One of the most striking features of the modern coastal design is that it can suit anybody, even those who don’t fancy minimalism very much. In such cases, you can take the liberty to add a few select kitsch pieces to act as a statement piece in that particular setting. For example, if you love a striking blue chandelier, you can use it but keep the rest of the room simple and muted.
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15. Play safe with bold colors and patterns
Every set has a canvas that the scene is aesthetically painted on. We know this canvas as the curtains and sheers behind the furniture. Curtains and sheers can effectively make or break an excellent coastal design. To achieve a good visual balance, fabrics such as canvas and linen have to be used.
You can play it safe with bold colors about the coastal design scheme like blues, beiges, whites, etc. Patterns can be kept simple in stripes, plaids, and other such geometric styles.
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Conclusion
It may not be easy to see how modern coastal design ideas fit into your space. You may want to ensure that your diy coastal ideas look good in your home and compliment your space. This is where Foyr Neo’s powerful rendering software can help you create unique high quality realistic, looking renders in a matter of seconds.
You can add elements to your existing space and see how the room would look even before being built, what’s more! You can also choose to sign up for a 14-day free trial.