The idea is to bring the outdoors into your waterfront home.
Waterfront property is generally priced at a premium for good reason: there is high demand for such homes. Whether your home is situated near a pond, lake or ocean, waterfront property presents a unique opportunity to blend the interior of your home with the view outside its doors, to create an oasis that merges nature with your decorating ideas.
Instructions
1. Create an unobstructed view of the water. The value of a waterfront home is based, in part, on the fact that one can see water from the interior of your home. Make it easy by keeping windows clean and keeping window treatments to a minimum. If your tastes run to heavy drapes, make sure they frame the window rather than cover it. Another option is to install Roman shades that can be pulled up during the day to reveal the water, but rolled down at night to provide privacy.
2. Bring the outdoors in. Touches that reflect the great outdoors will tie the interior of your home with nature. If you have oceanfront property, place seashells in a delicate bowl on the coffee table, hang a starfish on the bathroom wall, or build a fireplace mantle using driftwood. Lakefront homeowners can hang a small canoe on a wall to use as a shelving unit, or use fish hooks and lures to hang shower curtains in the bath. Even the most sophisticated interior can contain hints of nature.
3. Install durable flooring. Natural stone or vinyl flooring is a necessity when living near the water. Not only are friends and family likely to come into the house wet, but also tracking sand and dirt. Installing a floor that can withstand the rigors of waterfront life will save you clean-up time as well as the cost of carpet cleaning.
4. Tie colors together. Pull the shades you see outside your window into your home so that there are no visual breaks. If your home is oceanside, this means incorporating sea blue, sand-inspired beige and soft shades of coral and shell pink. Lakeside homeowners should also include blue, soft hues of brown and plenty of green. Think of the view outside your home as an extension of your home and decorate as though they are one entity.
5. Install furniture that can withstand beach life. Whether you opt for a casual waterfront home, or want to present a more formal home, choose furniture fabrics that can easily be wiped down or washed. Leather is fairly easy to clean and can be long-lasting if you're careful to keep it dry. Slipcovered furniture is also an option as the covers can be removed and laundered on a regular basis. Slipcovered furniture has the added benefit of looking beachside casual.
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