Sand tracked across your kitchen floor and waves crashing up on your backyard are all part of the enthrallment of owning a beachfront home. While the cost of the real estate may be sky high, decorating costs don't have to be. Casual beach style leans heavily on items you can salvage, purchase at a flea market, beach store or craft store, or find on a relaxing stroll down the beach. Start with a theme such as New England light houses or Caribbean pirates, and then bring the beach indoors.
New England Sea Shanty
Check out the New Bedford Whaling Museum in the references for unusual pieces. If you can't afford the eclectic offerings, start looking for the same things in beach stores on any of the coasts around the country. Light houses and lanterns add warmth to rooms. You can have the lanterns wired to run on electricity to avoid fumes and soot from oils and burning. Drift wood and lobster traps are popular decorations. Hang neutral nets and place colored glass balls inside. Buoys and gulls make nice accents on walls along with oceanic artwork. Maps and tide tables also make great artwork. Have them mounted and framed and hang them beside nautical compasses, maritime clocks, portholes and ships' wheels. Braided rugs add a nice New England touch.
Pirate's Cove
Decorating with hanging moss and chests of booty might seem difficult to work around, but your furniture can include plenty of lounging pillows. Skulls are popular and available in glass votives or human-size skulls with wax candles. Hang tattered curtains that look like they have been in a sea battle. Use barrels for end tables. Fill muslin bags with faux jewelry and keep them around for guests to investigate. Thick ropes are a great addition. Position a skeleton somewhere in the mix and add a parrot with an eyepatch. You can even build electric fire flies (see Resources).
It's 5 O'clock Somewhere
Put on some Buffet tunes and start dreaming of your own Margaritaville. This is a tropical look with lots of orchids and rattan. Decorate with wicker or rattan comfortable furniture. Whitewash the walls and add a textured sand finish to them. Decorate in vibrant colors. Add touches of Hawaii or the Florida Gulf Coast with old-fashioned hula girls, nautilus shells, and flowered leis. Add nets with sand shells and starfish. This décor is light, bright, floral and comfortable.
California Dreamin'
Surf's up in California and you can hang an endless ten all year round with a theme that ranges from Venice Beach with its famed muscleman views to the Capistrano swallow celebrations. Palm trees in pots with wave blue walls and a surfboard hung over the mantle are perfect for this Pacific theme. Stripes on the walls and in furnishings work best in the California beach house. Vibrant canvas sling back chairs lend a casual ambiance. Hang wind chimes in open windows and enjoy the ocean breeze and the music. Hang batik and tie dyed curtains. Make a Zen garden right in the living room so guests can enjoy raking the plot and placing the stones. Use sisal rugs on the floor.
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