Beachy themed room.

I've spent most of my life next to the ocean. I grew up in Pacific Grove, California, right next to Monterey. I worked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium throughout most of high school and seasonally throughout college. I spent hours in my car at Asilomar State Beach doing homework, and watching the cute boys surf. I even got married on the beach. Needless to say, I love all things ocean. I tend to gravitate towards blues, and have shells scattered throughout my house.

My Aunt Gina is also a true California girl, although she grew up in Southern California, which might as well be a different state as far as I'm concerned :) I lived in the fog, she lived in the sun! She lives in Washington now, and I know she misses the beach. I lived in Washington for about 2.5 seconds before I ran for the hills. :) Anyways, my lovely Aunt is redecorating her room beach themed, and these are just some ideas.

Paint

wisteria.com

These are almost the exact same colors my husband and I used in our bedroom. The exact colors we used were "Quiet Rain" by Glidden for the walls, and "Bone Folder" by Martha for the ceiling and trim. When I think of adult beach theme, I think of soft blues..but not too icy! I like a bit of grey or green in my blues because they are more relaxing. An icy blue will make you feel cold, which you probably don't want in a place like Washington.

atlantahomesmag.com

If blues are not your thing, go with a more sandy color like in the room shown on the left. You can always add more colorful accents which I will get to next. 

Details!


Small details CAN make a big impact as far as the theme of your room goes. If you want to go beach, it's probably best to keep things clean and simple. Too much clutter isn't very relaxing. Shells are a great way to go for a beach theme because they are beautiful, delicate, and cheap! You can use them to fill vases, surround candles in a tray, hot glue them to lamp bases, around frames or mirrors, on baskets that you use to organize..the possibilities are endless. You really can't go wrong with shells. Here are some ideas.

bhg.com

Balancing white starfish on a ledge, maybe over your door. They are also so adorable on window sills and bookshelves.

hgtv.com

Fill a vase or tray with sand, shells, and candles. I did this for my wedding centerpieces and loved them!

kaboodle.com

Another example..shells in different sized vases. I have one similar to the larger one but it is tinted a light blue. It holds my shells in the bathroom.












These baskets from Costplus are super cute and beachy. I love baskets for organizing. You can hide all of your clutter and no one will know it's there :) If you have an accent color, you can even tie ribbons in that color around the baskets. If you don't want bows, just use the ribbon to make a stripe around the basket to give it a little color.

kgstyleblogs.com

Another really fun element to add to you space are these curtains that give the allusion of a canopy bed. All you need is some curtain rods that you can put on the ceiling, and some sheer white curtains. Ikea has both of these items for REALLY reasonable prices and the impact is huge. It makes the space so cozy and dreamy, don't you think? Just like those cabanas you see celebrities lounging at the beach in on some island you've never heard of.

oliveandlove.com

And another....












Or you can consider using this curtain idea by only draping curtains at the head of your bed (behind your headboard) if you don't want the drama of the full on canopy effect. Still a pretty way to create some movement in your room. The ocean is all about movement, right?



More colors?

My Aunt Gina expressed that she would need some color in her room because in Washington, everything is grey. My favorite color to incorporate into a beach theme is coral. It's beautiful, can be used tastefully, and brings some warmth to the room. This is the kind of color palette I'm thinking of.

theperfectpalette.com

If you use some turquoise in your room, a surprisingly great color that goes with it is lime green or a minty green. Green would be great if say, your husband hates coral because he thinks it's too girly. ;) It also brings a more crisp clean feeling to the room.

Sara Gilbane Interiors

For a more subtle accent color, plum could be amazing. Purples can be very romantic and relaxing. I couldn't find a great picture to illustrate this idea, but this picture is close enough. Here you have your blue, beige, and plum. Love.








And Gemma just woke up so off I go! Thanks for the task, Aunt Gina. It was fun! I hope I gave you some good ideas!

Much love,
jill