John and Sherry's moodboards often include elements that scream "BEACH!" at me--natural, textured neutrals, light and airy colors and fabrics, and touches of beachy blue. Their latest Design Dilemma moodboard especially got me thinking: Shelly's Design Dilemma, based in part on Shelly's Floridian love of ocean colors.
So I threw together (really, in about five minutes) a little collection of beachy things on polyvore:
The Ikea Ektorp couch has always reminded me of beach-type furniture: poofy, traditional, and utterly neutral (so that none of the possible renters of your beach house will be offended by your furniture). Hang a beach-scape print over that poofy couch, add an ottoman with those seagrass baskets with seashells in them. The side-tables don't match--ideally, they'd be castoffs from your actual house, and at least one of them should be wicker. Ditto the lamps, but for a little extra flair you might add in a new one in a beachy blue, or a capiz chandelier.
I actually spent some time this spring in a particularly interesting beach house in South Carolina--it was over 100 years old and furnished mostly with things the owners had gotten rid of over the years--with the exception of big matching lamps on the nightstands, and matching white iron beds in the attic:
I loved the light in that space, and the great view of the ocean. Note, again, the slightly tacky (and redundant--the beach was right outside the window) beach painting on the wall. The porch was even better--huge, right on the beach, white with black shutters, lots of rocking chairs and daybeds and a hammock--but I'm keeping that one to myself. It's too good to share right now.
Apartment Therapy had a post on beach house style about this time last year: Beach House Inspiration. Their inspiration photos are more modern and less thrown-together than my idea of a beach house, but the focus on neutrals and sunlight keeps it beachy, with the occasional piece of driftwood thrown in for good measure.
I found a post from Desire to Inspire as well that features a decidedly beachy design: Jodi Macklin. Most of the photos are from a Macklin-designed summer house with all sorts of coastal accents. I especially love this shot:
The white floor! The huge porch! The poofy cushions! The seagrass chair! It's probably not hurricane-proof, but it's b-e-a-utiful.
And this one:
This would be the little girls' room in the beach house, decorated more extravagantly than the adult quarters. Turquose and bright pink are so Florida.
I think that's all I've got today--I probably won't get to the beach this summer, so I've got to dream somehow.
