Non-Traditional Beach Decor

Let's start this post by talking about where I came up with the topic of non-traditional beach decor. I was running in Weekapaug looking around at all of the amazingly gorgeous cottage mansions. You cannot pick a better place to run or walk than Wawaloam Drive in Weekapaug. Do yourself a favor and google map it, then check out the street view.

Anyway, as I was running by these fantastic cottages, I noticed that many of them had gone rouge. They did not paint their trim and shutters white. Instead, they had matched the blue found in their endless row of hydrangea bushes. I would definitely call blue a traditional beach color, but the way that the blue popped off of the grey shingles really caught my eye and got me thinking about the harmony of everything at the beach. The colors all go together so well, from the sandy tan and white to the various blues and greens of the ocean and skies. The color of sunsets over the water, hydrangea bushes, seaweed, beach roses. The list is endless, and it all works, and it all looks fantastic.

The beach doesn't just have gorgeous colors.... (paint names provided by Sherwin Williams Chip It tool)

Source: Pinterest, unknown 

Source: Coastal Living

Source: fotocommunity

It also has amazing textures and sheens. The coarse sand, soft tall grasses, slippery seaweed. There is also the depth provided by rope and baskets, shine of the sun hitting the water, dullness of a well-weathered boardwalk, the sharp edges of jagged rock.

Hey, now that you think of it, you agree with me, don't you? The beach really does have it all! Aside from being versatile, I think there are some very distinct items that would read "beach" even if they weren't in traditional beach colors.

For example:

starfish, source: A Lived In Home

wicker, source: BHG

rope, source: Jonathan Adler Design

So then, here are some photos I found that I would surely classify as non-traditional beach decor... and just to give credit where it is due, I'd like to remind you that I didn't design or dream or make any of these items.

source: Arte Styling Designs

The coral color is a perfect representation of a non-traditional beach color in decor. What makes it still say "cottage" to me is the white wicker and the seaweed-looking blanket.

source: Apartment Therapy

The hot pink accents add some cheerful color (and remind me of the beach roses). The gingham pillows and cottage style headboard are what keep this look beachy.

source: Coastal Living

I love how the teal back-splash looks like a wave in this kitchen. Its a bold color choice that probably works better in FL than here in New England, but I like that it isn't the traditional bead-board back-splash with pale green walls.

source unknown

This couch (and wide stripes in general) always reminds me of the beach. The green cabinet on top of the pale-honey colored floors look like a bit of grass sprouting up out of the sand. The reason that I would say this is non-traditional is because it gives such a subtle nod to the beach that it would work just as well in the country.

source unknown

Finally, this scene is one that I really like. The table is set with blue and yellow, which in any other setting would not look like it has beach flavor. But in this context, you can see how the yellow matches the grass in the background, while the blue glasses echo the deep blue ocean in the far left.

Beach week continues tomorrow!