Coastal Cliche

Summer time and therefore that means trips to the beach. I, along with many others thoroughly enjoy my visits to the beach.

The smells, the waves, the sand, the rocks, the wind, the boats, the creatures I could go on... Whether it is a trip to the good old British coast or the a holiday abroad, I love it.

Brancaster National Trust Beach, Norfolk

As much as I look forward to my next beach visit, I do not wish to inspire my home by it. I find the way that interior and surface designers often depict the 'Coastal Vibe' can be quite in authentic and cliched. In bathrooms in particular, this is where people feel they should link their bathroom to the beach because of the whole water / bathing thing. Alternatively other times the conservatory is a popular choice to embrace the 'beachy' vibe; with white washed wood, little light houses, shells and beach hut models etc, despite living 80 miles in land. However, that being said there are of course exceptions to this.

Ciovo Beach, Split Croatia

Just look at those sea colours - wow. If I could successfully colour match some of these amazing colours I certainly would, however I would leave out the other novelty beachy decorations. Cole and Sons, one of my favourite designers have created some beautiful coastal wall papers.

I really like the stylised wave design, because it is simple, only using 3 colours yet shown a graphic style with a bit of personality, this could work easily in many rooms around the home, not just the bathroom. Another Cole and Sons wallpaper I have my eye on is this Fornasetti Cole and Sons fish wallpaper, again a slightly cheeky style, Cole and Sons have used bigger more quirky styles of fish rather than making the fish look elegant or simplified.

(Interesting yellow chair above).

Beach huts in Brighton, well selected paint shades for the doors, not the typical brash reds!