Coastal Cottage Furnishings

From LoveToKnow Furniture

Coastal cottage furnishings can create the perfect ambiance for your beach haven.

Where To Start

The first place to start is to decide on your beach theme. There are quite a few themes for you to consider. You may decide to mix several themes and create a unique blend of coastal styles with various beach motifs.

Popular Beach Themes

Beach Life
Nautical
Ocean Life
Seashells
Tropical

Popular Color Schemes

Some of the obvious color schemes include blue, white, tan, and green. Bright colors are usually found in coastal designs and provide a great opportunity to create accent colors in your overall room settings. Vivid reds, bright blues, yellows, pinks, orange, and purples are great colors to use in an exciting coastal home design.

Choosing Coastal Cottage Furnishings

Many of your household items can be counted as furnishings for your coastal cottage. The best way to approach furnishing your beach cottage once you've decided on the theme is to make a list of your ideal furnishings. This is a good starting point.

Take notes

You may want to start a notebook with your notes and print pages of the furniture and accessories you wish to purchase. At this point, you're mostly concerned about finding the right look for your cottage. Once you've established a portfolio of your choices, you can begin to work with the budget you've set for this project.

Negotiate a Better Price

The reason you're not concerned with the budget in the beginning is because you'll need to research to find the best prices. If you find one source for all of your furnishings, you can then discuss what kind of discount the store will give. You can save a great deal when negotiating whole house or several rooms of furniture and accent pieces.

Substitute Items

If your first choice is completely out of your price range, then you can use your notes and printed pages in your notebook to find a similar item that costs less.

Beach Cottage Den Furniture

Comfort is your first priority when selecting furniture for the den or family room in your coastal cottage. Consider the activities that will take place in what is typically the hub of a vacation home. You'll want to select furniture that can stand up to more use than an average home. Choosing fabrics that are easy to clean is a must.

Once you've met these criteria, then you'll want to select the style of furniture that best suits your overall theme. Most cottages are a casual style and the furnishings reflect this laid-back approach to coastal living.

Popular Beach Furniture Styles

Adirondack
Distressed
Iron or Metal
Leather
Painted Weathered
Plank
Rattan or Wicker
Shutter
Teak
Upholstery

Fabric Choices

Chenille
Chintz
Corduroy
Cotton
Leather
Microfiber
Suede
Tweed

Pattern Selections

Beachscapes
Floral
Landscapes
Nautical
Oceanscapes
Plaids or Gingham
Polka Dots
Seashell
Stripes
Tropical
Tweed

Keeping in Style

You can go with paint or stained finishes on your wood furniture selections. Some furniture styles mix well together while others don't.

Cottage Rugs

Adding a floor rug can tie your furnishings together and give a cozy feel to your room.

Lamps, Accent Pieces and Accessories

Don't forget to add special accent pieces in your overall design. The color theme you've selected can be enhanced with a few well-chosen accent pieces to repeat certain colors and accentuate a contrasting color.