10 Coastal Decorating Ideas For an Elevated Coastal Style

I’ve embraced more of a coastal style since our move to NC, and our next home (that we’ve started working on plans for 🙌🏻) will have a coastal vibe too. If you’re also a lover of coastal style, this post is for you! I’m sharing ten coastal decorating ideas for an elevated coastal style (no kitschy nautical ideas here!). Let’s get to it… (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my disclosure statement {here})

1. Let In the Light

One of my favorite features of coastal style is that it’s light, bright, and airy. While I can definitely appreciate moody interiors, sunshine-filled homes have my heart. One simple idea for maximizing the amount of light coming into your home is to extend the length of your curtain rods well beyond your window. The extra rod length gives your curtains space to be pulled back from your window so the light can pour in.

For example, the curtain rods in our dining room (I have {these inexpensive rods} with {these rings}) extend about 13″ beyond the window molding on each side. You can see that when I pull the curtains away from the end of the rod here:

Curtain rods that are extended past the window molding

With the longer rods, when the curtains are open, hardly any of the window is blocked on either side:

Dining room drapes with extended curtain rods

Sometimes a window is super close to a corner, so there isn’t much space for your open curtains to stack back away from it. In this case, use curtains such as {these pleated curtains} in our guest room that take up less space when pulled back from the window:

See my post on how high to hang curtains for more hanging tips.

2. Slipcover Your Sofas

I LOVE slipcovered furniture, and fortunately it works really well with coastal style. Good quality sofas aren’t cheap, so being able to remove a slipcover to launder it when there’s a spill is huge! And once your sofa starts to get worn, you can simply buy a new slipcover instead of a whole new sofa.

The key to an elevated coastal style vs. shabby chic coastal style is having slipcovers that are tailored to the shape of your furniture (each cushion should have its own cover) vs. baggy, one-size-fits-all slipcovers. Our family room sectional is slipcovered, and even looking up close, I don’t think you’d ever know it:

{This sofa} that we have in our sun room is also slipcovered (I chose a performance fabric too, so it cleans up super easily).

3. Keep Your Walls Bright

Cultivating a coastal style doesn’t mean that you have to go with all white walls, but predominantly soft, light paint colors are the way to go. Some of the most popular Benjamin Moore paint colors for a coastal palette include Chantilly Lace (one of my favorite whites!),

Chantilly Lace paint color in matte on bathroom walls

Simply White, White Heron, Pale Oak, Moonshine, Boothbay Gray (which you can see in my post on How to Paint a Front Door), Van Courtland Blue, Beach Glass, Smoke, and Palladian Blue.

Some of the most popular Sherwin Williams paint colors for a coastal palette include Snowbound, Pure White, Sea Salt, Krypton, and Lakeside.

Want more paint color suggestions? See my posts on The Best White Paint Colors, The Best Blue Paint Colors, and The Best Greige Paint Colors.

4. Embrace Natural Materials

Seagrass, water hyacinth, jute, and other natural materials add a dose of warmth and texture that’s part of an elevated coastal style. You can bring in natural materials in small doses, such as a woven storage basket, or in larger doses, such as furniture and rugs.

A few of the ways I’ve incorporated natural materials into our current home are through {this rattan chair} in our family room,

{these rattan bistro chairs} on {this round jute rug} in our kitchen,

Rattan bistro dining chair with gray and white weave seat & back

{this scalloped jute doormat},

{this lidded rattan basket} that I use to store throws in our living room (size large) and laundry in our Jack and Jill bathroom (size medium):

{these stacked scalloped baskets} on our living room bookcase,

Stacked scalloped baskets for stylish storage

and {this large rattan lamp} in my girls’ room.

5. Bring Out the Blues

Coastal color schemes draw from the colors of the beach: blue water, sandy beaches, and green beach grasses. I keep most of our furniture pieces neutral and add color in other ways, such as {this blue patterned wallpaper} on the back of our bookcases,

Bookshelf decor on oak shelves with wallpaper on back of bookcase

{this blue and white duvet cover} in our guest room,

Blue and white duvet cover in coastal bedroom

{these light blue textured pillows} with {these patterned pillows} on our sofa,

Floral patterned pillow cover from Etsy in green, blue, and cream

and {this blue and white patterned rug} in our dining room:

Blue and white patterned dining room rug

6. Showcase Your Walls or Ceiling With Shiplap

Whether you use true shiplap planks or paneling that gives you the look of shiplap, shiplapped walls work beautifully with a coastal style. While they reached their height of popularity a few years back, when modern farmhouse was the big thing, I think shiplap is timeless and won’t ever go totally out of style. The key is to not overuse it in your home.

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One alternative to fully shiplapped walls is to use shiplap on only the bottom half of a wall, similar to the way you’d use traditional half-wall paneling. You can check out the details of how we used it in our powder room in my post on bathroom shiplap:

Shiplap on bottom half of wall in bathroom

Another option is to use shiplap to highlight the architectural features of a ceiling:

See my post on our shiplap ceiling for more details on this project.

Another more modern version of shiplap is to install it vertically instead of horizontally, as seen in {this Serena & Lily dining space}:

7. Consider a Classic Stripe

There’s nothing that says coastal more than a classic blue stripe! Some options include blue and white striped pillows, a blue and white striped rug like {this rug} in our family room,

Love this blue striped rug for our living room!

or striped wallpaper. You can use striped wallpaper on all four walls in a room or on a smaller project, such as the addition of {this peel and stick blue stripe wallpaper} to the back of our linen closet:

Want tips for organizing your linen closet? See my post on linen closet organization ideas!

8. Showcase Seashells

Using a lot of seashells in your home decor can quickly turn kitschy. But there are several ways to incorporate shells in a more elevated way. For example, I love the coastal vibe of {this large clamshell} filled with {this strand of large sea glass beads} on our entryway console:

Large decorative clam shell fill with glass bead garland

I also have several pieces of faux coral that I’ve incorporated into our decor, including {this large faux coral piece} that has the prettiest acrylic base:

Faux coral that lends a natural vibe to coastal bedroom decor

and {this faux acrylic coral} that I’ve used as a coffee table book topper:

Lots of ideas for great coffee table decor in this post, including adding natural elements like coral!

I’ve also always thought that {these coral wave mirrors} are fabulous:

9. Find Furniture With Clean Lines

If you love ornate furniture, coastal style’s probably not for you! Instead, look for furniture with clean lines and simple shapes. It will allow your eyes to move effortlessly around the room, making it feel open and airy. Some examples in our home include {this round kitchen table} in our eat-in space:

Round white breakfast nook table that's simple but stylish!

{this white console with woven doors} in our dining room,

Sources: White vase (medium) | Canvas art | Canvas Art Floater Frame | Blue gourd lamp

this open console table in our entryway:

and {this bench seat} in one of our bedrooms:

Cane bench at end of bed as a coastal bedroom decor idea

10. Warm It Up With Light Woods

Regardless of your decorating style, wood furniture and accessories add so much warmth to a room. If you’re embracing a coastal style, light woods are the way to go! Some examples from our home include {this white oak dining table},

{this tall woven cabinet} in our bedroom, and {these natural oak shelves} in our living room bookcases:

Bookshelf styling on oak shelves with wallpaper on back of bookcase

And with that, this post is a wrap! I want to wish a happy Mother’s Day to all of you mamas out there (I celebrated with two of the best – my mom and sister!):

Kris with sister and mom on Mother's Day

I hope you have a day full of being both spoiled and celebrated!

XO,