Convert Your Living Room Into a Beach
If you love the sights and sounds of the beach, try bringing them into your home. You can't put an entire beach into your house, but you can certainly bring the suggestion of it into your home.
Contents
Steps
- Choose the right room. If possible, you'll want to choose a place that already has some connection to the outdoors, such as a large patio door. A sun room or enclosed porch would be another great spot for your indoor beach.
- Decide how far you want to go. Do you want a traditional living room with beach decorations and colors or do you want the whole thing to evoke a beach?
- Keep your budget in mind. Bringing in a few patio chairs you already own and setting up a tabletop fountain is a far different matter than knocking down part of an exterior wall to install a sun room!
- Think about what colors the beach means to you. Is a beach about the muted, natural tones of sand and surf, or would you like some bright, tropical colors in the mix, too?
- Look at real beaches, photos of beaches, and photos of beach and seashore rooms and homes for ideas. What elements would you like to try to recreate?
- Let the light in, especially natural light. Do all you can with skylights and windows. Light and spaciousness is a big part of why many people like beaches.
- Take advantage of outdoor furnishings. You'll find all sorts of furniture for outdoor, poolside, and beach use, so there is no need to go with the molded plastic sort. It may still be less costly and more durable than conventional living room furniture. Instead, go for comfortable, casual pieces that fit your theme.
- Don't forget that this is still a living room. Plan for your seats to have cushions of some sort, even if they are not weatherproof to stand up to the elements.
- This would be a great place for a couple of wooden deck chairs or Adirondack chairs, since the wood need not stand up to moisture and weather.
- Choose the right plants. Many tropical and tropical-looking plants thrive indoors and in indirect light. Try a dieffenbachia or other large plant as an anchor and build out from there.
- Use natural materials. Try a bamboo lattice or mat, coarsely woven textiles in an island pattern, and an interesting piece of driftwood as a natural sculpture. Or use natural looking materials, such as tufa planters.
- Include an element of water. Water brings with it sound, texture, and moisture. The exact nature is up to you and your space, but consider an aquarium, a fountain, a water feature, or even a small indoor pond.
- Plant the space outside the room. Make the view through the windows or patio door as tropical and beach-like as your climate allows. Also choose colors and styles for the hard surfaces outdoors. For instance, cover a patio or wall with tile in warm colors or a tropical motif. You may also prefer to put your pond, water feature, or sandbox outdoors.
- Consider carefully whether to introduce sand. Unless you have a truly separate room with a concrete floor, real sand is probably not a good idea in your house. It will only get tracked around and abrade your other floors. If you like, you can have suggestions of sand, instead. You can buy a tabletop Zen garden or make your own in any size you please. You could obtain or make a sand pendulum, a tray of sand with a long, heavy pendulum hanging just into the surface so that it draws patterns as it swings. You could have a jar or terrarium with colored sand and perhaps seashells in it.
- Use an aged, weathered appearance. A worn-out pail could contain some of those plants. Weathered wood would go just fine. This would be a great place to try distressing paint or fabric, if you can't find something that's already suitably worn.
- Consider your fireplace part of the décor. Often, living rooms already have fireplaces. They provide warmth and low light on cool nights that is well suited to a beach theme.
- Bring the room together. Are you trying for an open, airy feel or a cozy beach hut? How will traffic move through the room? Whatever you do to make the room more beach-like, do it consistently, or at least coherently, throughout the room.
Tips
- Let in the air. If it's nice out, open up the doors and windows and let the air in.
- There are lots of tacky beach-theme things. The best approach is to go with natural materials and handcrafts whenever possible.
- Lots of paintings and other decorations feature beach, nautical and harbor scenes. Use them to suggest the waterfront, too.
- Don't forget how you really live in the room. Do you watch TV or read there? Does the family spread out toys or projects? Is this room off to the side or a major thoroughfare?
- When the living room is occupied for a relaxing time, for example a nap, consider putting on some beach sounds. There are CDs available that have sounds of the waves, birds, and people.
- If you're new to keeping fish or aquariums, start with freshwater varieties. They may not be quite as colorful as their saltwater cousins, but they are far easier to care for.
- If you're going to use Make Scented Shells as part of the décor, use real ones. One or two large, genuine seashells (perhaps cleaned and varnished) will look a lot better than a bunch of plaster (or plastic) seashell-themed things.
- Beaches come in all different styles and nationalities. A beach means something different depending on whether it's in Hawaii, in California, or in Maine. For an additional level of theme and unity, include a geographic and cultural element. Greece, Italy, and Spain all have beaches, and they all have strong stylistic motifs that could add color, flair, and unity to a room. Or, try for a South Pacific, Asian, or Australian, or African theme, according to your tastes.
Warnings
- Children or pets who chew on dieffenbachia could die. If this is a concern, choose a different plant.
- Make sure that the structure of your home can withstand the weight of any water you bring in. A small aquarium or tabletop fountain is probably not a concern, but larger aquariums and indoor ponds and water features could be. You may need to reinforce or scale back your plans.
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