Decorate a Living Room With a Beach Theme

Even if you don't live by the seashore you can feel as if you do by decorating with beach theme decor. The challenge is to do it tastefully without making it look cheap. One way to get ideas for beach-themed decor is looking at decorating magazines. Most of the rooms featured in decorating magazines are arranged by professional interior designers. They use well-chosen accessories to give the room a classy look without going overboard. You can copy their ideas with basic accessories to give your room that designer look.


Paint and Furniture
Paint the room in a light color such as aqua, light blue, beige, yellow or white. Lightly colored painted walls will give the room an open, airy feel. Paint the ceiling either a light blue to mimic the color of the sky or paint it white. Paint the window frames white or a sand color to keep the overall feel of the room light. Use rattan furniture in the room along with a large sea grass rug placed under the coffee table. You will feel as if you are outdoors walking on the beach every time you enter the room.

Hot-glue shells onto the frame of a large mirror. Hang the mirror on the wall opposite of a wall with a window. The window will be reflected in the mirror to give the image of another window in the room, which will add more light. Hot-glue rope onto pillows for the sofa and chairs. Take a few small picture frames and hammer a brass tac or nail into each of the corners. Wrap rope around the them and tie it at the bottom in a nautical knot.

Place shells in a tall glass vase on one side table and an old lantern with a candle inside on the other. Place a large conch shell on the coffee table as a center piece. You can also fill glass-based lamps with shells, starfish or beach glass to add a little whimsy to your room. Using shells that you have personally collected will add special meaning to your room, or you can purchase bags of shells from a craft store.

Place beach-themed art on the walls. Place a large painting of the ocean or a sailboat above the sofa. Place photos of your family's trips to the beach in picture frames and group them in an entry way. Attach floating shelves on the walls and place beach photos, shells and candles on them in groupings. Be careful not to make the groupings look cluttered. Groupings of two or three items per shelf will add a touch of whimsy without being too much and will make it easy to dust and maintain.