As a native Cape Codder, I’m all too aware of the fine line between beach chic and coastal cliché.
Photograph by Elizabeth Watsky.
1. Caged Industrial Lamps
With the aid of architect John Allee and designer Hannah Childs, our friend Charlotte Tracy enhanced the coastal feel of her Connecticut cottage with white paneling and industrial caged lamps.
Photograph by Francesco Lagnese, courtesy of the Vendome Press.
In designer Tom Scheerer’s Harbour Island cottages in the Bahamas, a vintage porthole, repurposed as a mirror, anchors an entryway. See the full tour at Island Life: At Home with Tom Scheerer.
2. Portholes
In my own Cape Cod cottage, I created a minimal mantel display by pairing a single vintage porthole with a bleached caribou antler that my stepfather found in Alaska.
Former World of Interiors editor Min Hogg offers an entire collection of whimsical seaweed wallpapers and fabrics.
3. Seaweed Wallpaper
4. Fish Skeletons
Designer John Derian adorned the walls of his Provincetown bathroom with a vintage sawfish snout, among other ephemera.
Photograph by Matthew Williams.
At Sir & Star in Olema, California, Margaret Gradé and Daniel DeLong draped the wall sconces in tendril forms of dried kelp.
5. Dried Seaweed
At Saltwater Oyster Depot in West Marin, artist Lina Jane Prairie fashioned baskets from kelp found on local beaches.
Photograph by Mimi Giboin.
Photograph by Matthew Williams.
6. Creative Shells Collections
Architect Sheila Bonnell created a one-of-a-kind installation by layering razor clams on a living room shelf. Note also the paper sculpture that resembles a fish spine.
7. Strings of Beach Finds
Speaking of creative ways to display your beach finds: String them together.
A small DIY mobile of shells, driftwood, and objects from the sea becomes a natural sculptural element in this quiet flat in France.
A strand of stones adorns a table of other sculptural elements at Mr. & Mrs. Charlie shop.
8. Unframed Maps
Vintage maps form an instant headboard at Hello I’m Local, a Dutch hostel in Haarlem. See A Quirky Hotel in the Netherlands with Dozens of Design Ideas to Steal.
Photograph by Elizabeth Watsky.
9. Nautical Stripes
Another inspired nautical moment in Charlotte Tracy’s home: Striped stairs enhance the coastal feel of her Connecticut cottage (we highlighted its white paneling and industrial caged lamps above). See Remodeling 101: Nautical Stripes on the Stairs.
A row of framed dried seaweed at Kadeau Restaurant in Copenhagen.