Furnishing the beach house: between style and design
Colours, accessories, and furniture, between contemporary and vintage
To have a beach house is the secret dream of many people, a place where to spend the holidays and relax at the weekends, leaving behind the smog and warmth of the city, or simply owning it as an investment asset for the future. If you already own a beach house or if you intend to buy it, we would like to provide you some useful tips on how make it as cosy as possible, both for renting it or using it.
The choice of colours, coatings, and furniture depends on the available space that is usually less than city apartments. In any case, no detail should be left to chance. It will be important to focus on the furnishing style to choose, avoiding creating the usual "storage" house furnished with scrap pieces of the first house, marked by that "cheap" atmosphere.
Many factors come into play for the choice of the interior style: the location, the initial constructive features of the house, our personal taste, as well as the affinity between the furnishing style and the main activities that will be performed. It may be obvious but marine colours and typical features of the place are generally necessary for a beach house, especially if it is used only on holidays or used as a B&B.
However, if the beach house is your primary residence, things should be different because the marine style could be redundant and cumbersome, in the long term. In this case, we can create a dialogue between the marine style and a more contemporary and customised furnishings.
On the other hand, if the beach house is used only on holidays or for renting, a "natural" furnishing style would be preferable, with furnishings and accessories made of non-toxic materials, resistant to salinity. Easy to clean furniture and accessories should be chosen, especially if positioned in terraces, gardens and / or balconies where the salt can damage the quality of the products.
In both cases, the choice of colours is one of the most important phases. If you go for the marine theme, you will surely choose light colours such as light blue, white or colours mirroring the colours of the surroundings. To create a perfect contrast, the furniture to combine should be light matte, to recreate a natural and lived-in effect. Blue and green are other two suitable colours for creating contrasts and enter into contact with the external atmosphere.
Let's see the various "marine" styles in detail:
- Modern House
- Mediterranean Style House
- Shabby Chic House
- Minimal House
MODERN STYLE
As mentioned before, if the beach house becomes your primary residence, the style we suggest is the modern one as the marine style might become tiresome and monotonous, in the long term.
This style is characterised by simple and essential furniture with geometric shapes, resistant materials, and space-saving furniture suitable for small apartments, such as storage beds that perform multiple functions. To contrast this minimalism, it is important to add accessories with a great scenic effect, still maintaining a simple shape for a greater cleanliness and easy care.
In a house with a modern style, you can also insert some references to the sea that convey a fresh and elegant reference to the place where the property is located. Thanks to its neutrality this style can be addressed towards different styles simply adding small accessories...your home will never go out of fashion!
MEDITERRANEAN STYLE
The Mediterranean context is undoubtedly what characterises our Bel Paese and influences this second style, extremely suitable for beach houses and in great demand. It is characterised by a play of natural fabrics, such as cotton or linen, which give an atmosphere of well-being and relaxation to the house. To further increase the brightness of interior spaces, the use of light colours and natural wood is preferred for furnishings and coatings.
The rooms are often enriched by repainted vintage furniture combined with various accessories, essential for this style, such as marine paintings and reproductions, shells and shell compositions / objects, and rice paper lamps, which create harmony and peace. The lightness and serenity of this style can only enchant everybody.
SHABBY STYLE
At present, the shabby style is one of the most requested; its characters are similar to the Mediterranean style, but it differs for its final atmosphere that is more elegant and closer to the classic style of Provencal houses.
Furnishings and accessories are usually made of raw wood with a touch of finesse that never comes amiss! The most used colours are light ones but, in addition to light blue and white, this style is also characterised by light dusty pink, beige and cream. To complete it, accessories such as candles, starfish, laces, and shells are present and create a contrast with other ethnic elements such as hammocks, rope objects and bamboo furniture.
MINIMAL STYLE
One of the most loved styles, even in city apartments, is the minimal style. We recommend it if your beach house is your primary residence all year round.
Linearity and geometry dictate the rules for the harmony and functionality of modular furniture which characterise this style; the refinement of the interiors is simply ruled by the perfect balance between colours and shapes. The lighting fixtures are real design objects that can highlight or shade the corners of this minimal canvas. Both the interiors and the exteriors are a stage of great beauty.
The external area, the strength point
A beach house has often a medium-sized outdoor space that should be furnished with great care, to have more space available. Outdoor areas allow an interesting customisation and can be organised according to the activities you love the most. Do you like inviting friends to dinner? You can then create a corner with an elegant and nice table, with matching chairs...Do you like reading books? You can then create small sittings surrounded by beautiful salt resistant greenery.
On the other hand, if you have a larger outdoor space, you can let loose in creating a real "outdoor house" with sofas, deckchairs, dinner and reading corners, a place for a barbecue, another place with sunshades and umbrellas to shelter yourself after tanning.
Whether it is a beach house to rent or to live in all year round, there are many tricks you can follow to make every single choice with care. We at FAD are ready to design your beach house and follow you in every phase.
