The sea, ah the sea … How to equip an interior in a marine style

Recommendation points

• Color spectrum
• Finishing
• Furniture
• Decorative elements

In this article we will tell you how to create an atmosphere of travel and relaxation on the seashore in an ordinary apartment, that is, decorate an interior in a marine style. We will find out what features this design direction has, we will offer options for colors, furnishings and “marine” decor.

Probably, there is not a single person who would not love the sea. Its boundless space is mesmerizing, gentle waves beckon to plunge into the water element, and it is difficult to imagine a spectacle more beautiful than a sunset over the sea.

It is not surprising that the nautical style has been popular for many years and is widely used not only in the interiors of luxury villas on the coast, but also in ordinary city apartments. After all, such an interior design allows you to transfer the love of the sea element to your own home..

The marine style can be called universal, suitable for decorating any room in the house, light, light, festive and not requiring substantial costs. So let’s figure out what exactly marine design has earned such popularity..

The main feature of the maritime style, perhaps, is that it can be very different, but always recognizable. So in this living room, only thanks to the color scheme, the seascape on the wall and the figurine of a seagull on the table, it was possible to create the very necessary accent

Color spectrum

Remember your vacation trip and agree that the sea can be very different – azure and turquoise under the gentle rays of the sun, greenish and dull beige off the coast, dark blue at depth, transparent and gray.

So the colors of the nautical style can be very different. We offer some of the most common palette options ideal for a nautical style:

1. The classic combination that immediately loudly declares is the marine style and nothing else – blue and white. These colors are perfectly combined with each other, causing associations with snow-white yachts on the sea waves and sailors’ vests. If you have chosen just such a color scheme, then often nothing else is required to create a nautical style in the interior. The blue and white palette itself will set the desired tone for the entire interior and you will only have to continue in the same style..
2. Brown, beige and green. This color scheme is more reminiscent of the yacht’s cabins. It is in this style that you will have to move on if such a palette is chosen. Otherwise, the marine style will turn into an ordinary classic or contemporary.
3. Gray shades. They go well with both blue and brown. You just need to add a few bright colors to such an interior and do not forget to emphasize the marine orientation of the design with the appropriate decor..
4. Yellow and sandy. What usually awaits us after a sea voyage? Of course, a beach with clean sand, a paradise with palm trees and sun loungers. Therefore, sandy shades and small blotches of yellow will only benefit the marine interior. In addition, the combination of yellow and blue always looks very bright and festive..
5. Azure and turquoise. These delicate, bright enough shades are best combined with calmer colors such as sand, white or beige..

Of course, we only offered basic color options for the nautical style. Designers call this design direction very diverse and believe that it is not forbidden to add red and terracotta to such an interior. What should be avoided are unnatural, neon colors such as hot pink and brilliant green..

Silver and gold are quite appropriate in the form of rare inclusions, such as an anchor on the facade of furniture or a clock in the form of a shiny steering wheel..

As for patterns and ornaments, stripes of various sizes and, of course, a wave are ideal for a nautical style..

Classic nautical style – blue and white. A bright and at the same time gentle combination will make any room bright, and the style of the interior can be guessed at first glance

This room has been decorated in the same colors as the luxurious cabins of sea liners. Anchors and compasses have been adorned on the wall facades to emphasize the nautical focus.

Another design option for a bedroom-room. The unusual headboard has become the most striking detail, and in general, the interior is distinguished by calm shades of brown and blue-gray

Finishing

Imagine the deck of a ship, the cabin of a yacht, or an oceanfront bungalow. When creating an interior in a nautical style, one should be equal to these samples. Of course, it would be inappropriate to completely repeat the wooden cladding of the cabins and install round porthole windows in an ordinary apartment. And the nautical style itself is not too demanding for decoration. But the basic principles of “marine” finishing can be offered:

1. The ideal floor covering is a board, parquet or laminate that successfully imitates natural wood. It is desirable that as a result, the floor resembles the deck of a ship, so ceramics or carpet will be inappropriate.
2. The ideal option for walls is decorative plaster with shells. There are ready-made plasters with shells from different manufacturers. But in general, you can achieve this effect on your own – shells or sea pebbles are easily pressed into a thick layer of plaster, becoming an unusual finishing element. You can simply paint the walls in light shades, and then decorate with seascapes. In addition, wood paneling and vertical striped wallpaper are often used..
3. The ceiling in a nautical style can be, in fact, any – stretch, suspended, multi-level, simply painted. The main thing is to adhere to the chosen color scheme and choose suitable lamps.

Separately, I would like to talk about the unique possibilities of using such an attribute of the sea coast as pebbles in interior decoration. These soft-touch, smooth, wave-polished stones can be used literally anywhere – in the bathroom, living room, kitchen. Moreover, today it is not at all necessary to collect pebbles on the shore and carefully, pebble at a time, attach with glue to the selected surface. There is a wide variety of so-called mesh or backed pebbles. Such ready-made finishing sections of different sizes can be cut and bent, which allows you to use pebbles when decorating arches, slopes, countertops, podiums.

There is also a decorative stone that imitates pebbles, and as a last resort, you can always use a photo wallpaper depicting a pebble or sandy beach..

Pebbles will be an excellent material for finishing your kitchen backsplash. Of course, it’s easier to buy ready-made pebbles on a substrate than scrupulously spreading each pebble

Such pebble rugs can be used not only near the front door. Them most place near the bathroom, shower or sink. Excellent foot massager and original detailing

In such a bathroom, it is easy to imagine yourself on the seashore, and all thanks to the well-chosen tile with a pattern

Ready-made decorative plaster with images of shells of different shapes – ideal for decorating the walls of the “sea” room

Furniture

Finding furniture that is suitable for a nautical style is not that difficult. Often, for this, it is enough to choose striped upholstery for the sofa and replace the bedside table in the living room with a chest. Let’s look at the most common options for furnishing a room in a nautical style:

1. Upholstered furniture, which differs from the usual classic version only in striped or monochromatic upholstery and colors. Pillows on a sofa or an armchair are an obligatory detail, and they can resemble pebbles, starfish or a lifebuoy, have prints in the form of seashells or coral. By the way, you can create such pillows with your own hands..
2. Wicker and forged furniture in a marine, almost beach interior will be very appropriate. It’s good if the wicker chair resembles a chaise lounge.
3. Artificially aged or vintage furniture. All the same chest with metal rivets, a sideboard with shells or sea inhabitants on the facade, Viennese chairs, a solid armchair with wooden handles – elegant, respectable and quite in the spirit of long journeys.

The decoration of this kitchen is no different from the usual modern options. Only the original facades with seascapes and the classic white and blue gamut allow this room to be attributed to the marine style.

Wooden furniture is ideal for marine style. Try to imagine what this chair would look like in the captain’s cabin? Harmoniously? Then in your “sea” room such furniture will look appropriate..

A separate topic is the design of a room in a marine style for boys. Today manufacturers offer a wide selection of such furniture – from bunk beds with anchors and lifebuoys to a wardrobe in the form of a boat. Ready-made sets of such children’s furniture will make it easy to create a “sea” room for a future sea captain. Don’t forget just the appropriate finish, decor and palette.

Children’s room for a boy in the attic. The furniture set in blue and light gray fits perfectly into this luscious and fresh interior. And the most striking detail was the image of a sailing ship at the head.

The room is small so had to use a bunk bed. The nautical style is immediately recognizable thanks to the cushion in the shape of a life buoy, which repeats the decoration of the second tier, portholes on the front of the cabinet, a carpet with fish and traditional shades of blue and gray

Decorative elements

It is a great pleasure to add decorative elements to the “marine” interior! The main thing here is not to overdo it and not turn the room into an exhibition of shell souvenirs. The most notable details of the nautical interior will be:

1. Sailboat model. It is an indispensable attribute of a nautical style, an indispensable part of decorating a bedroom, nursery or living room. A model of a sailboat can be assembled by hand from a set or bought ready-made, to have any dimensions – this is not so important, the main thing is that it takes its place on a shelf, coffee table or mantel.
2. A watch in the form of a steering wheel or lifebuoy. You can also transform ordinary wall clocks by decorating them with shells or pebbles..
3. Glass vases with a scattering of the same seashells and sea pebbles.
4. Anchors. They can decorate furniture facades and bed linen, turn into a figurine, magnet, image on wallpaper. Just do not overdo it if the room already has one noticeable anchor – enough.
5. Hemp, ropes, twine are another decorative element. Imagine how harmoniously a floor lamp will fit into a marine interior, whose leg is wrapped in twine? Hemp can also be used to create bezels and mirror frames.
6. Seascapes. One large painting with a traditional theme – a sailboat flying over the waves – can simply transform the interior. In a small room, it will be more appropriate to use several paintings of a modest size..
7. Aquarium. Part of the real sea in your room – what could be more appropriate and harmonious!
8. There are not so many textiles in a nautical style, light linen or muslin curtains are often used that look like sails, of course, bed linen in the appropriate color scheme and pillows, which we have already talked about.
9. All kinds of travel souvenirs. Everyone who has ever been to Sochi, Yalta, Alushta, Anapa or another Black Sea resort, of course, has a couple of souvenirs bought while walking along the embankment. All these seashell figures, candlesticks, dish stands, etc. can be made part of the “marine” decor. Just, again, try not to overdo it! Designers advise to allocate one shelf for such souvenirs, and not to place them all over the room..

White and blue bedding with beacons, anchors and steering wheels is perfect for a nautical bedroom

Corals, shells, starfish – all these seafood are widely used in the “sea” interior. They can be present both in kind, and as images or crafts.

Such a large aquarium with marine life is expensive. Therefore, it is quite possible to imitate it with photo wallpaper. In this bedroom, the aquarium has become the most striking detail, and the marine orientation of the style is continued by the landscape on the wall and the sand-blue color scheme.

A crab pillow, a steering wheel with a string on a striped wall, boulder ottomans and a blue-and-blue carpet on the plank floor are a prime example of nautical decor. By the way, the sea is travel, so the map on the wall will be more than appropriate, as well as the compass.

A transparent vase filled with seashells will be a great addition to the decor in a marine style

In some ways, the nautical style, of course, is similar to the Mediterranean, has separate coincidences with the classics and Scandinavian style. But it has such features that made it possible to highlight the marine style in a separate direction of interior design..

This style is perfect for a summer residence and a front living room, a luxurious villa somewhere in Italy and a typical Khrushchev building in a residential area of ​​the metropolis. Versatility, the ability to achieve goals with simple techniques, relatively inexpensive options for finishes, furniture and decor made the nautical style very popular. And what is especially pleasant – with its help you can return to the resort atmosphere of the long-awaited relaxation and doing nothing!