Coastal decorating has a bad reputation earned entirely by the literal version — the rope, the anchors, the driftwood sign about the beach. Actual coastal rooms rarely contain any of that. They are about light, air movement and materials that shrug off salt and damp.
The useful principles: pale floors that bounce light, window treatments that filter rather than block, natural fibre underfoot, and a palette taken from the specific coast you are near rather than from a generic idea of blue. New England coastal, Mediterranean coastal and Pacific Northwest coastal are three different rooms. Furniture should be relaxed enough to sit on in damp swimwear. Everything here follows that thread, and none of it involves a ship’s wheel.
A single bright security light turns a garden into a car park. What to light instead, at what height, and the cheapest setup that transforms an evening.
The standard above-ground pool deck is a square platform at the wrong height. What to build instead, and why the surround matters more than the pool.