Nautical Home Decor: Easy Coastal Ideas for Every Room

Nautical or coastal? Get the basics right first

The two looks overlap, but it helps to lean one way. Nautical is crisp and traditional: navy and white, a little red, stripes, brass, rope and signal flags. Coastal is softer and more relaxed: sand, sea-glass blues, white paint, driftwood and linen. Pick one as your starting point and borrow from the other.

Materials do most of the work. Rope, cotton, weathered wood, brass and shells feel like the real thing, while shiny plastic does not. And keep the colours calm, because a room that is already quiet lets one or two seaside pieces stand out.

The hallway

A hallway is the perfect place for one bold, useful piece. The Fish Bone Coat Hook is a two-tone wooden fish with metal bones and three hooks, about 60cm wide, so it holds real coats as well as making people smile. Add a Lighthouse Doorstop and the Wooden Beach Sign With Seagull, and if you have the height, hang a Driftwood Mobile in the stairwell. It is a full metre long, so check the drop first.

The living room

Start with the walls. The Land's End and Isles of Scilly shipwreck prints are on thick parchment-style paper and read like old charts, so people stop to look at them. They come rolled and ready for framing, at 63cm by 45cm. A Nautical Photo Frame turns three holiday snaps into one display, and a Puffin and Crab Clock is decoration as much as a clock, with a virtually silent mechanism.

On the shelves, Nautical Book Ends and a Wooden Harbourside Cottage add height and character. A Scallop Shell Cushion brings some colour to a plain sofa without any commitment.

The kitchen and dining room

The kitchen is the easiest room to change, because small things are cheap to swap. Printed tea towels add a coastal touch for very little, and a Nautical Apron, hand sewn in the West Country, can hang on the back of the door. On the table, the Ships Wheel and Anchor placemat and coaster sets are melamine on cork and wipe clean, and the Cornish Lobster and Cornish Mackerel tablemats can be mixed so that every place has its own catch. A Creative Tops Serving Tray is good for carrying drinks outside and looks fine left out.

The bathroom

Seaside themes feel natural in a bathroom, but steam is hard on wood, rope and paper, so keep decorations away from the shower and open a window. A Starfish Bundle sits well on a shelf, and a Blue Starfish Rope Garland can hang down the back of the door. For a whole wall, a Decorative Cotton Fishing Net measures 200cm by 150cm and comes in several colours. It is made for decoration and not for catching fish.

The study or the shed

Useful things work best here. The Nautical Brass Ruler is solid brass, engraved with the flags of the International Code of Signals. The Quayside Pen Pot keeps a desk tidy, and the Starfish Perpetual Calendar never needs replacing. For the shed, the Gone Fishing Sign says all that needs saying.

Common mistakes, and how to avoid them

Too many anchors. If everything in the room is shouting about the sea, the effect is more themed pub than beach house. Limit yourself to two or three pieces in each room, and let some of them be plain natural materials.

Everything matching. A room looks better when things have been gathered over time, so mix old with new and wood with metal. Check the size as well: a 100cm mobile or a 60cm coat hook needs space around it, and small ornaments work better in groups of three than dotted around a room.

Doing it all at once. Start with one piece you really like, live with it for a while, and add to it. If you want more ideas, browse nautical decor, coastal accessories and maritime wall art. For presents, see our coastal gifts guide, and at this time of year our coastal Christmas decorations may help too.