We love the feeling of creativity and enjoyment that can be had when re-imagining an interior style. By committing to a new look in your space, you bring a fresh energy and enriching feel to your living space. One of the most refreshing of themes we think comes in the form of nautical decor. By engaging with the seaside look, you can bring a touch of coastal beauty into your own home or business (even if you are miles from the sea!). Explore different nautical theme decor ideas, from subtle hints and nods towards the theme, all the way to a more traditional vintage take.
The colour palette is often going to feature a lot of greys, whites and blues. But then you can also do so much with the natural look of wood, ropes, and metals in a nautical theme. This is a theme with thrives on showing off the raw materials. Have a peak through our overview of different nautical theme decor ideas to get some inspiration for the different ways you can use a nautical theme. From a modern fresh nautical look to a cute rustic beach house style, and even a vintage touch. You might pick up some great ideas for how you can bring the joys of the seaside into your room.
Modern Nautical Style
There are many different routes you can go down when it comes to nautical theme decor ideas. One might not first think of the contemporary when one considers coastal themes. However, using a clean, light palette and carefully selecting some key pieces that work together will help you to create a contemporary nautical theme. This fresh seaside look is where you can make use of lots of whites and a touch of colour. Try the lightness of coastal blues that are such an integral part of the seaside aesthetic. Or opt for a little of the deep dark blues that remind us of the depths of the ocean. You could also bring in some subtle greys or even a drop of yellow would work nicely as an accent colour.
Creating a cool, chic appearance, these light tones will be able to foster a charmingly simple coastal theme. You might think about the subtle use of prints such as stripes or shells. Together with coastal artwork or drift wood ornaments to enhance this look. Small selective touches such as textured pots, lamps, lanterns or other nautical decorative pieces can be placed on mantelpieces, windowsills and tables. This will get across the seaside flavour in a refined and understated way.
Checkout a selection of our furniture, homewares and accessories that would suit this look modern nautical look.
Vintage Nautical Theme
You might also want to explore the vintage nautical theme. Darker wood, rope, leather and metals will be materials to focus on to bring out a vintage feel. There are more traditional style accessories in our nautical look collection that would fit perfectly in an vintage atmosphere. Have a think for example about a accessories that feel aged or worn (well loved perhaps) such as ships paraphernalia. Part of the joy of these items is that they has a weathered effect.
Details like this add so much character. This textured quality seems to bring a feeling of history with it. Very handy if you can’t find real vintage items to use in your space. Similarly, a old fashioned style lantern accessory might be a great piece to add to your home for the vintage coastal look. It likewise has an appealing roughened outer layer which heightens interest. These characterful textures, combined with the subtlety and the sleekness of the designs in question, will offer the absolute best of both worlds. You could be creating a captain’s cabin look or going after the feel of a harbour masters home.
Cosy Rustic Nautical Look
Things don’t have to be just minimal though. You can also have lots of fun putting together a more rustic cosy and collective nautical look. The rustic coastal style will be much to do with telling a story through texture. Assorted shells will be a go-to accessory in this case. On top of shell accessories, try rope fishing nets, wooden anchors and oars, and seaside ornaments to decorate the walls or the surfaces. These would add a rich texture and visual interest to your space. Whether you are decorating a cosy coastal cafe or creating a cute nautical bedroom, you can get creative with building a sense of the seaside in your space.
In terms of materials, think of driftwood washed up on the beach, ropes and baskets, white washed wood, metal lanterns, smoothed glass, sand and shells. Bringing some driftwood decorations into play would also add lots of character to your rustic seaside look. Have a browse through our collections: there are many cute pieces of driftwood decoration. Explore wooden anchors, seahorses and fish accessories – which would be a welcome addition to any rustic nautical interior design.
The cosy part of this nautical look comes, not only from the collections of items that would make a space feel full and lived in, but also from using fabrics and cushions to create comfortable corners. Then don’t forget the lighting, with candles and lanterns to help soften the atmosphere in the evenings.
When thinking of colour palettes, whites can be a great base for this look too. Perhaps an off white or even a cream might work well. However, you could play around with warm coastal blues or even adding soft beach hut themed colours into the mix.
So now you have some more nautical theme decor ideas. Time to start planning how you will create your own space. Explore the featured items from this post and many more in our full range of nautical accessories here.