How To Decorate A Coastal Themed – Beachy Bedroom

Are you wanting to decorate a room with a coastal themed decor? Here are 5 Easy Tips on How to decorate a room with a coastal beachy vibe.

If you have been around Notes for My Daughters blog for a bit then you probably already know…

I am a beach girl.

Even more?

We are a beach family.

So, last Spring when our oldest daughter requested a Home with Heather bedroom makeover with a “beachy” theme (in her words) for her birthday?

I was ALL IN on bringing the beach vibe into our every day home vibe.

It seems the coastal vibe is everywhere these days and I am not sad about it.

Not at all.

I love the relaxed aesthetic and calm comforts that coastal themed decor offers a space.

Last week in this post, I shared with you an update on my 2nd most pinned home decorating project, our master bathroom painted cabinets.

And this week…I bet you can already guess what my #1 pinned picture is on the planet of Pinterest right now.

Yep…you guessed it.

This coastal inspired teen girls bedroom makeover.

And so?

I thought it would be fun to share with you an UPDATE of how this coastal bedroom has changed and worked out for Eve over the last 10 months…

And share with you my TOP 5 TIPS on how to decorate a coastal themed bedroom or any room for that matter, for yourself!

Can you spot the slight changes of costal theme decor between the two pictures above?

Not many huge changes, but we have added a few new decor pieces and redecorated the floating shelves a bit from when I first gave this pre-teen girl bedroom a makeover last Spring.

If you weren’t following the blog last Spring, you will want to see this full bedroom makeover here in this post. You can see the ALL details of what this bedroom looked like before the beach theme makeover, with tons of before and after pictures, all the details are here for you.

Here is another “after” picture from last Spring when I first gave this bedroom a coastal theme makeover.

And here is the coastal theme bedroom today.

I love how you can see how much the happy plants have grown in these two comparison pictures! 🙂

Side note: If you are looking for real plant suggestions for a teenager (or anyone who is forgetful about watering plants) the plant on Eve’s desk is a Snake plant and the trailing plant on the upper floating shelf is a Pothos plant. They are happy with partial sun and minimal watering!

Ok, now then…where were we?

Oh yes!

If you are wondering how to decorate with the coastal vibe that is so popular right now, without covering the walls in seashells, this post is for you.

In this post I am going share the 5 super simple steps I took to get this coastal theme look or “beachy bedroom” vibe that our daughter requested for her 12th Birthday last year.

(Don’t worry – I’ve linked all of the decor below, with clickable images, so that you can easily click on the image of the product and it will take you to the website to shop and order at the bottom of this post.)

How To Decorate A Bedroom With a Coastal Theme

1. Select A Calming Paint Color

On this side of the bedroom, I chose to paint the upper wall with a calming blue-gray paint. This blue-gray paint color anchors the bedroom in a coastal sea of calm.

The blue gray color is Krypton by Sherwin Williams. The white molding on the lower half of the wall is painted in Alabaster by Sherwin Williams, which is more of a creamy-white versus stark bright white.

A new decor element that Eve has added to her bedroom since the initial makeover last Spring are these fairy string lights. They come with clear clips so that you can also hang pictures from the string lighting, but we opted for a less cluttered look and saved the clips in a bag for now.

We hung the fairy lights using these mini clear command hooks.

These lights were a perfect compromise as we had taken down the LED strip lighting she once had (sweet miracles really do happen) and these fairy lights offer both soft lighting and the teenager chill vibe she wanted.

PS : Another new item Eve is loving in her room right now (actually ALL of us are enjoying right now) are these heated blanket throws from Target shown at the bottom of Eve’s bed above. We gave one to each of our girls this year as a Christmas present and they have been using them NON-STOP. They lay on top of their beds and wrap up in them after school, they also bring them downstairs to snuggle on the sofa. They are SO cozy and they come in 8 different patterns. You can see them here.

Come to me friend for all things soft and cozy friend. 🙂

Moving on!

2. Embrace a Neutral & Natural Color Palette Beyond the Paint

Most of the times when we consider a color palette, we tend to think of it as just the paint on the walls. However, limiting color palette strategy to only the color of the walls, is probably one of the biggest mistakes we can make when it comes to decorating a room.

After selecting the blue-gray paint color to ground this beachy bedroom vibe, I surrounded the room with neutral tones, using both natural wood color and variations of creams and whites to help relax the room with a color palette that was soothing to the eye and light on the drama.

Examples of how this bedroom is softened with neutral and natural decor accessories:

Small tan and gray area rug, layered over the neutral carpet. (Tj MAXX)

White desk.

Round, side table in natural wood.

Wood frames with white matting.

Natural colored desk stool.

Floating Shelves in natural wood tone.

Fluffy white bedding.

White papasan chair.

Flush mount wood bead light fixture.

3. Repeat Texture and Color

This tip of repetition is not reserved for only decorating a room with a coastal theme.

Repeating color, texture and shape is a helpful tip to remember when styling any room. When we repeat shapes and colors in a room, it helps to create a balanced and cohesive feeling versus disconnected and random.

In this coastal bedroom, I have grounded the room in a neutral and natural color palette and introduced a touch of color very sparingly.

You can see the touch of blush repeated in the vase of pampas grass, framed wall art, throw pillow and blanket.

I have also used the strategy of repetition using the element of glass decor. I have repeated glass with the floating glass frame, square glass jewelry box and small glass jar on the floating shelf above.

Another BIG element to repeat when decorating with a coastal theme in mind is texture.

Sometimes, it can be difficult how to pin point exactly how to add texture to a room.

In this case, we decided to hang shiplap on two of the four walls.

(A hot tip for decorating on a budget: we only hung the shiplap on the upper half off the walls. We started it at the top of the chair molding that was already on the wall because the lower half of the two walls were hidden with the bed and desk anyway.)

Here are a few ways to add texture to a room to help create a coastal and beachy vibe:

Hang shiplap.

You can see more of our projects with shiplap here in this post and this post and this post with our shiplap ceiling.

Select a light fixture with wood beading.

Select rugs, pillows, accessories and lighting with tassels and fringe.

How many accessories with fringe or tassels can you spot in the picture above?

I spot 6 🙂

(Light fixture, pillow in basket, area rug, blanket hanging on closet door, two throw pillows on bed.)

Add texture with plants. (Real or faux)

We have already discussed the real plant growth of the two real plants in this room. YAY!

Eve also made her own moss basket when she accompanied me during my first Home with Heather workshop event this past November. She loved it so much, she decided to place it on her upper floating shelf. You can see how we made the moss basket here in this post.

The pampas grass stems also help to add texture and dimension to the shelf decor.

Before we move on, let’s recap what we have talked about so far on ways to decorate a bedroom with a coastal vibe:

We have already laid the coastal vibe foundational decor by selecting a calming paint color.

Surrounded the room with a natural and neutral color palette.

Repeated texture and color patterns throughout the room.

Now for the fun part!

4. Decorate with Woven Accessories.

I am in LOVE.

Love with this new lamp by Studio McGee at Target that is.

Isn’t she lovely?

This lamp was a recent addition to Eve’s coastal inspired bedroom. There is a good possibility that Eve might wake up tomorrow morning to the realization that she has been robbed. 🙂

Why?

Because, I can think of about a dozen other places in our home I want to use this lamp.

Regardless if you are decorating a full out coastal bedroom or not…I think you need this lamp in your life friend.

I love the size and white base of this lamp…but the reason why this lamp is the perfect finishing touch accessory to Eve’s desk area, is because of the woven rattan shade.

Here are more examples of how I decorated this bedroom with woven accessories for a beachy feel:

The base of the papasan chair is woven, making this large accent chair still feel light and airy.

(Even better about this papasan chair? It swivels! I love this chair – linked here from Amazon and also linked below from Walmart.)

Woven natural basket the snake plant is sitting in.

Set of nesting baskets on the floating shelf. (from Ikea, linked similar baskets at the bottom of this post)

Small, woven flower shaped mirror. (Linked similar mirrors below.)

Woven wall art basket that is the base to the moss art on the top shelf.

And finally?

Are you ready for my final tip on how to decorate a room with a coastal theme?

Hold on to your super cute Carhart beanie…because it may shock you.

5. Sprinkle a few shells around the room.

Remember now…I said A FEW!

🙂

Ok friend…to know me…is to know this:

I LOVE Shelling.

I love walking the beach and searching for shells.

In fact…next month we are taking a family vacation to the “Sea Shell Capital of the World” that is known as Sanibel Island.

I.Can.Not.Wait.

So you see?

This shell loving interior decorator could easily drown this room in shells.

After all?

I have the shells to do it.

But?

That would kill this room.

It would scream…beach motel on a budget.

Instead of dumping all the shells I have ever loved into this coastal inspired bedroom?

I laid one whelk shell on this new jewelry box that Santa picked up from Target.

This jewelry box storage unit is SO cute, I want one now too!

(Our beach mermaid clearly loves her Pura Vida bracelets and making her own jewelry.)

After adding one shell to the top of the glass jewelry box, I propped up one starfish against the wood frame, leaning on the shelf.

I also filled one small clear jar with baby shells, to the right of the vase with pampas grass.

There you have it!

My top 5 tips on how to decorate a room with a coastal inspired theme!

I hope this post helps you to feel encouraged to take these home decorating tips and spring into action as you revive your spaces in this season.

Remember my mantra!

Half of decorating is UN-decorating!

So, be sure to edit the space thoroughly before you start.

In fact, I am known for having to remove everything in a room in order to SEE the room with fresh eyes before I can give it a fresh look!

Happy styling friend!

Living on a prayer,

Heather

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