Decorating Thoughts of the Sea

"Ah! What pleasant visions haunt me As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me... Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Where the sand and silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from 'The Secret of the Sea'









"Cheerful voices by the sea-side
Echoed through the summer air,
Happy children, fresh and rosy,
Sang and sported freely there... "

~ Louisa May Alcott, from 'Little Paul'






I'm always trying to decide just what to do in the master bedroom when it comes to decorating. This is the one room in the house that's never come together ~ in the 7 years we've lived here. I think it's because I could never make up my mind. I went from one idea to another.

When we were on our recent vacation and visiting the gift shop at Mystic Seaport, I saw a pretty handpainted wooden picture of a sea gull in flight and I mentioned to my husband that it would look nice in the bedroom with the colors (the bedroom is painted blue... at least we got that far all those years ago, lol). We talked about the decorating a bit and decided that a seaside theme would be perfect in there, since we both grew up near, and love, the ocean. This was, of course, one of the ideas I've been toying with over the last several years, but then other thoughts popped up, and I couldn't decide.

I have a huge amount of decorating items for a sea theme that I pull out each summer and use in the living room. (That room changes theme from season to season.) There are some charming wooden lighthouses and sailboats, some large shells, sea glass, and many other items. Some things I've picked up on vacations in New England, like a pretty blue bottle I filled with some ocean water from Maine, and a cute jar I filled with sand from the same beach. Some things were gifts, like a huge shell that we received as a wedding gift from my step-daughter from my first marriage. Then there's a sculpture of three sailboats in the wind, and another sculpture of an anchor with a gull sitting on top.

So, I definitely have everything I need. I just have to decide where to place everything and what else I might want to do in there. The walls are light blue, the trim is white, and the curtains on the large windows are white and gauzy ~ all perfect items for a sea theme. I think this will be a project I'll work on over the next month or two. I also have quite a bit of blue and white fabric, and it might be fun to make a patchwork quilt or duvet cover to go along with this idea.

In the meantime, I decided to look in my summer notebook to see if I had anything written for ideas on decorating, and I found these. I thought I'd share them with all of you :)

SEASIDE COTTAGE DECORATING IDEAS

~ Decorate with shades of blue, white and green.

~ Look for summer items that are now on sale... old-fashioned metal pails with sea scenes make wonderful containers for a silk flower arrangement... or fill it with specialty bath items in a sea theme for the guest room or bathroom. Crabtree & Evelyn and Caswell-Massey have some of my favorite products along this line, and they can often be found in sample sizes.

~ White wicker gives the feel of summer by the sea, and you can decorate the cushions with pretty summery fabrics and pillows.

~ A large shell looks lovely with some small items inside... try sea glass or colored glass marbles, an assortment of smaller shells, silk flowers, or fill it with small soaps in the shape of shells as a bathroom accent.

~ Look for candles in shades of blue and green, and in the seaside or ocean breezes scents.

~ Use lots of little lighthouses as accents.

~ Brass lantern lights give a nautical look and would be pretty with candles inside.

~ If you have a writing or desk area, look for stationery items with a sea theme. Lang Company items are a favorite and they have beautiful stacking boxes in different shapes, as well as artwork of ships, lighthouses, and seaside themes. Place the stacks in different places in the room ~ a night table, shelf, dresser, or in a special corner. There are also note cards that are in pretty boxes, mugs (which make nice pen or pencil holders), and coasters.

~ Decorate with books ~ look for those coffee table books featuring lighthouses or the beach... novels about the sea... and don't forget some of the children's books that feature a sea theme. Spend an afternoon wandering around quaint used bookstores for your selections.

(Photos taken in July 2007 at a beach near Newport, Rhode Island.)