Remember walking into a room and instantly wanting to walk right back out? Yeah, that’s how I felt the first time I entered my bathroom in my flat in Chorlton. I walked in and got hit with the bleach-y orange tiles that screamed, “I’M A RENTAL FROM WHO-KNOWS-WHEN.” There are walls covered in tiles from some weird time when beige was considered luxe and this one mirror framed with what can only be described as bronzed plastic.
Look at how hard that frame is trying to tell you it’s not metal. But here’s the thing – it has an east facing window. And one morning that sun came streaming in, hitting those sad tiles just right and sending rainbows dancing all over the ceiling.
It actually looked like the sun glinting off of the ocean. And that’s when it hit me.
I didn’t have to live right on the beach to feel like I was.
Trust me, I get it. Coastal decor can easily become overdone in a hot second. Who hasn’t walked into a bathroom that looks like the coastline walked into Target, knocked over every shelf, and nosebleeded everywhere else?
Boat shoes. EVERYWHERE. Boat shoes hung up on walls.
Random sea shells ModPodged onto every surface with a glue gun that Timehop will remind you you purchased in 2009. Rope accents that are collecting dust bunnies and making you question if pirates even had indoor plumbing. There is a huge difference between coastal inspo and ship-wreck.
It’s pretty easy to stay away from beachy themed pieces all together. It’s curating those pieces like you know what you’re doing. Colour is usually my quick fix for a room that just feels wrong.
Instead of going the obvious route with blues & whites (don’t get me wrong, blues & whites CAN work, I swear – you just have to do it right), I went with a weathered sage-y green. Picture driftwood that’s been bobbing around in salt water for years. It’s a grey-green colour that will look different throughout the day depending on the lighting.
Took me about an hour of staring at paint chips at the hardware store to find an exact match. Brought home about 15 swatches and test shopped them against that east facing window at different times of day. (£32 covered enough paint for two coats; it completely transformed the whole room. The beige tiles didn’t look like someone made a mistake back in ’92 – they looked intentional, like warm sand next to sea glass.) But paint is JUST paint, right?
Where the magic really happens is with texture; and everyone else tends to either hit the jackpot or miss completely. I love natural textures. But you don’t need to force every surface to be “weathered driftwood” or whatever trend is blowing up Pinterest today.
Scored this awesome bamboo beach mat at a closing down sale (was £8 down from £35). Gave me that natural texture I was going for without making it look like I raided a hotel gift shop patrolling the coast. Obviously something had to be done about the mirror.
Instead of removing/renter painting the whole thing (renter contracts have rules, people. ), I wrapped the frame with jute rope. Trust me, it sounds extremely #Pinterest when you word it like that BUT hear me out – used a thick, good quality rope in an all-natural colour, wrapped it super tight and secured it with rust-proof glue that can handle humid bathrooms. Whole thing probably took me an hour and cost about a tenner.
Looks like it was meant to be there, instead of some Pinterest whimsy fail. Lighting is where most beachy bathrooms go downhill. Yeah those antique-y brass lantern lights are “theme-y” but for the most part they’re also too dark and make everything feel like you’re living on the deck of a ship.
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Wasn’t really the vibe I was going for. Picked up a simple pendant light with a woven shade instead (think Chanel basket-weave, but actually nice). Gives off those awesome chunky shadows like sunlight shining through palm trees; and was about half the price of those faux nautical lanterns.
Storage is my new go-to. Installed weathered-looking floating shelves (brackets that actually look worn down and not spray painted to LOOK worn down); and styled them with functional beachy accents. Mason jars filled with bath salts, a few pieces of sea glass I’ve hoarded from weekend trips to the beach and smooth driftwood to use as decoration and holders for smaller bathroom bits.
The key is editing – you choose a small amount of thoughtful pieces and it’ll look curated – pick too much stuff and it’s just clutter. Oh and textiles. Little things like towels and shower curtains can really make or break your vibe.
Learned that lesson when I bought what I thought was an adorable beachy striped shower curtain that ended up matching your typical pool cabana curtain. Epic fail. Replaced it with a simple linen curtain in a crisp white with very little texture – reminded me of the beach without literally having a shower curtain with seagulls and anchors on it.
Towels were the same weathered sage from above, and I threw in one or two cream ones for contrast. No-one tells you about bathroomsteamers.com humidity when doing coastal bathrooms – it’s both your number one enemy and your biggest pro. Humidity can be horrible for certain materials – but it can also add to that beach vibe if you know how to work with it, not against it.
Left a small dish of coarse sea-salt near my window. Might sound weird- but it helps absorb the extra moisture in the air and leaves you with a subtle salty scent that is way more sophisticated than those awful “surf” smell air fresheners you find at the grocery store. I could not have done this without plants.
But not just ANY plants – ones that LOVE humidity, don’t need tons of sun and smell beachy without trying too hard to. Boston ferns (totally a cop out, but a cop out for good reasons) and draped pothos down the window sill. Plants add life to your room without taking away from your colour scheme; they also help filter the air inside your home.
Winner winner. TOTAL cost for this whole shebang was under £200 and took me maybe 3 weekends worth of tweaking. But more importantly, it just felt right.
Didn’t feel like I was trying too hard to make an over the top, Pinterest perfect beach casa – it just felt like that calm, tranquil feeling you get when you’re near water. And when people ask me what the difference is between coastal decor that works and coastal decor that feels sooo forced.
Truth?
Same principle that works for any good design – Less is more. Choose pieces because they compliment how you live vs because they cheque off items on your “beachy” list. The weathered green helped set the tone not only was it pleasing to look at – it also made my small bathroom feel bigger and more calming.
Natural textures helped warm up what was otherwise a cold, not inviting space. Bonus? Every morning when that morning sun hits those walls….
I get that same feeling I did when I first stepped foot in that bathroom – reminds me of sunlight dancing on water. Reminds me of possibility. Reminds me that I somehow managed to bring enough pieces of the beach inside to make normal week days feel pretty magical.
And hey. Living in a flat in landlocked Manchester, a million miles away from the nearest beach – thats about as magical as it gets for me.
