Bring tranquility of ocean to your home
Like many Snowbirds, you’re lamenting the loss of your annual escape to southern climes, and though making snowmen may not have the same appeal as building sandcastles, you can add a tropical or coastal vibe to your home even if it is landlocked.
That might include incorporating some coastal, nautical or beach-inspired knickknacks and accessories, but you hardly want your home to look like a souvenir shop. Here are some easy, breezy ideas sure to make waves. No ocean required.
WATERY BLUES
Transport yourself to the edge of the ocean with Benjamin Moore’s Colour of the Year 2021: Aegean Teal 2136-40. “It’s a beautiful balance of both blue and green, each with calming and restorative qualities. Those are most definitely two words that come to my mind for a tropical oasis,” says Sharon Grech, the paint giant’s colour and marketing development spokesperson and a regular guest expert on Cityline TV.
“With its touch of grey, Aegean Teal has complexity, depth and versatility that allows it to combine well with many other colours, styles and spaces,” she says. When paired with warmer colours like Benjamin Moore’s Atrium White OC-145, Muslin OC-12 or Beacon Hill Damask HC2, Aegean Teal feels vibrant and tropical. “As a backdrop colour on walls, or even painted on accent areas or furniture, this intriguing blue-green can add a modern yet time-tested appeal to many colour schemes,” Grech says.
Thanks to its green and grey undertones, you can use the colour without venturing into ‘theme’ territory, assures Louis Duncan, creative director and principal of Louis Duncan-he Designs, which offers services in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. A “confident yet understated” base tone makes it easy to incorporate a subtle coral fabric and textures like wicker or rattan to bring a tropical vignette to life.
FABRIC, ART
Accent pillows, throws and rugs are an easy and costeffective way to add a tropical feel to a space. Duncan recommends selecting three fabrics for cushions: the ‘lead’ will be the most graphic and interesting, the ‘base’ will be in a solid or subtly textured colour, and the ‘bridge’ will
have a subtle pattern and notes of the base colour. If adding an area rug, make sure it’s generously sized.
Artwork will instantly set a bold and visual tone that can heavily impact the feel of your space. “Grab some frames with a nice matte and change them up seasonally to add an instant update to your space,” says Duncan. “Add a graphic tropical print or a snap of a summer vacation. A few larger frames or a grouping of medium frames create such a powerful focal point that allows you to play off of.”
TROPICAL PLANTS
Toronto’s Darryl Cheng, author of The New Plant Parent. Develop your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-plant Family (March 19, 2019, Abrams Image), says it takes just a few plants to create the tropical vibe you may remember from travels. His recommendations include monstera deliciosa, also dubbed the ‘Swiss cheese plant.’
“If you care for it properly and have a nice big window, it can grow extremely large,” says the creator of the blog and Instagram account, Houseplant Journal.
Looking for something smaller? Consider the rabbit’s foot fern, which gets its name from the furry rhizomes that grow on top of the soil and resemble a rabbit’s foot.
Cheng’s final recommendation is the staghorn fern, which is both an air plant and a fern. In its natural environment of tropical forests, it grows on tree trunks or rocks. As a houseplant, it’s often mounted to a board that’s hung on a wall.
Pay attention to the number and size of your plants. A large palm or fig tree in the corner of the room, for instance, will have a greater impact than three or four medium-sized plants spread throughout, says Duncan. “If you like the idea of bringing in multiple plants, then try and display them in a focused area to still bring in a tropical vibe but also limit from adding too much visual clutter.”
Don’t despair if you don’t have a green thumb. “Get a good quality artificial plant as your larger plant and then have one or two areas in the space where you either have a vase for fresh flowers or pepper in real plants,” he says. “It will create a much more realistic sense and help blend the artificial and natural together.”