beachy Keen

Interior designer Wanda Vinton shares five simple and budget-savvy tips on how to introduce a subtle beach theme into your home, as she did in her Seaview, Washington, cottage.

REACH FOR THE STARS.

Include stars of all stripes—both those you might find on a flag and those that are gifts from the sea. Accent a bowl full of shells with a starfish or two, or prop a chair with a star-spangled pillow.

EBB AND FLOW.

“It’s all about visual flow,” says Wanda, who encourages her clients to carry a unified palette and consistent accessories from room to room, whether it is seashells on a mantel, coral adorning a side table or a duvet cover patterned with sand dollars.

TEXTURE IT NATURAL.

In addition to accessories, textures that evoke seaside elements—sand, weathered wood or fishermen’s ropes, for instance—promote subtle coastal style. Wanda uses sisal rugs throughout her home to ground each room in this textural manner.

TIP THE SCALES.

“If you have a piece of furniture a little bit larger scale than the rest of the room, use it to add unexpected interest to your decor,” Wanda suggests. For example, she brought in an oversize wicker trunk with a distinctly beachy feel as the focal point in the sunroom.

GALVANIZE FOR ACTION.

Anything that improves with age or exposure to the salt air becomes fodder for casual design. Wanda has a penchant for galvanized items, such as the geranium-filled buckets on her front porch, because of their forever-changing patina.