How to create a nautical home interior?
Tips from a professional interior designer
How do you create a professional looking nautical home interior without it looking too staged or obvious? Well our friends at Unique Home Stays have provided some answers. Unique Home Stays have stunning holiday coastal properties to rent. Many of their properties have been given an interior make-over by their own in-house interior designer – Jess Clark. We asked Jess where she gets her nautical home interior inspiration, plus her thoughts and advice on how to get it right.
A nautical home interior – where to start
I look to the locality for inspiration, so for the Fisherman’s Knot I commissioned a local artist to sketch a selection of notable fishermen from Cadgwith, and the artwork through the house, from the knot selection to the octopus prints, nautical charts etc featured predominantly through the scheme.
What to consider when choosing nautical accessories
With nautical schemes there’s a fine line to tread between ‘expected’ coastal and interesting. I endeavour to find vintage authentic pieces – vintage pulleys as opposed to repro, French linen instead of ‘new’ striped fabric.
How to choose coastal colours
I wanted to step away from the pale blues and greys that feature so predominantly across coastal schemes and opt for a more inky pallet punctuated with a punchy yellow. In addition, teal accents ensured a vibrant scheme that took inspiration from the setting.
2016 coastal trends
While I look to interior magazines and Pinterest for all projects that I undertake I try to put an individual twist on current trends to ensure that each scheme is distinct from the next. The painterly look is very 2016, from fabrics to wallpaper, watercolour-inspired blue hues will feature strongly.
The use of natural elements – why they work well
From knotty rope to textured knits and paint-peeling furniture with a bit of history, when I’m pulling together a coastal scheme it’s a combination of the natural – from wooden floors and furniture finds to the collections that tie it all together that create a lived in and loved feel. My aim is for the feel to be one that could have been created by the owners themselves as opposed to looking too ‘designed’.
Any nautical wallpaper favourites?
The wallpaper that I used in Fishermans Knot was tonally coastal but not in pattern. As the owner was looking to create a country cottage coastal look, we included some vintage floral patterning too, but accompanied with hand-knitted vintage swimsuits etc to pull it all together!
This article is part of our nautical decor series where we look to professional interior design for inspiration. View our other nautical decor articles.
Looking for Nautical Home Accessories?
Browse our range for rope door stops and nautical gifts beautifully handmade by The Ropeman – an artisan with 20 years experience in historic knot tying.
