Decorating Outdoors Coastal Style
Decorating outdoors in a light and airy coastal style.
When spring arrived last week, it got me motivated to bring my vision of coastal style to my waterfront home. I still can’t even believe I can say that…“waterfront home”. :-) I am still taking it all in… it is truly a dream come true to have made living on the water a reality.
In “the dream house in my head” that I have decorated a hundred times over the last 30 years, I am giddy that I can finally put all those dreaming ideas into real every day living.
… which is easy, breezy with a touch of colorful coastal thrown into the mix.
I also want to be able to use decorative items inside and out – no fussiness, just functional, stylish pieces that won’t break my budget and that can easily be moved outdoors to transform the gazebo that is over the water for dining alfresco if a fitting occasion pops up.
Since my kitchen and living room were under construction and the weather warm enough to dine alfresco, I decided to take my Pier 1 finds to do just that… cozy up the gazebo that sits out on the water for a family dinner over the holiday weekend.
I have only shown you a glimpse of the gazebo before when I first moved into the house. I think it is where we will be spending a lot of time now that spring is here and summer not far behind.
We placed the outdoor dining table and chairs from our previous house in the gazebo. It fits perfectly. There are built-in benches on two sides, a ceiling fan and light.
If you follow me on Instagram then you know that I have been wanting woven driftwood Kubu dining chairs (no longer available) for a long time. I finally bought them and brought two out to the gazebo to start decorating outdoors. They look great in my kitchen, too and are super comfy. Even without cushions. I am going to go back and get two more since I noticed over the weekend that everyone favored them over the other chairs around the table.
Not sure we will use the ceiling light in the gazebo as it will just attract bugs, but the fan will be nice to have on hot summer nights. For lighting, I will be using two tall table lanterns. I made the runner using a long length of burlap.
Turquoise is one of the colors in my decorating scheme. This colorful throw adds a touch of cozy to the outdoor space. It is good to have on hand to wrap yourself up in as the evening gets chilly or if the opportunity arises for an evening boat ride on the water.
The Mother-of-Pearl pillow just looks so pretty.
It is still too cold to swim, but the two-toned basket can do double duty once I use it to carry all the items from the house to the gazebo. When it sits empty, guests who just came in from the water can place their towels in. In my living room in the house I am using it as a place to stash my collection of chair throws.
If you like to decorate in coastal style, this driftwood bowl can be used in many different ways. I have glass floats placed in mass in it for now, but it could hold mail, fruit, or a small collection of your favorite items. The Blue and white pillow add to the cozy up the space.
If you don’t know this about me yet, I love to set tables. Really I do. I think it comes from all the years I worked in retail display and was in charge of all the displays in the china department. I had fun decorating many tables in any way I wanted using the stores merchandise in creative ways.
I like the contrast of the melamine plates with the Driftwood Chargers. They are a little rough hewn. I will use it every time we eat outside which could be breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also like that I can pair it with my white every day dinnerware.
I poured sand into the lanterns and placed turquoise candles inside.
I made place card tags with card stock and tied them around blue woven napkins with ribbon. I will show you how I make these later this week.
Now that my first lake side dining alfresco experience was a success, I am sure you will be seeing my new coastal style decorations pop up all around my house…indoors and outdoors over the spring and summer months.
Are you starting to change things up around your house now that it is spring and summer?