Archive for the ‘DIY Hints & Tips’ Category

When it comes to designing or even redesigning your bathroom there is one theme which, if well applied can be altered or personalised to suit almost any shape, size and preferred personality of bathroom. The ocean and beach theme is a universally loved and generally beautiful style which is ideal for any contemporary bathroom.

Here are some handy hints and tips for adapting and recreating this classic yet contemporary theme, whilst avoiding clichéd or over bearing parts of its style.

1- Colours Are The Key: It’s best to remember that whilst accessories can really make this style personal and give it feeling, the key to really making it stand out and look as beautifully as possible is the colours you choose. Just because the colour scheme for this style seems simplistic and easily achievable doesn’t mean it’s worth rushing the choice of colour. Blue is an obvious necessity and it should be ideally mixed with a shade of white, but a soft and lighter shade of grey is also a great addition to this colour scheme. It’s worth trying a few different mixes and concentrations of soft ocean blues, nostalgic and minimalistic shades of white, and an occasional dash of contrasting grey. Take your time over deciding on which shades and combinations will work best for your size and shape of bathroom and try not to forget, too much use of deep blue can often make a bathroom seem too dark to really pull off this theme correctly.

2- Simplify Accessory Choices: It’s time to talk about accessories, although this theme almost demands one or two personal items to add character and to really push that “ocean beach” theme, too much or too many can make it seem tacky and false. A large conch shell is a perfect addition to the theme providing it’s real, and there’s only one of them. The soft shade of this type of shell is ideal for one corner of the bath, windowsill or bathroom shelf and really puts across the theme well, although it’s ideal if you actually go and find it on a beach for yourself. A brightly coloured beach towel to offset the soft shades of paint is a great idea too, orange or soft pink are perfect colours to contrast with the blue and white on the walls. An ocean view painting or two on the wall is again a great choice of accessory for this theme, but again it’s best if you find them somewhere a bit more personal rather than going to IKEA, or Amazon.

3- Fittings and Flooring: The ideal fittings for the ocean theme are a soft, slightly matt coloured metallic finish. A set of brightly shined chrome fittings can work, but if you’re going to choose a chrome  finish it’s best not to have a any brightly coloured accessories because it will become too much and remove focus from the style of the fittings. The floor should ideally be wood or laminate with a faux wood finish to create that naturalistic and nostalgic feel. If it’s not possible for you to obtain a wooden or laminate floor don’t despair there are a few other options for you. For example obtaining a rug in either white or soft grey to offset the blue walls is a great way of reinforcing the colour theme.

With a little forethought and some inspiration, creating your own personalised version of this classically chic bathroom theme is not a difficult task. By sticking to the simple hints and tips provided on this blog post, it’ll be hard to go too far wrong.