QAQ Decorative Screens and Panels will proudly be sponsoring the Victorian State Rose & Garden Show THIS WEEKEND, Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th, from 10-4 p.m. The show will be held at the beautiful Werribee Park, where over 5,000 roses are currently in bloom. There will be entertainment, garden tours, talks on gardening, food trucks, giveaways, and fun for kids. This is a day not to missed if you are in the area this weekend!

The humble, traditional, and orderly 'Apia' screen pattern with its regular pillowed squares and floral motif evokes a time from the past when religion and a certain rigidity ruled society with elegance quiet grandeur. Though named after a city in Samoa, this design seemed more in place right here in Australia, perfectly suited to our many Victorian homes, and perfectly adaptable to a more contemporary Victorian interior decorating style. Unfortunately, this is another pattern that I have no actual installation photos to show you, so I have once again done a bit of Photoshoppin' to a couple of pics to give you an idea of how it might look in a home:

In both the above and below pics I've 'installed' 'Apia' in the windows, always an option for custom sized screens for more privacy, shade, or decorative beauty. In the above photo, the screens add a sense of monastic grace to a fairly sterile bedroom interior, and have the added value of appearing to be security screens. Should the screens be cut in aluminium, aluminium composite panel, mild steel, or corten, there certainly would be an added deterrent to burglars--at least the ones without time and a screwdriver on hand!

And in this 'installation', I've added 'Apia' in the window to a gorgeous modern Victorian style bathroom, where I imagine it would add a bit more privacy than those sheer curtains alone, as well as create beautiful shadows on that pretty white tiled floor on sunny days. Compressed hardwood screens could be painted to match the colour scheme of any room, or the screen could be cut in powder-coated ACM, mild steel, or aluminium.

Now for a look at Victorian-inspired interior decorating in modern homes:

The key feature of a modern Victorian style bathroom is a free standing bath tub. These days, there are free standing tubs without the traditional claw feet, as shown in the bottom left bathroom. With just this feature alone, any bathroom will have the Victorian touch, though to go a bit further you could add a semi-detached sink or pull-chain toilet.

The key feature of a modern Victorian style bedroom would be a grand bedhead. Be it a four-poster bed, a baroque carved bedhead, or ideally, a cast-iron or decorative metal framed bed, tall, fussy beds with either foot boards or a long bed stool definitely give any bedroom the Victorian flavor.

Traditional Victorian style can be lavish, stuffy, cluttered, and subdued with warm or natural colour schemes, but the modern Victorian style needs only the architectural features of the house itself and a few of the essential elements: baroque or Queen Anne styled lounges, chairs, mirrors, or picture frames. A modern Victorian home can be quite sparse and colorful, but the direction of its decor is led by at least one or two dominating traditional pieces, such as the baroque sofa in the bottom left picture or the grand, tall windows and ornate tray ceiling of the lounge room on the bottom right.

Other elements of a Victorian home may be:

• Ornate fireplace mantles, which can be modernized when painted in non-traditional colours
• Modern style chandeliers and checkerboard tiles
• Dark stained wood, grand front doors, and grand stairways
• Reproduction antique stoves and sinks in the kitchen

1. 'Alto' free standing bath tub $699 at Early Settler
2. 'La Spezia' 4 Light Pendant in Antique Black $369 at Beacon Lighting
3. Versailles Decorative Bird Cage in Antique White $69 at Early Settler
4. Birdcages and Flowers removable wallpaper $89.95 by The Wallpaper Company. This company specializes in a fantastic range of wallpaper that can be removed easily and reused--no glue! Even if you are renting your home, you can now enjoy the beauty of wallpaper, and when you move, just take it with you to be re-used in your next home!
5. Paris Double Bed $229 by Fantastic Furniture

I hope you have enjoyed this brief foray into modern Victorian interior decorating style. To see much more in this style and to see the latest installation pics of 'Apia' as we they come in, follow our decorative screen Pinterest board features, including one just for 'Apia'.

For more details on QAQ screens in general or to find a distributor near you, call and ask for our lovely retail sales rep Sylvana at (03) 8390-0306.

For trade inquiries, email our equally lovely rep Samantha at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post!

And tell me what is your favourite Victorian decor element.

Thank-you for reading! :)

Cheers!

~Christine

Why would you grow a plant upside down? That's what I wondered when I first learned about this type of garden just last week. I thought the lady telling me about it was pulling my leg! But no, upside-gardening is a real thing, and though some people may say it's a trend, there are some real benefits to growing plants upside down for both the gardener and the plants that make it worth trying out. Read on for what these are and for how to start making one yourself!

Benefits of Growing Plants Upside Down:

• It saves space - urban gardeners with small outdoor spaces can line the upside-down plants above what they have growing right-side-up below

• It eliminates the need to till, weed, and stake the plants

• The plants are at eye-level, so there's no need to crouch down to get to them

• The fruit of the plants are less prone to rot and attacking pests as they hang well above the soil

How to Plant an Upside Down Garden

You can create an upside-down garden using household buckets, potting soil, organic fertilizer, and a choice of plants that are appropriate to the size of the container and the spot you would like to hang them in. Tomatoes and cucumbers are the two most common plants to grow in an upside-down container.

1. Drill a 4-5 cm hole in the bottom of the bucket (or smaller holes for smaller buckets).
2. Next, you'll need a small piece of newspaper, gardening fabric, or coffee filter for anchoring the plant in place until it is strong enough to hold its own. This will prevent the soil from washing through when the plant is watered.
3. Create a slit in the material for the seedling or small plant, and very carefully guide the plant down and through the hole, upside down. Be very careful not to damage the stem. If you damage the stem, throw the whole plant out and start again with a new plant.
4. Gently fill the potting soil around the root ball about half-full, tamping as you go. Add a handful of complete organic fertilizer and fill up the rest of the way with more soil 2-3 cm from the rim of the container.
5. Hang the plant up on sturdy hooks no less than 2.5 m from the ground.
6. Feel free to plant another small plant requiring the same water and sunlight conditions on the top of the container (right-side up) at this point, just to utilize the extra space and make the container look even more interesting.

Caring for Your Upside-Down Plant: Two Things to Watch Out For

1. Never let the soil go dry -Water the upside-down plant thoroughly until water runs out the bottom. Set-up a self-watering system if possible, as one of the difficulties encountered with upside-down gardening is that when the soil goes dry, it can be very difficult getting the soil to re-moisten again. Water will flow right through upside-down planter soil that has gone too dry.
2. Prevent the stem from breaking - As your plants grow, they will reach around and begin to grow up toward the sun, which, for heavier, fruit-nearing stems, means breakage may occur. To prevent this, stick a bamboo stake in the bottom hole with the plant, and train the plant to grow downwards along the stake.

A number of pre-made upside-down planter pots by gardening brands are available online within Australia. if you are after something a bit more sleek-looking or for indoor decorating like those pictured above, ordering one of these is an alternative to the DIY approach. There seems to be no limit to what can be planted upside-down, so long as the plant is not too heavy or large, of course.

And there you have it! Happy growing upside-down!

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post, and let me know-- have you ever heard about this type of garden? Have any of our readers actually grown anything upside-down? I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers!

~Christine

The undulating, ribbon-like crossed lines of QAQ's 'Espressivo' decorative screen design are both strikingly modern yet feminine; it's an abstract, artistic design that especially suits a contemporary indoor or outdoor decorating scheme. As last week's screen design feature post focused on the more traditional 'Vine' design, which I paired with traditional and rustic styled patio settings, this week I'll be pairing 'Espressivo' with modern styled outdoor furniture and decor. First, take a look at two installations of this design (in real photos!) that I have to share with you:

'Espressivo' in Compressed Hardwood

Decorative screens can fill those 'in between' spaces beautifully, increasing privacy and shade while adding character and value to your home.

'Espressivo' in 2 mm Corten

Or, a decorative screen can simply be installed as wall decor to liven up an empty space. Corten, shown here and installed with the stand-off method (click to see our tutorial) is a rust-colored metal that weathers extremely well, as it gains a charmingly rustic, uneven color over time.

Modern Patio Settings

Now on to some modern patio eye-candy. Modern patios are all about boxy, clean lines and neat edges, manicured gardens, geometrically shaped, modular furniture, and a fairly neutral, to simple color palette. They are minimalist, uncluttered, feature a few key statement pieces, but by no means do these settings lack an inviting coziness and comfort.

Compared to the intimate provincial settings of the past, modern outdoor settings always seem to cater to larger, group socializing and a lot more backside lounging or general slouchiness...

A Selection of Amazing Finds off eBay:

To get a modern patio look, you'll need a very clean-lined, manicured landscape and patio design and a few stellar pieces of outdoor furniture. There's no need to spend a load of cash on these, either, in fact, if you're DIY-inclined, you'll be amazed at what people are creating with shipping pallets! For those of you who are not, however, there are great designer deals to be had on eBay at much lower prices than what you'll find in shops. Here are a few unique and stunningly stylish pieces I felt rather impressed with that are available there now:

1. Seth Wicker Accent Chair $625
2. Smokey Ash Textured 4-Piece Outdoor Sofa Set $849
3. Iron Wire Drum Coffee Table $229
4. Outdoor Rattan/Wicker Day Bed $2,599

Make My Week--Please Leave a Comment!

What plans to do you have for your home patio and what have you done already?

I'd love to hear from you. :)

The tiny buds, pointed leaf tips, and meandering vine stalks of QAQ's 'Vine' decorative screen pattern make it a highly versatile design that can easily suit either a traditional or modern garden, patio, or interior. Because I'm planning to introduce you to a very abstract, modern QAQ screen design next week, I thought I'd indulge in matching 'Vine' to more traditional patio decorating styles this week, and next week will cover more modern outdoor living furniture and decor. 'Vine' is an another lesser-known decorative screen pattern here at QAQ, so please excuse my photoshopped photos as I help you to imagine what this pretty screen pattern might look like in a patio setting!

An easy and inexpensive way to enjoy this pattern, like most QAQ screens, would be to purchase it in a standard size in compressed hardwood and simply hang it on your patio wall or fence. Compressed hardwood will weather well if it is sealed and maintained over the years. If you are not sure how to do that, see my post 'How to Maintain Your New Compressed Hardwood QAQ Decorative or Privacy Screen' for complete details.

All QAQ screens can be ordered in any colour depending upon the type of material you want it cut in, so for a more decorative impact you could order the screen in a powder-coated ACM or mild steel, or simply buy compressed hardwood and paint it yourself.

Here is a real photo of 'Vine' installed along the side of QAQ headquarters (and which also happens to be the view from my second-story office desk!). It's a tall vertical Cor-Ten® screen which has weathered well and gained a lovely rust colour. Some effort was made to get a jasmine vine to take off on it but it doesn't appear to be growing up so much as it is growing out into the planter box this spring..... Anyway, on to traditional style decor.

Traditional Patio Settings

One of the most noticeable differences between modern and traditional outdoor decorating styles is that modern settings almost always seem to have a perfectly matching set of rather modular-looking furniture. With a traditional setting, you see a lot more unique wood and wrought iron styled furniture, and often a variety of colourful pillows and throws to make the set look cosy and inviting in an old-world way.

Traditional settings often feature imported furniture, wicker, wrought iron, and make-shift pieces, all arranged invitingly with plenty of pot plants, colour, and a general rustic charm, which may be a flaky plastered wall, mossy, unevenly laid patio tiles, or worn wood pergola overhead. It can evoke an old cultural style to sweep the relaxing guest away to an Italian alfresco dining area, Chinese courtyard,  English cottage, or Parisian countryside home.  Creating a traditional style patio or balcony area begins with the furniture, so I found three products available online now for you to check out if this style appeals to you:

1. Antique Design Iron 2 Seater Rocking Chair - via eBay.
2. Garden Table with Folding Chairs - via eBay
3. Frech style garden set - via eBay

Make my Week and Give me a Comment!

What is your favourite style, traditional or modern?

Spring has sprung in Melbourne, so it seemed fitting to feature QAQ's cutest decorative screen design, the delightful 'Butterfly'.  A charmingly simple design of six flying butterflies, this screen would look lovely painted in a pastel color and hung on the wall of a little girl's bedroom, so I made it an excuse to use the silliest font I could find and to indulge in all things princess/fairytale/pastel and take a look at a few colorful DIY girl's bedroom ideas!

'Butterfly' is a very niche design for us here at QAQ and we have no customer photos of it installed, so to convey what it would look like, I shamelessly Photoshopped it here for you to imagine it in color on a wall! As with all our designs, 'Butterfly' could be cut in any size, color, or material to suit your decorative requirements. It can be wall art, a privacy partition, a pergola roof, a garden screen...anything you like!

Butterflies are a symbol of youthfulness and innocence, so decorating with them in clever ways can make any room fit for a princess.   You can paint them on the wall or make them with paper, or, as a mommy blogger from House on Ashwell Lane did, you can purchase handmade butterflies from Etsy and make your own flying butterfly collage.

Girl's bedrooms need not be all pastels; though young girl's are often drawn to lighter colors, other, bolder, or more neutral color schemes abound like the two in the bottom pictures shown here. Hands down, they are still very girly, very cheerful, and very delightful! Here are some DIY ideas for young girl's bedrooms that I adore:

Table Tutu

Using a mere 50 (!) yards of pink tulle, Krystal from the DIY blog Sassy Sanctuary created this adorable table tutu, featuring a satin bow wrap and painted table top. She also covered two cheap children's folding chairs with polka dot fabric. See her post for the complete tutorial on how she cleverly made all of this.

Plush Animal Birds Nest

Blogger mom Deanna from Shady Tree Diary created this delightfully simple and colorful solution for a place to store her daughter's stuffed animal birds within sight but out of the way. She features a complete tutorial on how she put it together on her lovely blog.

Princess Bed Canopy

Sarah from DIY blog Creative Ramblings made her little princess this pretty white canopy with a pair of sheer curtains. She was determined not to do any sewing to make it too, and so cleverly found a way. She also made the damask print headboard for her daughter's bed, which is also featured on her blog.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief foray in the pretty realms of little girl's bedrooms. For more DIY ideas and bedroom photos, see our Pinterest board 'Butterfly' Screen Design.

Thanks for reading!

Now I'd like to hear from you!

What little girl's bedroom idea did you like most? :)

Cheers!

~Christine

Elegant and calligraphic like music notes, QAQ's 'Music' decorative screen design features lovely wavy lines, curves, and scrolls. It's a versatile and modern design that would look beautiful as wall art or on a door. Music lovers, read on! Here we feature music rooms, re-purposed musical instruments, and musical-themed products inspired by this design, and, thanks to a lesson in Photoshop I took just last week, I can show you what this screen design might look like installed in actual rooms!

If 'Music' were cut in compressed hardwood in a standard 1200 x 600 cm size, it might look a lot like this when hung on the wall. Wood would suit a more traditional styled home like this retro one for a warmer, more antique look, as would rust-colored corten, both of which could also be installed outdoors as they weather well.

If it were cut in a mild steel or aluminium, it could be powder-coated a number of colors to suit the color scheme of your home, like this stairwell in white and light gray.

Powder-coated mild steel or aluminium have a beautiful glossy, sleek finish that could make 'Music' look great in a very modern styled home like this one. If you love black and white, you could also have it cut in lightweight integral p.v.g which comes in either black or white with a glossy finish.

Now let's indulge in all things music-related for the home!

Vinyl Record Collection Storage

There is often the issue of storage for those who collect old vinyl records. IKEA cubical shelves seem to be the ideal solution for larger collections, but for a smaller collection you could either have a rotating display of all the covers on narrow shelves as in the top middle picture, or purchase small or cart-size vintage style wire record holders on eBay, like the one on the top right. These can be spray-painted bright colors to make them stand out and look even more retro.

Musical Instrument Storage

Musical instruments make beautiful decorative objects, so rather than have them hidden away, display them cleverly on the wall, use amps as tables, or, if they are very large, prop them up against a mantle or larger piece of furniture. If you prefer to keep them in their cases, you could create small tables by stacking the cases, or make an organizing stand like the one in the bottom right-hand picture, so that all the cases are displayed neatly in a vertical row.

Re-Purposed Musical Instruments

If you happen to have or find old musical equipment or instruments, you can re-purpose them for your home so that you can continue to enjoy their lovely shapes. Take the covers from cases or amps and turn them into cabinet or fridge doors, turn them into light pendants or lamps, or, if they are really old, plant flowers in them and put them in your garden.

Musical Sheet DIY Projects

Perhaps the easiest way to create a musical theme in your home decorating scheme is to purchase old musical sheets and re-purpose them in crafty ways throughout the home. Use them for stationary products, gift-wrapping, to wrap vases and candles with using Modge-Podge, or create a musical sheet table top or dresser like the ones below. For a complete tutorial using Modge-Podge to create something like the beautiful dresser below, see blogger Miss Mustard Seed's how-to guide. To make a bouquet of the beautiful music sheet roses shown below, see a complete how-to guide on the blog 100 Layer Cake.

Home Decor Products for Music Lovers

Whether designing a music room for listening or for playing, there is no shortage of clever ways you can incorporate musically themed decor to make a warm, inviting, inspiring space. Here are some of my favorites that I came across online:

QAQ's 'Grapevine' decorative screen design evokes sunlit patios, alfresco dining, and golden skies over expansive vineyards. Although this design may be iconic for our Australian lifestyle, I've indulged here on the decorating style of the wine growing regions of Tuscany, Italy, where rustic, old world charm created a classic style over the centuries that has grown to curl its elegant tendrils far beyond the Italian border.

This is a style that begun many centuries ago in the poorer regions of Italy, where people lived simply in homes with walls built with rocks, where furniture was basic and sturdy, and the kitchen was the heart of the home and of deliciously simple cucina povera, 'poor cooking',  which is as famous now as are the Tuscan wines.

Today the decorating style reflects these rustic, old-world origins.  Tuscan style homes feature rock walls and fireplaces, large, exposed timber beams, tiled or stone floors, and a distinctive color palette that reflects the sun-baked Tuscan landscape: warm, muted jewel-tone colors, and earthy neutrals, especially reddish brown, burnt orange, cream, and pale peach. The furnishings these days can be quite lavishly carved, and are often heavy, sturdy pieces in warm, dark shades of wood. Filigree wrought iron or dark antique brass fixtures, lighting pendants, wall decor, and table decor are iconic for this style, and are one of the easier ways to evoke a Tuscan home if you live in a more modern home without exposed brick or timber features.

One of the essential aspects of a Tuscan home is an alfresco dining area. This is where QAQ's 'Grapevine' decorative screens and panels could be installed to create backyard privacy or to enclose the sides of a newly constructed pergola, which is one of the key features to creating a real Italian style outdoor living area. You can find many DIY guides on how to build a pergola yourself over a weekend, or you can buy them ready-to install from many outdoor furniture and hardware stores. Once the pergola is up, then you can begin to grow your own grapevines or other trellis-vine plants to eventually create a verdant ceiling of green shade to dine under on warm sunny days while you sip your Tuscan wine or fine Italian espresso.

Though a modern home can be decorated in a Tuscan style, its important to keep all the furnishings and decor consistently traditional, as any one sleek modern piece of furniture could ruin this old-world aesthetic. Windows should be dressed with at least a valence to soften the modern lines, and floors should be dressed with a few thick, patterned rugs to make the space look more rustic and inviting.  Here are some Tuscan-styled products available within Australia to get this look:

1. Tuscan Urns and Cachepot by Pottery Barn
2. Cast iron Fleur de lis wall plaques via eBay
3. 'Madrid' Light Pendant in Bronze by Beacon Lighting
4. Cuscino Floral Cushion by Early Settler
5. Tivoli Extending Pedestal Dining Table by Pottery Barn

Hope you enjoyed today's post! If you did, please leave a a comment and let me know what you think about the Tuscan style--is it for you? ;)

To see more Tuscan styled homes, products, beautiful photos of Tuscany and any 'Grapevine' decorative screen installations (should we ever get photos of any in the future--its a rare one!) see QAQ's Pinterest board, 'Grapevine' Screen Design.

Ciao!

Christine

If you're in love with colorful, eclectic decorating styles, you'll love this post and you'll love that it will lead you to find even more eye-candy and a giveaway, so read on!

This being our lucky 13 decorative screen feature post, I'm proud to have now presented all of QAQ's top 12 most popular, most featured designs, and am now sailing into the less-traveled territories of our lesser-known, quirkier patterns. The downside to this is that I won't have as many installation projects to show you how these screen designs look in real life when they are installed, but the upside is that I can get even more creative with ideas and suggestions on how the screens can be used, and what kinds of interior or exterior decorating styles it would suit, and how.

The bold, energetic, and slightly kitschy 'Fireworks' design presented a real challenge for me at first, but it quickly made sense to tie it in to the explosively colorful, bright, and eclectic style of decorating that I've already been curating around QAQ's baby laser biz, Rezal Home Decor and Jewelry's Pinterest boards. Rezal is currently an eBay store where we sell laser cut coasters, wall decor, craft components, custom products, and jewelry, mostly designed by yours truly. First, let's look at the 'Fireworks' decorative screen design:

Here's 'Fireworks' cut in standard size (600 mm x 1200 mm ) aluminium, installed on a white electric light box, here in the reception lobby of QAQ headquarters. You can have any one of QAQ's designs or a custom design of your very own made and installed on a light box in either white light or colored light in this size, available through QAQ.

Creative Ways to Install QAQ's 'Fireworks' Design

• Install it on a white or colored light box, as shown above-- perfect for a bar, disco floor, or wedding reception hall
• Install it on a multi-color painted wall using stand-offs for 3D effects (click the link for our post on how to use stand-offs)
• Install it near a swimming pool, as this design could easily be seen to be a water splash as well!
• Have it cut in brightly colored powder-coated aluminium or mild steel, or paint it yourself with compressed hardwood or MDF

When it comes to colorful kitchens, I see two main approaches: 1. The kitchen itself is mainly white or neutral but has been decorated with extremely colorful furniture and decor (the choice for renters) or 2. The kitchen cabinets and walls are painted or wallpapered in bright colors and tiles. The first approach would suit a collector, especially someone who loves vintage tableware and decor. The second approach would suit you if you love a lot of color, but not clutter. A lot of different colors like this certainly can make a home look cluttered at first glance.

It really takes a bit of boldness to have a home that is this colorful. Most home interiors are fairly conservative when it comes to color, then there's a middle tier where two or three colors are used again and again, but homes like these are more rare and so much more rainbow-- the home of a true color lover. Someone who is not afraid to paint a coffee table bright yellow, walls an ombre rose to white, or to fill the walls with an eclectic mix of colorful prints and photos. Homes this colorful are people who are very comfortable with their gender and who love to feel alive.

For a colorful outdoor area, you could buy a set of used outdoor furniture and paint it bright colors, or, if you are prepared to have a dry storage area nearby, you could simply have an assortment of colorful cushions, throws and pillows ready to pull out for when you entertain. One of the fastest, cheapest, easiest ways to add color to an outside living area is to take terracotta pots and spray-paint them bright colors to bring out the colors of the flowers and surrounding greenery.

Now for a Coaster Set Giveaway!

This week I'm giving away a set of Rezal's colorful coasters to one blog reader who comments and tells me what their favorite color is so that you can have an even more colorful home! You can choose ANY coaster design you like from Rezal's eBay store. The giveaway is open to anyone wherever you are in the world. The winner will be announced Friday morning on QAQ's Facebook page, so be sure to follow us there and check back on Friday to see if you've won!

To see more colorful, eclectic interior decorating photos and any installations of 'Fireworks' that come through, follow QAQ's Pinterest board 'Fireworks Screen Design' OR follow Rezal on Pinterest for 24-7, all-around decor and product pins full of color to the max!

Hope you enjoyed today's post! Comment if you did, and be sure to tell me your favorite color!

P.S.: Mine is purple!

Cheers!

~Christine

Named after the coastal town of Eden, NSW, this decorative screen design features a starfish-like floral pattern with a high privacy and sunlight block-out rating. Though this modern design could suit many interior decorating styles, we've indulged here in the blissful, light and airy coastal delights that its beautiful namesake inspires.

First, one of the best installation projects that I have here to show you is 'Eden' in gold-painted compressed hardwood installed at a Metricon display home. The pool here lined the back wall along the street, so 'Eden' was installed to give the pool area much needed high-level privacy.

Unfortunately, there are not enough high-res images of this design to show you more installation examples; an issue that will be the case again in the future as I feature more and more of the lesser-known screen designs QAQ can make--which is exactly why I am creating these posts to give these hidden gems more 'screen time'!

So, let's move on to the coastal decorating style and products that 'Eden's' namesake inspires:

Coast decorating is one of the easiest grasp as it involves just a few very consistent elements:

• Light and airy color schemes inspired by the colors of the sand, the sea, and the sky
• Decor made from things found around the sea, natural fibers, fabrics, and natural wood types
• Nautical decor from ships and marinas
• A weathered, naturally distressed wear and tear to certain things

All the photos above are from the same house featured on beachblissliving.com, and it is a perfect example of tasteful coastal decor. I stress tasteful because we have all seen this style abused to death in beach cafes and cheap beach hotels that clutter every surface with kitschy, tacky, nautical clutter! Don't over do this style with that variety store garbage. Please. It's better to make your own beautiful DIY decor with found objects from the beach than to buy or use stuff that evokes a factory in China more than it does the serenity of the sea. I have gathered a few examples here for you:

1. Beach Sign - handmade by I See The Sea Shop via Etsy
2. Stunning handmade pillow with a delicate coral design by Island Home Emporium via Etsy
3. Rope-wrapped vases handmade by Belle Decor By Andrea via Etsy
4. Simple, yet beautiful handmade mobile made of driftwood by Moss Wood Decor via Etsy
5. Tastefully adorable whale bookend by the wonderful site The Beach Furniture & Accessories, which really is a one-stop shopping mecca beach house decorating, with distressed furniture, nautical themed decor, rugs, throws, etc. for every room in a typical beach house.