Modern Coastal Kitchen Diner Design - Final Reveal
I’m very excited to share my second room reveal at the North Wales coastal home! A while ago, I talked you through this house's interior design plans, which you can read about here. Today, I'm showing you how we completely transformed this room, with lots of tips on how to combine coastal colours, natural elements and decorative accents to add a beachy vibe to a kitchen space.
Coastal Colours
Key to any coastal design is the colour scheme. When choosing paint colours, it's really important to consider the aspect of the space. This room has large windows that face east and west, as well as smaller south facing ones so it gets plenty of natural light.
We came up with a fresh new color palette of teal and blue with more vibrant colours like pink and yellow in the accents.
Half painted walls
A really important part of the interior design process is to consider the style and era of the property. This one was built in the 1950s. Unlike period properties which already have lots of character like fireplaces, cornices and deep skirting boards, this room needed an injection of personality to bring it to life.
Half-painted walls are great for adding character while creating a modern look! We chose Maritime Teal by Dulux for the bottom half of the walls - it's a bold but calming colour that's perfect for the coastal setting of this house - with Swedish White for the top half and the ceiling. This blurs the line between the walls and ceiling, making it feel higher. Half painted walls are perfect for incorporating bold colours but still keeping a light and airy feel. You can read my blog on how to colour block here.
Coastal Kitchen Style
It's important in open spaces to choose colours for each area that flow nicely together. The budget wouldn't stretch to a new kitchen, and the existing one was in good condition, so we added a kitchen island and gave the kitchen cabinets a refresh. We painted the lower cabinets in Little Greene's Hicks Blue which adds coastal style and complements the teal colour in the dining-living spaces perfectly. The yellow colour pop creates a clear divide between the spaces and adds a warm, fun feel.
To find out more about how we created a modern kitchen while keeping the existing units, read my blog post here. All of the rooms in this house have been transformed on a budget. You don’t need to spend a fortune to have a unique space that you love - a little creativity goes a long way!
Decorative items made from natural materials
Every beach house needs a bit of rattan! Incorporating bamboo and rattan accessories in decorative accents throughout the space helps to create a cohesive scheme and adds a coastal vibe. The texture also helps to add warmth. These are the Jutlo wall baskets from La Redoute. There’s actually a TV point behind the top basket to allow flexibility for future.
Looking through to the sitting area, we introduced a mix of contrasting textures to add interest - the bamboo coffee table, jute rug, velvet chair and linen blind. Jute rugs are a great choice for a coastal look and I chose a large one to zone the space and make it feel bigger. We incorporated natural textures in the window treatments, with linen roman blinds in a striped pattern.
The pink velvet accent chair was just £79 from Homebase!
Beach inspired lighting
After
Pendant lights provide task lighting for each area. In the kitchen, we chose a fisherman style light fixture from Iconic Lights to tie in with the coastal theme. For the dining area, I sourced a factory style pendant which is swagged over the dining table. The pendant light in the sitting zone is by my favourite mid-century brand Minimoderns and depicts the coastal landscape of Dungeness.
We also added a mixture of lamps to create a cosy feel in the evenings.
A mix of furniture styles
While you can get away with using almost any furniture style in period properties, it can be a bit trickier with newer homes. They need smaller pieces with clean lines. Contemporary and mid-century items are perfect.
I've talked before about how to incorporate vintage mid-century furniture into a dining room. Here, I found the Alvina dining table from La Redoute (it has handy storage drawers at the ends), and we sourced the Ercol mid-century chairs from eBay. If you read my previous blog, you’ll know that this house used to belong to my nanan and ‘Never mind’ was one of her most used phrases! I love to tell the story of a home by adding personal touches.
As an alternative to open shelving, I found the 1940s printer drawer to display shells and pebbles from the nearby beaches (we’re still adding to it!). The ‘70s bamboo stool was also a secondhand find.
Introducing vintage pieces is another great way of adding personality to a newer home and it helps to create a lovely relaxed feel.
Use light wood tones
As well as rattan materials, light wood tones help to add lightness and warmth. The flooring is the Signature 8mm herringbone laminate from Discount Flooring Depot - at £17.99 per square metre, it’s a fraction of the price of engineered wood or LVT.
So there you go! This really is such a lovely space now - it has such an inviting atmosphere and it makes me happy every time I walk in. I hope I've given you lots of coastal kitchen ideas to use in your own home. Let me know in the comments.
I’m a West Yorkshire based interior designer and I cover surrounding areas, including Leeds and Manchester. I also provide an online interior design service. If you’re starting a project and need some help or inspiration, please get in touch.
