Whoa. This is a thing! We were asked a few months ago to consider hopping on board the Waterside Home Tour hop by Emily from Table & Hearth… I have to admit, I was hesitant at first. That day, it felt like every single room in our was a disaster zone! But a lot can happen in a couple of months, and I’m so pleased to be able to share our Coastal Home and a few key spaces with you today – along with all these other ‘coastal bloggers’!
Many of you know that we live directly on the Atlantic Canadian Coast. We have ocean views from the entire back of our house – and it’s divine. We love waking to see the mood of the waves, watching weather roll in and, sometimes if we’re lucky, watch dozens of lobster boats head out to sea in the wee hours of the morning. It’s just magical.
As such, the ocean and the breeze has definitely informed how we’ve chosen to dress and decorate our home. We don’t have a lot of traditional ‘coastal’ decor, but we do embrace much of the casual feel of a beach house.
Living Room
It feels sort of funny to showcase our planked nook now because it feels like everyone and their sister has one. We actually put this in well before the planking craze took over – we’ve had it for three years! It was our budget solution to covering up a weird (and massive), 1980s style, television nook built into the wall. Nevertheless, it now enhances the coastal feel of the home.
On the longer wall, you’ll see our white slipcovered couch flanked by modern metal lights. Fishing towns are all about mixtures of textures – canvas sails on pleasure crafts, the clanging of metal on the lobster traps. So this is our nod to that mixture without actually wrapping our furniture in a sail and plunking a lobbie trap right in the middle of the room.
The living room is right off the main entrance and foyer, where we also have a teensy guest powder room. When we first moved in, there was no planked wainscoting (we added that) and the walls were beige. We added the wood plank and painted the bathroom area in a soft sea foam colour. We also upped the coastal feel of the hall by swapping out a builder grade door for one with an entire panel of opaque glass – doesn’t it look like sea glass?! You can’t see through it at all, but it does let more light shine throughout the once-awkward space. 
It also feels a little silly to say that we try to bring a touch of ‘city’ into each room. I am an urbanite by birth, so having a ‘nod to modern’ is important to me. In the living room, we’ve achieved that with the square and linear chairs and the subway art coffee table. We keep it coastal, however, because the chairs are a gorgeous deep ocean blue and the subway art is on distressed wood.
DIY Projects in the Living Room and Foyer
Sunroom
This room is on the back of the house and it’s an amazing addition the previous owners did. We love it. The sun streams into the giant windows and it always feels light an airy in here because of the super high ceilings. We’ve chosen neutral artwork for our gallery wall (including a custom screen printing of our little town!), and used a gigantic mirror to bounce even more light around. 
Much like the living room, the centre piece of the sunroom is a slipcovered white love seat, with painted accent furniture and rustic, neutral accents. The only real difference in here is that we chose to punctuate the room with sunny yellow paint. It seemed like a risk at the time, but it plays off the green outside and the blue water so perfectly and it helps to signify that this room is definitely special. 
DIY Projects in the Sunroom
Master Bathroom
Our most recent ‘redo’ in our master bath is a definite nod to the outdoors. We ditched almost all the ‘builder’ grade aspects of the room and used paint and mirrors to enhance the beachy-spa feel. You can see the full project and the before pictures here. 
The wall stencil evokes sea glass, while the counter anchor the space and keeps the eye above the not-so-pretty floors. The silver and chrome accents are in keeping with the rest of the home’s mix of metals and textures – just like out on the wharf. 
So there you have it! A brief tour of the most coastal rooms in our home, right now. As I write this, we are knee-deep in our guest room makeover, hoping to have it completed before the first weekend in July when my parents will visit. And of course, we are starting to do some work on the nursery (which is just an empty room now!), where we are definitely going for a blend of coast and urban.
Thanks for reading and make sure you check out all the other beautiful homes on this Waterside Home Tour!
Monday, June 20
Table & Hearth
The Happy Housie
In My Own Style
The Space Between
DIY Passion
Brian & Kaylor
Wednesday, June 22
Starfish Cottage
Family and the Lake House
What Meegan Makes
Migonis Home
Up to Date Interiors
Friday, June 24
Nina Hendrick
Simple Nature Decor
Shabbyfufu
Slightly Coastal
Setting for Four
