Seaside Style : Blue + White + Patterned

 

 

As a designer, I have never really been into pattern,

I tend to like things plain and simple.

But recently I have been totally inspired by patterns

and I'm talking a BIG way.

I have not dipped my toes in the water

with small, subtle prints but I've dived head first into

BIG, BOLD, BRIGHT and COLOURFUL patterns.

Anything goes at the moment geometrics, florals and stripes.

Melissah xox

Images via 1, 2a, 2b, 3, 4a, 4b, 5

Check out Coastal Style on tumblr and Pinterest

Make Your Home More Comfortable

Comfortable Dining Chairs

 

Beach houses are great for entertaining - there's plenty of time to relax and chat with friends and family over a home cooked meal. When it's not a barbeque on the deck make sure that your indoor dining chairs are comfortable so that your guests are happy to sit at the table with a bottle of wine and while away the evening!

Kick Back with an Ottoman

 

Introduce an ottoman into the living space - there is nothing more indulgent than putting your feet up and relaxing. A perfect way to get lost in a good book or watch TV in both comfort and style!

Pile On The Pillows

Make a bedroom feel welcoming with piles of pillows and some accent scatter cushions. Mix up the prints and patterns for added interest. This is also the perfect opportunity to add a bit of colour to a room. When decorating a beach house I like to use a palette of ocean blues, seafoam and soft greens. Natural 'beachy' tones is another favourite scheme.

Throw In A Throw

 

 

A lovely finishing touch to a sofa or a bed is a throw. Not only does it add a splash of colour but it makes the room look warm and inviting. They also come in handy on a chilly winter's night!

Cushion Comfort

 

 

Make sofas look extra comfy with piles of scatter cushions. There's nothing more inviting than sinking into a deep, comfortable sofa with piles of soft cushions. A perfect place for an afternoon nap! Scatter cushions are also important for adding interest, colour and texture into a room.

Add a Rug

A rug in the living room and bedrooms will instantly add a sense of warmth and comfort to the room. Use sisal for a natural 'beachy' feel or wool for a cleaner, more modern look. A wool rug will have a cosier feel, which is an added bonus if you are using your beach house in the winter. Wool rugs look great with a simple design in a subdued coastal palette and natural shades. A more traditional Persian style rug or something with a tribal pattern will give you a more ethnic, global feel.

Think About Soft, Diffused Lighting

Ambient lighting adds a lovely warm glow to a room and there's nothing more romantic than the flicker of candlelight. Table lamps, standing lamps, wall lights and bedside lamps all play a crucial role in creating a warm and cosy atmosphere.

Melissah xox

Images via Pinterset - Coastal Style Details

Check out Coastal Style on tumblr and Pinterest

The Adventure Begins

 

 

I am starting to plan a few looks for my up and coming holiday. For me the planing and packing are half the fun of the holiday. I always plan carefully so I don't overload the suitcase. To get the weight down I usually stick to one or two neutrals - which is white and beige linen if it's a summer holiday with a couple of accent colours like jade and turquoise. All the pieces have to mix and match so they can be worn a number of times but they can create different looks. Pieces then also have to flexible enough so that can go from day to night ~ for instance a casual poolside outfit can be dressed up with wedges and bold jewellery for cocktails at the bar. There's a real art to packing and even after years of practice I still take way too much stiff  ...  just in case!

Melissah xox

Images via 1, 2, 3

Check out Coastal Style on tumblr and Pinterest

Bruce Gordon Was Nice to Me

I spotted him in the shadows, at the back of the exhibition hall. It was unexpected. This was Interbike after all, not NAHBS. But there he was, behind a big beautiful red bike with Bruce Gordon decals, underneath a banner with the mysterious word SOPWAMTOS (which, I soon learn, is the Society of People Who Actually Make Their Own Sh!t). A broad-shoulderd, slightly slouchy, gray-haired man with the face of a Soviet literary dissident circa the 1960s. I would give anything to have the writing skills to describe Bruce Gordon's facial features and expression. But alas, I must struggle. Coyly suspicious? Exuberantly grumpy? Playfully defiant? Something like that. 

If you don't already know, Bruce Gordon is a framebuilder out in Petaluma, California. One of the best, they say. One of those guys who has been at it for decades, one of the legends. At a loss for words from the bizarre charm of his physical presence, I blurt out something generic about being pleased to meet him. In reply he laughs with a bitterness that is masterful in its combination of sincerity and theatrics. "If I could go back and do something else with my life, trust me I would!" he snorts. "So... want a bike?" Out of curiosity I ask about the wait list. "I am all caught up," he says, "no wait list. You can go ahead and write that on your blog" (the last word is accompanied by a playfully-scornful - or maybe not so playfully, this is ambiguous by design - roll of the eyes. But who cares. Bruce Gordon has no wait list? Okay, I will write that.)

Next we discuss his famous Dangerous Pointy Brakes, which I'd recently tried on one of Pamela Blalock's bikes and discovered to be surprisingly functional (unlike most other cantis I've tried). He was pleased to hear this. For a small fortune the brakes could be mine. Alas I had neither the required sum, nor a bike on which these superior brakes could go. But yes, I would mention them on my "blog."

What can I say. I could have moved along at that point. But I don't know when to quit. And no, that's not even it. In truth, I was a little smitten. I wanted this man to keep talking. I wanted to study his face and figure out what or whom it reminded me of.  

So I stuck around, touched the bike, asked questions. He quickly grew suspicious of how much I seemed to know about frame geometry and such. "Oh don't tell me. You're planning to become a framebuilder!" I assured him that I was not, but confessed that I might be building a frame for myself shortly. Nothing serious. Just to give it a try. But becoming a framebuilder, no. I understand the amount of training that requires; I know that earning a living that way is next to impossible. "You're damn right it's impossible." And thus began a speech about the horrors and deceptions of the pipe dream of becoming a framebuilder that claims hopeful innocents of my generation by the dozen. Bruce Gordon's opinion on the matter is basically a more extreme version of this. "If I could save just one young person from becoming a framebuilder, I would die happy," he tells me. I believe him, and promise to never become a framebuilder. 

He eyes me with sadness and shakes his head. He asks what I used to do for a living before the tragedy of succumbing to bikes. I tell him briefly, and soon we are talking about bikes as one would talk about a disease. He tells me some personal stuff, I reciprocate. We commiserate. Before I know it, the conversation begins to resemble the sort of jaded, weepy, vodka-fueled exchange that takes place at around 3 in the morning. Except this is Interbike, high noon, and I am sober.

The following day, I walked by the booth again and gave Bruce Gordon an uncertain wave. I genuinely did not think he'd remember me; it was as if our conversation the day before had been something I'd imagined. But he did remember. And then he gave me this pin. It's a limited edition. The regular one reads "Bruce Gordon was rude to me." 

And that is my story of meeting Bruce Gordon. You should buy one of his bikes. I hear they are good and he's all caught up on his wait list.

Neutral Ground - Get The Look

Although I am inspired by a million different beach house looks and excited by every colour under the rainbow, as a designer, I tend to always come back to neutrals. They last the distance of time, they're easy to live with and it's easy to update the look seasonally or when the mood takes you. These classic looks above are based on a very timeless palette of white and beige neutrals. They have been given a coastal feel by adding natural textures to the mix, such as the sisal rugs, woven baskets, coral and seashells. Subtle accent colours in muted shades of blue and ocean green also add to the coastal mood of these rooms.

Melissah xox

Moodboards by Coastal Style : Images via Wisteria

Check out my other blogs Scrapbook and Country Style Chic

Vintage Beach Chic

One of my favourite beach house looks is

Shabby Chic meets Vintage Style.

I like worn, weathered finishes, rustic elements and recycled furniture
to create a warm, welcoming, relaxed feel.
I love lots of white white with natural and textured elements.
French Connection have put together a nice range of homewares
that helps create this feel.
Perfect for rustic country and coastal living.

Melissah xox

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Check out Coastal Style on tumblr and Pinterest

Beautiful Beginnings

What is it about the start of these rides? The all-day rides with dirt and climbing. The rides that begin in the early hours of the morning. We should feel groggy and tense after a night of little sleep. But everything is so still and serene that we are alert and open. The air is dewy. Faces are dewy. Everyone looks beautiful in the milky fog. It is not possible to know the weather yet. Everything hovers. The plants exhale and the scent they release is so strong it is almost unnatural. Is someone wearing perfume? No, it is flowers, grass, leaves, wet earth. We relax and exhale too.

Bags bulge with provisions and spare pieces of clothing. There is a friendly look to them; happy and full. Everyone wants to know what everyone else has brought. A show and tell of contents, a peek into each other's little bag-contained world.

Steel tubes rest against shrubbery. Surrounded by foliage, they blend into the organic colour pallets, muted in the early morning light. 

Histories of bicycles are told and retold. Wonderment is expressed. Admiration is exchanged. The brand new feather-light racing bike is beautiful; we are envious. The hand-painted dump rescue with clumsy DIY braze-ons is beautiful; we are envious. Ditto for everything in between. 

As inky darkness gives way to tentative lilac daylight, we slowly feel that sense of readiness swelling up within us. If the start of the ride is timed well, it will correspond with the crescendo of that sensation.

And then, as if it is the most natural thing in the world, we will transition from a state of profound calm to a state of immediate action. No jitters, no nerves. Just a beautiful beginning.