Inspired by the ocean, a nautical style bathroom creates a breezy yet romantic atmosphere.
Nautical design elements are ideal for this room because they evoke a clean, invigorating feel.
Here’s how you can bring a breath of fresh sea air into your home.
Nautical Style Bathroom Colours
One of the best ways to start is to make the main colour in your bathroom a crisp, cool white.
This immediately gives the space a fresh and airy feel.
For accents, think ocean shades.
Soft sea-greens and aquatic blues; sandy golden shades, too.
The neutral light brown of driftwood.
You can go bold with stripes of white, navy and vivid red, or subtle with waves and ombre colour fades.
Reflective or iridescent effects hint at ocean treasure or mermaid scales.
Inspiration Gallery
Motifs
There are any number of nautical motifs you can include in your bathroom.
First of all, you can incorporate prints and images as part of your decor: sea-scapes, beach photos, artworks showing ships and boats.
You can also choose shower curtains, bath towels and other accessories with a nautical or ocean themed design: ships, anchors, starfish and more.
Wall art showing words relating to your theme, such as “bathe”, is another good option.
Textures And Materials
Matte paint can give a soft, gentle feel. Contrast this with shiny, glossy textures: gloss paint, enamel, polished copper, brass or steel.
Aged wood is perfect for a nautical theme; think driftwood or rough planks.
The more raw the surfaces look, the more they’ll lend themselves to your theme.
Keep finishes simple and allow the natural beauty of the materials to come through.
Lime-washed wood, the warm patina of aged brass, woven rattan accents: all of these can evoke a sense of peaceful simplicity.
Salvaged wood of any kind makes an excellent addition to your nautical themed bathroom.
Use it with plain or striped mats as a floor covering; panel your walls or the sides of your bath.
The great thing about reclaimed wood is that any damage immediately becomes part of its charm.
Decorative Elements
A great way to immediately suggest a nautical feel is to include some porthole mirrors in your decorative elements.
Round mirrors, preferably with thick frames in brass or polished copper, can convey a strong sense of being at sea.
You can choose smaller accent mirrors or go all out and replace your existing bathroom mirrors with large circular ones.
Inexpensive objet d’art and ornaments are easily available: think shells and dried starfish, model boats, ship-anchor ornaments; small dishes of pebbles and sea-glass.
Style Tips
It’s very easy for this kind of design to become cluttered so be sure not to overload any part of your bathroom with objects or decorative touches.
You don’t need to overdo it – less is often more.
A good approach is to pick a section of the bathroom, such as a single wall or a niche, and keep the more dramatic elements confined to that space.
Take An Inspiration Trip
Are you lacking inspiration, or finding interior design a bit overwhelming?
Poole, UK has some brilliant inspiration for nautical style interiors and exteriors.
The streets are lined with beautiful beach houses, with feature surfboards on glass balconies, beach-hut style elements, and washed-out seaside colours.
Visiting Bathroom Showrooms Poole or any other seaside town has to offer is also a great first step when planning nautical style interiors.
Where Do You Get Your Inspiration For Interiors From?
We love Pinterest, and we also gain inspiration from everywhere we go.
The colours of the crisp fallen leaves on an autumn day spent walking in the woods.
We take inspiration from hikes around lakes and up hills in the summer.
We watch the sun reflect on water, and wildlife take comfort in their surroundings.
Graphic design inspires us too. Logos, printed materials, paper finishes and die cuts all get the mind flowing, and graphic design translates to interior design very nicely.
Where do you get your inspiration from? Comment below…