We’ve started some preliminary work at the beach house over the past month and a half since we’ve owned it. Most of the work so far though has been finishing demolition and repairing some roof issues to seal things up for the winter. Our next trip will include the first official work toward making it what we want so today I’m sharing with you our coastal cottage overall design inspiration.
The Coastal Cottage Exterior Inspiration
The exterior is in need of some attention but compared to the gutted interior, it’s more about us updating it to our tastes than having to rebuild from scratch.
When the back addition was added, the entire house was covered in cheap vinyl siding. It’s in good shape and not a bad option for coastal areas but it’s ugly and we discovered around the windows and along the roof, it wasn’t installed to our liking.
I’ll get into more detail about our plans for the exterior in the future, but for now, I’m sharing with you some of our color and style ideas.
A large number of newer houses and renovations houses in the area have been painted or clad in varying shades of navy blue siding. With white trim and rich wooden doors and accents, it looks beautiful but the contrarian in me wants to do something different.
Our cottage sits on the main rain of the community. It’s kind of front and center so I want it to stand out in a good way but still blend into the natural surroundings. One of the special characteristics of our community is that it’s nestled in a wooded area which offers great shade in the heat of the summer.
My idea is to keep things light and bright but still with a coastal feel. I’m leaning towards a green / gray body color (for the siding) and bright, white trim. I’d also really like to find a color palette that allows us to use accents of navy blue (a color we’d like to carry into the inside).
The Coastal Cottage Interior
Inside the beach house, I want to keep the walls and ceiling white so everything is as bright as possible. The space is small and doesn’t get a lot of direct natural sunlight so the goal is to keep things light and airy.
Overall, I want the vibe to be coastal but fun. This is a vacation home so I want it to be free of fuss. I want a modern, clean vibe but still comfortable and maybe even a little bold.
Also, because the cottage is so small, I’d like to carry the same basic color palette throughout the entire house and then accent with different colors that all go but define each individual space if that makes sense.
We are still in the early stages of figuring all this out but I think we have a general vision of where we are headed. Lots of white and natural elements with bold pops of color and pattern. Fun and energetic, casual and relaxing.
Our tiny cottage by the sea is a blank slate that we cannot wait to put our personal touch on.
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