A Modern Beachy Interior - Part 1 The Living Room

So if you know me at all, you know that the beach is my favorite spot ever. Maybe it’s the Pisces in me, but I just love to be near the water. My in laws live in southern California, near Long Beach, and have this amazing view of the ocean and the harbor. The house itself has this coastal mid century feel to it. For about the last year they have been working hard on updating it and giving the whole home a refresh. She asked me to help her with the decision process and I was more than happy to be involved in the modern beachy decorating of this home!

For a color palette in the whole house we let the landscape guide it. This meant blues, tans, and grays. There are areas of black and white throughout the house to make it feel modern beachy, and pops of yellow to echo the LA sunshine(although the day we photographed the house it decided to be super cloudy – figures!). Allowing nature and the home to dictate the design and colors is the single easiest way to ensure your home looks beautiful and just feels right.

In working on this house there were no changes made to the floor plan or structure. We chose finishes and furnishings to update it. I could write a whole post on how I would change the floor plan if I was given an unlimited budget with that home. Not that it’s not beautiful and functional as it is, but I am ALWAYS dreaming and rearranging floor plans and redesigning homes in my head. If I’ve been to your house, chances are I have a redesign plan in my head because I just can’t help it! And don’t even get me started on my own house haha.

The main area that we worked on together was the front living area. In this room there are gorgeous windows with a great view of the Long Beach harbor and the ocean. This is a no brainer to being an inspiration point and focal point to the room. Because the view is so good we didn’t want to block it with huge bulky window treatments. However this room gets so much bright sun in the mornings that it ends up being really hot and bright. Plus privacy is also a factor. She opted for blinds that could open bottom up or top down to allow for some sun blockage and privacy while still allowing them to see the view. I loved these also because they fold up really flat, and are almost non existent when all the way open.

The walls were painted a soft white with a darker trim color. To be completely honest, I didn’t like the trim at first, but now that I’ve seen it in person and looked at these pictures more, I actually love it! I just think it adds an unexpected element to the home that is a little different than a pure white trim would be. It also adds a ton of dimension.

Because they do utilize the tv in the room, we kept the sofa in front of the window. Plus it doesn’t obstruct the view of the ocean at all. It’s very light, and does not distract from the window behind it.

My favorite item in the room is the pendant in the corner. A large lamp would have obstructed the view here, but the clear glass pendant allows for light while still being able to see through it and reducing the visual weight.

A mirror stands over the fireplace to reflect the ocean out the windows, and huge stems of pampas grass that she got from her neighbors plant make the perfectly simple mantle arrangement. Pops of navy and seashells were added to complete the space for the modern beachy feel!

This was more of a redecorate than a remodel so we left the fireplace alone, but I thought I would share some ideas I had for it if they were to remodel it!

One idea would be to leave the brick up top and drywall on bottom and just add a lighter wood mantel. I think the mixture of woods would be so pretty and warm up the space a little more.

Another idea would be to drywall over the brick and tile the bottom.

Another idea would be drywall the whole thing, including the mantel. This streamlines and modernizes the look of it. I wouldn’t choose this idea for my in laws in particular because it is more minimal and modern than her style is.

Ok that’s it for now, but I’ll be back to share with you the bedroom makeover we did!

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