Coastal Inspo for your Hampton Interior

Your home may not be beach front in the Hamptons but there is no reason it can’t make you feel like you are. One of my favorite things to do each time I go to the beach is to search for shells, driftwood or pebbles. It can be like a giant treasure hunt for inspiration. I’m always looking for shells that are unusual and stand out from the sandy beach floor. Its amazing to me that a fragile shell can travel so far and when its no longer a house for its creature, it can wash up completely intact. Driftwood on the other hand is definitely better with age. The more it gets roughed up by the ocean the smoother it can become, developing great shapes that are so fun to re-purpose or even just to build a temporary structure that gets washed away in the next tide.

A small collection of shells, driftwood or pebbles could be the perfect inspiration to develop a colour palette for your home. The easiest way to start building a palette is to begin selecting paint colours that you see in your inspiration piece. In the below example I have used shells collected from Waikawa Beach on the West Coast. I’ve pulled out colours by referencing my Dulux Colours of New Zealand fan deck. This is a really free process and shouldn’t be over analyzed. We don’t even know what the colours represent at this stage, they are purely conceptual.

This gives the beginnings to a very raw colour palette that can be referenced when you head out to the shops looking for the perfect occasional chair or floor rug. You will never have to ‘carry’ colours in your head ever again! Something that few of us do well naturally and is often the reason for the mistakes made when we impulse buy.

Here I have connected the softer paint colours of Sandfly Point Quarter & Haast into the upholstery & Drapery. Mid tones of Oreti Double & Kumutoto Half translate into wall coverings and accessories. The colours with most base, Shag Rock and West Melton are a great anchor represented by existing Kauri floors with a chunky woven floor rug. To bring balance I’d recommend these stronger tones also be echoed in the light fixtures, completing a story from top to bottom.

I have found this exercise inspired by nature, will almost always provide you with a unique and aesthetically pleasing outcome. The colour choices made were not accidental, nor was the shell you spotted in the sand. The interior scheme is through and through Coastal Hamptons style, but has been personalized. The feeling of admiration and beauty seen in the shells is now translated into your living room.

Mood board products: Annabella Occasional Chair Natural (Early Settler), Chios Mushroom Drapery (Warwick), Wallpaper Spots & Stripes 608946 (Guthrie Bowron), Melissa 400 Rust Pendant (Lighting Direct), Mulberi Te Oka Bark Floor Rug (Furtex), Rapee Kingston Cushion (Spotlight).