Beach Decor Ideas - Sand and Sea Shells in your Stairs

Stairway to Heaven

I went and toured some new model homes that were built overlooking the ocean with amazing views in San Clemente, California, and wanted to see what you thought about this design idea for some beach decor lifestyle living.

Custom Stairs with Rock Inlay

The main stairway leading up the second floor, and all the bedrooms, had been built with a nice rich hardwood floor topping for the treads, then has a cement themed veneer put over the risers. One side of the staircase was encased by the wall, so the hand rails or spindles were simply painted a cream color to match the walls in this particular project.

What if we added Sea Shells?

The uniqueness of this model home's staircase got me to thinking about what if we added some sea shells, and other beach themed items to the risers? Would you like to be reminded of your fabulous beach lifestyle while you climb your stairs to bed every night?

Sea Shell Stair Well

 I thought it would be fun to add some common sea shells you might find on the beach, like sand dollars, and star fish along side the rock formation they had. Use more of sand color cement, and you will have your own beach themed stair case. Let us know what you think, or if you see any stair cases like this!

Surf Decor Design Ideas

Just because you want to decorate your home with a surf motif, it doesn't always mean hanging surfing posters torn out from the latest issue of Stab Magazine all over your bedroom wall. Although we do love this particular look, we wanted to show off a few different pieces of surf art that we saw around town, and liked.

Heavy Metal - I love this piece because of it's size, and originality. While it is blatantly a surfboard, it is beautiful and classy enough to look great in your home, or a fancy hotel. Even if you aren't a dedicated surfer, and just a beach lover, this hand crafted one of a kind surfboard piece will be a stylish addition to any corner of your home. This particular piece is entitled "Paddle Hard" and is entirely made out of metal screws, with a piece of re-bar as the center stringer. I couldn't read the artist who designed this piece, but would love to know who created this sculpture if one of our readers happens to know please let us know!

"Paddle Hard" Surfboard Sculpture

Made of Steel Rebar and Long Screws

Hang 'Em High - Surfboards in my opinion are works of art. The hand shaped lines, and curves of a surfboard are truly a work of passion. They are such beautiful functioning ways to ride waves, and surfboards deserve to be showcased as such. Here are a couple of examples of how surfboards can be showcased in your home, and not look like Jeff Spicoli lives there.

Pro Model Surfboards Used as Surf Decor

Artwork Painted on Surfboard

If you are going to attach a used surfboard to your wall, make sure you give it a good cleaning, and get rid of all of the old wax, use some Windex, and I would get some new surf stickers to cover up any visible dings which will add a pro model feel to your surf decor. Wall hanging surf racks can be found pretty easily online, and for not that much money.

You can always check out more Surf Themed Decor at our online Hawaiian bedding superstore!

How to Sleep with the Fishes

Check out this fun bedroom designed by surf room designer Dean Miller. The entire bedroom was designed around our Under the Sea comforter pattern. This fun textile arrangement was hand drawn by a local Hawaiian artist, who wanted to bring his love for the ocean to life, by drawing colorful tropical fish swimming around a coral reef in the glittering sun. Dean Miller decided to use this fabric to hand sew into comforters, and bring an underwater paradise to life in your bedroom.

We started with a pretty typical and bland bedroom, and immediately wanted to lighten the walls to bring out the rich blue deep sea look of the comforter. I found this great light sea foam looking wall paper that has these tonal coral reef patterns inset in the background. (Well at least they resembled coral reef to me!) The wall paper also brought in a bit of texture, and depth to the background instead of simply painting the walls. We wanted to focal point to be on the aquarium, and bedding. The furniture we used was the same as we had on hand, except for the boat type bookcase, which I love and keeps with our ocean theme, but not in a corny way. The biggest addition we made was building out the wall, and adding in a real aquarium with real tropical fish swimming around while you sleep. This part of our room makeover took a bit of planning, but turned out not to be as hard as it looks. The aquarium is pretty much flush with the wall, and is framed with some wood trim to give it a more designer finish. One of the wood trim panels is held in place by magnets, and can be flipped down so the the fish can be feed and cared for. The tank is pretty much self cleaning so there isn't really a need to go in and out of the fish tank. Putting the aquarium inset in the wall is similar to putting a flat screen television in your wall as well, same concept and tools are used. We hope this inspires you to bring some creativity into your interior design, and if you need some tropical themed decor or bedding, be sure to visit us at www.deanmillerprints.com Mahalo!

1 Super Easy Tropical Home Décor Tip

Do you want to add just the right finishing touch to your bedroom that will match your tropical bedding?  One super easy idea is to decorate with one or two palm fronds or broad leafs in a simple glass vase.  Whichever Dean Miller bedding print you have – a rich tropical design, a Hawaiian theme, or a surfer bedroom – this decorating tip will coordinate with your bedroom style perfectly.  Just snip off a single leaf or frond, or maybe two, and display it in a vase with water.  It should last much longer than cut flowers would too.  Maybe you’re just getting some ideas and you’re looking to remake your bedroom altogether.  Then you may want to check out Dean Miller’s selection of beach sheets, tropical comforters, and Hawaiian bedding sets for inspiration.

Beach Style Comforters Create a Coastal Atmosphere

Are you looking for the perfect beach themed bedding set?  Whether you’re decorating your beach vacation home, your guest room, or your master bedroom Dean Miller has the beach and tropical styles you want.  Check out these two popular coastal-inspired bedding sets.

Idle Island gives a relaxed island style feel to any bedroom.  You’ll love the neutral thatch background with ukuleles, woody cars, islands, and canoes.   Don’t you feel like you’re in the islands already?

The sunset Beach comforter set can help you create that beach vacation home feeling you’re looking for.  Of course you want your bedroom to feel like a coastal retreat!  The sunset Beach fabric is printed in a classic Hawaiian patchwork quilt pattern with a soothing combination of colors.

Both the Idle Island and the Sunset Beach comforter sets include the comforter and the matching pillow shams.  No need for a duvet cover with either of these.  They are high quality, durable comforters that keep your room looking great!  See more Dean Miller beach bedding at DeanMillerPrints.com.

Beach Decor Ideas - Write your Name in the Sand

Write your Name in the Sand!

This is a fun and easy decorating project that will give your beach house a warm personal touch. Go out to your local beach, or the beach you are vacationing at, and simply write your name in the sand with a stick! This makes a great memento of any trip to the tropics.

Orginial photo from beach in Hawaii

Designer Tip - We took some pictures without the water creeping in, but we thought the waves added a great touch. Maybe even wait until a crab crawls by, and get him in the picture!

Our Hawaii picture printed on canvas, framed, and hung on the wall!

I suggest using a long stick so you don't get any foot prints on your sand canvas like we did here.

Designer Tip - Feel free to write anything you like, don't just stop at your name, draw a picture, have fun, be creative!

Instructions - Stand a few feet back, and take a few pictures from different angles to make sure you cover all your bases. Hey it's all digital now, so there is no extra cost to snap off lots of photos, one of them will be good. We printed ours on canvas, and there are lots of companies that do this now. Costco or Cafe Press.com can print on canvas for you, but there are lots of companies that do this type of printing now, so feel free to shop around and get a good price on your digital printing. They can do almost any size, and frame it too if you want. Fun beach decor project anyone can do!