Living on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales lends itself to gorgeous custom designed homes. A beach house design, in particular, is the perfect choice for homeowners wanting to create a home that draws inspiration from the beautiful coastal surroundings.
So, what features make up a beach house design? A beach house design or coastal style home as it’s also known incorporates beach or coastal-inspired elements such as open plan living, natural materials and textures, bright and airy colours and a streamlined design.
Read on to find out how you can create a coastal feel in your home design.
Beach House Designs Are a Streamlined Design
A modern coastal home will often be a streamlined design both internally and externally. Instead of ornate elements and heritage features that are often found with country or traditional style homes, a beach house design will have simple lines, a simplistic layout and features that flow easily throughout the home.
This means square set cornices over a coved design, waterfall benchtops that extend to the floor, concealed cabinet pulls rather than attached handles and flooring that flows consistently throughout the home.
It’s the simplicity in the design of a modern beach house that makes homes of this nature so beautiful. They go back to the fundamentals of design that focuses on presenting a calm and relaxing feel. After all, that is the feeling you often get from being at the beach or in a seaside environment.
In a beach house design, less is definitely more. Functional yet stylish, modern yet warm and inviting.
A beach house design will often have a seamless connection between the interior and exterior space as well. Along with the continuation of the same or similar flooring, the openings can be opened completely with the doors stacking neatly to one side for the indoor and outdoor living to become one big space. This is a key feature in this design.
Beach House Designs Use Bright Light Tones
A beach house design will exude a bright and airy feel that makes you feel relaxed. While the exterior can incorporate strong bold colours, the internal spaces are often bright light colours that work to enhance the streamline and modern features.
Light tones in the paintwork and light finishes internally helps to set the tone of the home. Cool whites work well within a coastal home design, as too does tones of blues and greens alongside earthy tones of greys and light browns. Drawing inspiration from the natural surroundings and designing a colour pallet to compliment will only help to draw the outside in and invoke a feeling of nature within your home.
While traditional beach house design and decor were more literal in that they used seashells and driftwood in the decoration of the home, a modern beach house will use minimal decor elements, so the focus can remain on the beauty of the beach-inspired building design.
A Design That Maximises the Natural Light and Breeze
Bigger windows and more glass elements are fundamental features of a beach house. Designed to allow maximum light into the home along with the breeze to promote natural cross-ventilation. Adding glass panels to doors, using glass balustrading to stairwells and using glass decor items work to further increase the overall beachside feel to the home.
Often located on sloping lots, beach houses are unique in their design because it works around capturing the view and allowing the fresh sea air to circulate throughout the home. This means it’s not uncommon for beach houses to be built upon a pole foundation or use split level designs to maximise both the view and the breeze.
When you have the ocean at your doorstep, why not use the design of your home to harness the benefits of both light and air to help regulate the temperature within. Waking up to the fresh sea air and an abundance of natural light will create a home you will never want to leave.
Beach House Designs Use Nature Inspired Materials and textures
A successful beach house design will work to include all the inspirations a coastal location can bring. This means selecting natural materials and textures to help your home not only blend in with the surroundings but enhance it.
Externally you can use natural elements such as timber and rock, while internally you can incorporate natural products such as bamboo flooring, natural fibre rugs and carpets along with wood panelling to add subtle texture. Careful to stay away from any material that could rust or corrode in salt air.
Adding bright, light furniture will provide the finishing touches to your beach house. The same design principles used in the building design should also be considered in the home furnishings. Simple and streamlined designs, light and natural materials and good sized pieces that are functional but don’t crowd the space.
Homes located close to the beach will often also include features not found in homes in other locations. An outdoor shower or room to hang surfboards, for example. When you’re building a home in a beachside location, make sure to consider your lifestyle and include features that will make it easier for you to enjoy all the benefits your location brings.
A beach-inspired home is beautiful in its simplicity. It doesn’t try to stand out and an ornate, opulent, grand masterpiece, but rather uses a simple, streamlined design that works in conjunction with the environment to create beauty together.
Click through to our project portfolio to view some of our past projects that incorporate all the elements of a beach house design.
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