Beside the Seaside

Welcome to my first ever room makeover, which I am very excited about!

Recently, I have felt inspired by a few things, one of which is living by the sea – how beautiful it can be and how happy it makes me. Another is Joanna Thornhill’s book Home for Now, which is full of inspiring ideas that you can read more about here. It made me think about my rented home and how when renting there is a certain limit to what you can do. But this shouldn’t stop people from making it their own.

Our spare room was best described as a dumping ground with a bed. It was where all our odd bits of furniture ended up. We are so lucky to have lots of family and friends that come to stay with us and we love it – it’s been amazing to have the space to put people up. So I wanted to make this guestroom into something special. It’s a great room at the top of the house with a small balcony. It has a dark navy blue wall, which I decided was the perfect backdrop for a nautical, beach theme inspired by the sea at the end of the road! It’s all about working with what you have – if life gives you lemons and all that!!

So, first have a look at the room before (I always love this bit):

And here is the room now:

I have been working through ideas for the past few months. First, I sanded back the orangey pine on the rocking chair and repainted it white – I love how it looks now. The bedside table was something I found outside someone’s house when we lived in London. I really liked the shape of the legs and it was a good solid wooden table but it looked as though someone had started a DIY makeover that they never finished. Rather than paint it, I decided to add a sheet of glass on the top and put pictures underneath of beaches we have visited – I used postcards and old railway poster prints. I filled an old vase with stones and shells that our family have collected over the years from various beaches. After some searching, I finally found some old wooden boat oars from a local couple that I scrubbed clean and revived with some linseed oil. As most of you will know, I love old and new together and I feel this room satisfies my obsession!

I found the cushions, throw, artwork and storage box all at Tesco, which has a great seaside living range and they also have some great interior ideas on their Tesco Living site.

Have you recently completed a room makeover? Or do you have a nautical room of your own? I would love to hear from you.

Love Lemon x

Please note that Tesco kindly gifted items for my makeover. All thoughts are of course my own.