My husband and I love the beaches expecially in the Caribbean.
I would love to redo our Master Bedroom to make it feel like a
Caribbean beach retreat. We have tons of pictures we have taken
of coral and fish from snorkling, that I would love to incorporate.
My problem is I have no idea where to start. What color paintfor walls
and lack vision and ideas for how to follow this through.

Can anyone help me?
I welcome any and all ideas!

you can post here or email me at kwmoma@yahoo.com
Please Help

Darleen

This message has been edited. Last edited by: darleenhallett.com,

Be careful of making your room too "theme-y."
I know you are not looking to re-create the set from "Pirates of the Caribbean."

With that in mind, there are two ways to go: what I like to call "tropical cabana" and "colonial Caribbean."

The difference is in color. Tropical cabana is generally more whimsical and incorporates watery blues, greens, fuschias and other bright colors. A liberal uses of white in ceilings, trim, window coverings and furniture helps to mitigate the profusion of color.

With this decor, you could take a few (just a few) of your favorite pix and blow them up to poster size. Then place them in simple box frames. Stay away from lots of itty-bitties. Big, bold gestures look best in this decor.

"Colonial Caribbean" is more traditional in look and incorporates dark wood floors, white walls, simple window treatments --generally shutters or woven wood or bamboo blinds. Furniture is rich and dark, ususally mahogany. The overall look is refined and relaxed.

Resources: "Caribbean Elegance" by Michael Connors, Coastal Living magazine.

Coastal Living had a superb color issue this spring that had many great suggestions for this kind of decorating. It may still be on the newstands, but if not, well worth ordering a back issue.

Key West Magazines can give you some ideas as well. I have seen a "darker Shrimp" Color in many tropical homes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

My sister-in-law did this...she has a master bedroom that overlooks the water and painted the walls a very pale green. She got some Hawaiin skirts from a dollar-store, cut them down and stapled them around the bed as a bedskirt and it looked really good. She had dark colonial-style bedside tables, with light marble table-tops and her duvet was a combination of the light green and dark brown. It was classy yet whimsical...

Casey,
I have tried to find the Coastal Living you mentioned but not able to find one. I live in a small town so we do nove news stands here just
the local stores that carry diffrent magazines.
since we are not anywhere near the coast I guess they do not carry them. I did subscribe to the coastal living Magazine however on line.

Still looking for any Pictures or Color Ideas anyone might have.

Thanks,
darleen

Hello Borica,
"Pirates of the Caribbean."
not exactly what I had in mind, lol

It sounds like the "tropical cabana" is what I had in mind I have already taken 2 of our favorite pictures and had them blown up to 10X13 I think. I do have some concerns our Woodwork & Trim is stained dark cherry, like the rest of the house. (Hubby would kill be if I painted it)
Our furniture is antique and Oak. Will that be okay? However the Bed is a metal fram bed.
Carpeting is a light white/sandy berber with flecks of red but I think this should be fine.

The room is 25 X 20 and has 12 foot ceilings, the house is a cape cod style so the roof pitch starts at about 6 feet, over all a large room, so I don't think I would need to be afraid of Color so with that said, Any suggestions on the blue color's of the walls?.

Thanks again,

Darleen

This message has been edited. Last edited by: darleenhallett.com,

Here are some colors that may work for your MBR:

SW6763 Retiring Blue
SW6764 Swimming
SW 6765 Spa

These three colors from Sherwin Williams are a watery green-blue, similar to the Caribbean.

Your furniture will work OK. Again, your room need not look like a movie set, it just needs some touches to evoke the feel of a beach setting.

Try to bring in some white accents to brighten things, for instance white shutters or wood blinds, and white sheers. Put a white coverlet on your bed and add pillows with blue, green and white cabana-striped pillows.

Also, incorporate a few items in rattan, wicker or bamboo. Pier1 imports is a great resource. A few large seashell and coral accessories are in order, but don't go overboard (pun intended) with the beachy-themed acccessories.

Hope this helps.

Thank you sooo much ofr the color suggestions I will check them out tomorrow. I was planning on white sheets and actually have Ratan furniture I just need to recover the cussions.
Pier 1 is my favorite absolute store.
I actually have 2 really nice nice pieces of coral from a salt water tank we had years ago.
I am actually starting to get very excited now.
When I get this accomplished I woudld love to send you some pictures. It way take a month or two though.

Thanks,

Darleen

Did you see the Master bedroom from the Dream Home? There's you some ideas. The walls are a very light aqua. The linens have white and aqua in them, yet the theme is very beachy.

quote:

Originally posted by darleenhallett.com:
Casey,
I have tried to find the Coastal Living you mentioned but not able to find one. I live in a small town so we do nove news stands here just
the local stores that carry diffrent magazines.
since we are not anywhere near the coast I guess they do not carry them. I did subscribe to the coastal living Magazine however on line.

Still looking for any Pictures or Color Ideas anyone might have.

Thanks,
darleen

You might try your local library, Ebay Back Issues or call Coastal Living for a single issue. You can also look at the Coastal Living Website.

I lived in Honolulu for about one year. I used all white cotton bedding, DKNY and Ralph Lauren have some beautiful linens. Easy to care for because they are washable. Then I accented with colored pillows.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Delysia,

darleen, here's a link to Coastal Living's website: www.coastalliving.com

You will find wonderful images and ideas for inspiration. Have fun.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Boricua,

Darleen - Dig out several of your favorite Caribbean photos and take them with you when you go shopping for paint, accessories and furniture. It may help you to recreate the feeling.