Claire, the creative crafting expert behind Heart Hand Made, has joined us this month to show you how to add the finishing touch to your room with homemade masterpieces.  Her 5 coastal inspired crafts are the perfect accompaniment to our painted furniture collection.

5 Super Simple DIY Ways To Decorate Your Coastal Home

As summer ends, I’ve been attempting to think of some simple ways for you to incorporate calming coastal style into your home decor. An ideal coastal home is somewhere to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of daily life and there’s nothing better than cozying up in a light, airy room with little coastal touches and fresh, scented candles. If you are only starting your decorating journey, the costs can add up quite quickly so I hope you enjoy these budget friendly DIY ideas to add decorative elements to your home. 

Shell Display

The first project is probably the simplest of all; displaying shells in an etagere, cake stand or in empty jars. Take your collection of shells, coral or sand and fill some interesting glassware, bowls or any vessels you can find from charity shops or even your own cupboards. 

A large bowl or wicker tray full of sand and shells would look marvellous on top of the bordeaux painted coffee table; with the mixed textures of paint, ceramic or glass and your beach collection matched with blue and cream textiles and cushions would give your living room a perfect coastal feel.

Blue Jars

For the second project you will need to raid your recycling bin or start collecting glass vessels and jars. Using some PVA glue and a little food colouring, painted onto glassware can create some visually stunning results. 

Food Colouring Glue recipe: 

• 1.5 Tbsp Glue
• 1Tsp of water
• Food colouring (experiment with drops of colouring, between 2,3,4 and 5)

You will need glass jars, sponge brushes and little dishes or glasses for mixing your recipe. 

Mix your ingredients; using different vessels to hold the different ratios of food colouring and glue, paint jars on the outside (this gives you the option of using the jars as vases in future), allow to dry and add another layer or two. You will be able to gauge how many layers you will add by the overall effect you wish to achieve.

Arranging your painted glassware of different heights on a console table or sideboard with some large art work can give your room a beautiful vignette and focal point. My favourite type of console table is the Arles Large Sideboard with drawers, perfect for storing candles, matches and any extra glassware, shells or coral you may have. This means you can switch your vignette around any time you feel like a change of scenery.

Abstract Wall Art

You don’t have to spend an absolute fortune on wall art to achieve a fabulous coastal look in your home. Using various shades of paint tester pots from the hardware shop on some wooden panels or a large canvas, painted in layers and scraped across using some card or board or sponge brushes from the previous project, you can create your very own abstract art! Just add as many layers as you wish, again depending on the overall effect you wish to achieve. You will be able to gauge this when each layer dries.

Sand Candle Jars

Keep raiding your recycling for jars, saved glassware or a hurricane lantern and fill full of sand, shells or even starfish and a large church candle for a cozy feel in your little beach style haven.

Starfish Wall Art

For the final touch, I found a beautiful range of embroidery hoops, with natural, calico fabric and a starfish glued to the fabric. This is a rather unique take on wall art and it would suit any room of your home. Be sure to use a multi purpose adhesive that is suitable for use on fabric or use a clear thread to sew the starfish to the material.

I chose all of these DIY projects because of their simplicity and overall cost, always keeping in mind that the rooms to be decorated are already light, airy and full of furniture in a suitable colour or range of colours. A mix of white painted effects and oak on furniture offers an earthy dimension to the coastal scheme and pairing a natural rug with mixed shades of blue and cream cushions can offer you a perfect little piece of the coast in your own home the whole year through.