How to Nail The Contemporary Coastal Look

By Zephyr and Stone

If you’ve scrolled Pinterest, browsing the pages of a current home interior design magazine or even taken a stroll through your local neighbourhood recently, you’ll know that coastal-style homes are more popular than ever, and for good reason, too! Coastal-style homes fit our Australian way of life beautifully; with large open plan living spaces, light, unassuming colour palettes and interiors and finishes inspired by our relaxed lifestyle.

But coastal homes have come a long way from their humble beginnings as seaside shacks, with more and more buyers and renovators opting to create a more Contemporary Coastal look in their home - combining elements inspired by the sun, sand and sea pared-back, contemporary style. Interested in creating this look in your home? We share some of our top design essentials for nailing this look…

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Bathroom

Simplify Colours

When designing our own contemporary coastal design projects, choosing the right colours and tones is vital in creating that relaxed atmosphere that’s fresh, contemporary, and reminiscent of the coast. The key to designing a timeless home versus a coastal cliché is in a refined colour palette.

Unlike other styles of coastal homes that feature colours like navy blue heavily, a contemporary coastal home draws on neutral tones like white, cream, and grey and elements of light timber and natural stones. There’s room to add soft shades of blue and green in your decor to bring your spaces to life, but your larger elements like cabinetry, flooring and paint colours should be calm and contemporary throughout.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Bedroom

Keep It Cool

Like we always say, the devil truly is in the details when planning your new home design. One of the easiest and most effective ways to really drive home that beautiful contemporary coastal look at your own place is to keep it cool when selecting tapware, knobs and handles and fittings. Unlike a classic coastal home where brass and a more traditional approach apply, your eye should be locked in on tones and materials in whites, greys, and cool-toned metals.

Just like we’ve done here in our Contemporary Coastal Ensuite, brushed nickel tapware and fittings provide a beautiful texture that doesn’t overpower the space, but ties in perfectly with our ‘greige’ (grey + beige) tiles throughout. The brushed finish keeps the ensuite looking sophisticated, and grown-up yet lived-in and breezy.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Ensuite

New Classics

When we talk about contemporary coastal homes, we’re ditching the fish scale motifs and porthole mirrors in favour of the new classics. Part modern, part laidback, the best part about crafting your very own contemporary coastal home is exploring textures and materials to complete the look.

Instead of opting for the traditional coastal tropes, we love to look for elevated options to take a space to the next level. For example, in our Contemporary Coastal Kitchen, we chose to introduce a stunning fluted feature to our cabinetry to provide contrast and add a modern, clean balance to our timber cupboards. We carried this through to our laundry as well for consistency, opting for a clean white benchtop to blend in seamlessly. In this laundry space, penny round backsplash tiles gives this coastal home a fresh, modern twist that will remain timeless for years to come. Other materials and textures like terrazzo and marble are a great way to balance classic and contemporary and can be introduced in smaller portions through home furniture and accessories.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Kitchen + Laundry

Light + Space

One major difference between the type of coastal home you remember from your childhood holidays and the current designs is that there’s an emphasis on a feeling of light, airy spaces that are planned to work for your lifestyle (and you won’t be tripping over knick-knacks, either). A feeling of light and space can be achieved in lots of ways, but if you’re planning a new home or renovating, then make sure to think about natural light in every room of the house. Not only will this help to cool the home naturally and provide much-needed natural light, but your home will also automatically feel more spacious and comfortable, too.

For bathrooms and areas of the home that don’t have access to a window, consider installing skylights for a game-changing look and feel. Instead of bulky shutters or blinds, dress your windows and doors in sheer curtains in soft linen to enhance the sunlight and add to the laidback energy you’re trying to achieve with a contemporary coastal home.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Living Room + Bathroom

Organic Shapes

For a home that perfectly balances both contemporary and coastal influences, the finishing touches such as lighting, furniture and accessories can really help to bring the indoors in, promote a sense of calm, and help your home to feel lived-in and anything-but-stark.

Organic shapes are a must for creating a soft and relaxed look and can be introduced in both big and small ways throughout your home. In our Contemporary Coastal Dining Room, a stunning oversized pendant light becomes a sculptural centrepiece above the dining table. We love to choose round tables where possible as well to break up the straight lines of a floorplan and make the space feel inviting and casual. We even opted for dining chairs with subtle curves for a playful touch.

For the finer touches that really pull a home together, mixing and matching heights, textures and tones will give you a designer look that doesn’t take itself too seriously. To style the shelves of our Contemporary Coastal Study Nook, we’ve used glass and ceramic vases grouped together next to stacks of our favourite magazines or books. To bring in an earthy touch, add a few stems of your favourite foliage to your desk, coffee table or kitchen bench.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Dining Room + Study Nook

Love the Contemporary Coastal look and want to recreate it in your home? Download our Contemporary Coastal Home Design Bundle. It’s the complete interior design solution, including cabinetry plans, bathroom layouts, colours, products and more - taking all the guesswork out of your new project.

Zephyr and Stone • Contemporary Coastal Home Design Bundle