A Few of My Favorite Beachy Things

I love beachy things.

I have a friend who has a shop on the mainland right near the bridge to our island. In her shop are all sorts of beach-themed things, things you never knew you desperately wanted. When I grow up, I want to be her.

And, I want to move every single thing in her store into my house. Then, I can guest star on that bizarre TLC show Hoarding: Buried Alive with a special episode on hoarders of beach paraphernalia. The ratings will go through the roof. Plus, my friend’s store will get oodles of free advertising (all advertising is good advertising, right?). It’ll be a win-win for all. Except maybe for my husband, who will then be known around the island as the hoarder’s husband.

Since I have an affinity for all things beachy, moving to the island has made decorating my house much more fun. I will admit that there’s always the risk of overdoing the beach theme. However, in my opinion, based not on education or professional experience but on What I Want to Believe, kids’ rooms are extra fun to decorate on the beach because they are the exception to the overdo rule. I’m sure all the interior design literature concurs with my opinion, because it’s What I Want to Believe.

 

This is my daughter’s dresser. I love the colors. I also wish that I had painted it myself. Alas, had I done so, it would not have looked like this, and instead would have ended up on a post entitled “Ugly, Scary and Deeply Disturbing.”

 

Here’s her lamp. It’s a little over the top, but I love it.

 

I have shells in several spots in my house. Mine are all actually real shells found here on the island. Sometimes, after a particularly moving episode of one of HGTV’s shows, I throw some sand and some shells from our collection onto a plate and set it out on one of the tables. Naturally, it usually only takes a few hours before I can return to find the shells accompanied by various Star Wars Lego characters, Matchbox cars, or tiny plastic Strawberry Shortcake figurines.

 

Predictably, I also love to incorporate beachy themes into my Christmas decorations. I’ll save most of those pictures for another post in December, but I can’t resist sharing this. The little surf boards are actually salt and pepper shakers. They’re only functional in the broken sense, but I keep telling my husband that that is so not the point.

 

I’ve always loved beachy bath towels. These are subtly beachy. They’ve seen better days, but I still love them.

 

This is one of my absolute favorites. Someone took some liberties with T.S. Eliot’s words here, adding “At the beach.” Usually, I don’t like it when quotations are altered even slightly. However, in this case, I made an exception.