10 Ways to Bring the Islands into Your Life
Because we all need to escape every now and then…
Here are 10 Ways to Bring the Islands into Your Life:
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1. Beadboard! To me there is almost nothing that says the beach like a beadboard ceiling…or bead board walls…
2. Plantation Shutters – Now what else could possibly say island more than plantation shutters? They work in a traditional house, a cottage, a beach house, a southern house…
3. An afternoon nap…Outside. I always find time when I am on vacation to take a nap but when I am at home – never. I really need to work on this one more!
4. Paint your toes! If you are going to wear sandals, celebrate the warm weather with a little color on those piggies!
See, now if I had painted my toes, this would be a much nicer picture!
5. Dark woods with light walls.
Bedroom at Regent Palms, Turks and Caicos.
Chair also at Regent Palms, Turks and Caicos.
Bedroom at Jumby Bay, Antigua.
(I guess I could add four poster bed to the list too!)
6. Mangoes! There is nothing like a nice Mango Avocado Salsa, or a mango martini, or even just a fresh mango cut up to remind you of the islands.
7. A good travel book… and speaking of mangoes…
An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude
I would read any book with mangoes in the title but I can honestly tell you I LOVE this book! And if you didn’t love the Caribbean before, you will after reading this book! Follow along with a husband and wife’s sailing journey through the islands. I swear, you will feel like you are right there with them. It will also inspire you to travel and get to really know the Caribbean and the people who live there.
8. Tropical plants and flowers in your house.
9. Natural textures like seagrass, sisal, wicker…
And adding some white sheer panels doesn’t hurt either!
(Bedroom in Point Grace, Turks and Caicos)
10. Shells, shells and more shells…(even my name is Shell!)
You can always find ways to display shells.
My list could go on and on but I thought I would narrow it down to 10.
What ways have you brought the islands into your life?
Great post. I love beadboard ceilings!
I loooove beadboard, it looks soooo awesome! I tend to throw little reminders of tropical locales into my everyday life. The backgrounds on both my phone and computer are of the beach. And we have a picture in our living room that we took on our honeymoon of 2 chairs right up on the waters edge… And when I'm REALLY feeling depressed, I research tropical vacations… 🙂
Reading your post just brought the islands into my life! Thanks so much. It is nice to see dark wood (since so much is gray now) against white.Mary Ann
Hi Shell!What a fun, inspiring post. I love it all and you just know that I have seashells all over my home. Love them, love them, love them. I just picked up a few more glass containers to hold my new ones while I was driving from Tampa to Jacksonville over the weekend.btw, I adore anything with mangoes, I even put mango salsa onto of my chicken chili…yummy!
This post comes with a promise that it will be sunny and warm again one day. Love having reminders of brighter days around the house.-Rene
Hey Shell! (love this version of your name!)Great post, so many ideas and coastal inspiration.We brought starfish, shells, driftwood and beach stones from vacation in Nantucket, Cape Cod and also have sea grass baskets and travel books throughout the house. We are also expecting snow this weekend, so let's think about the beach instead!Thanks again for a great post.Kinga
Thanks for all of your nice comments! My kids and I are enjoying all the snow that we have here in the northeast but my thoughts are definitely drifting toward the islands these days! Unfortunately, we probably won't be going to the Caribbean this spring since we went to Disney in November!