How to create a beach style kitchen

To create a light, open beach style kitchen design, consider classic, crisp white walls and cabinet fronts, with accent colouring elsewhere in the room. One of the greatest benefits of using white in your decor is that it will really boost the natural lighting in the kitchen, so you can make the most of the space - this way, even a smaller kitchen can feel like a Californian coastal kitchen. With white as your main colour, you then have space to play with accent colours - like a pale blue on your kitchen island cabinets, or a contrasting grey on your splashback tiles.

When it comes to beach kitchen designs, you can make your kitchen a calm, cool space and evoke the serenity of the ocean with a carefully chosen colour palette. The obvious answer here is to use blue tones, but don't think that means you need to paint your walls sky blue and match your kitchen units to create a beach style kitchen. While bold pops of colour can be effective, think about the colours of the coast - sandy toes, cool muted blues, slate-greys, or the pale sage green of sand dunes would all make a great choice for walls or accent colours.

A classic pick would be a white subway tile - add dark grouting to create a slightly more Scandinavian beach kitchen feel. But for something a little bit more oceanic, one of our favourite beach style kitchen ideas is using tiles that evoke the colours of the sea. Pretty glass tiles are really popular now, for your splashback or behind open shelving; and in a mosaic of soft blues, greens and greys, they will give a really beachy feel. For the ultimate beach style kitchen, you could even pick frosted tiles to really make them look like sea glass that's washed ashore.

Surely, no beach style kitchen is complete without some wooden accents. Whether inspired by driftwood or just bringing a soft, natural feel to your kitchen, wooden accents can be really versatile. A more faded or white-washed wood created a calm beach kitchen, while a warmer toned wood has more of a beach cottage feel. For a more modern-looking kitchen, polished wood floors look sophisticated but still cosy, and have the advantage of boosting natural light in your kitchen by reflecting it around the room. Our popular Shaker-style kitchen can really bring wood accents to your beach style kitchen, and look effortlessly stylish.

For a more nautical look, you could install shiplap or boards as the backing in your kitchen, instead of tiling or paint. This gives off a more seaside New England feel, but can still look cool and coastal as long as you don't go overboard with the nautical beach kitchen decor.

You can have a lot of fun with accessories for a beach style kitchen, without going too 'obvious' with nautical decorations like anchors or fish ornaments. Keep it subtle - maybe a vintage tin toy boat nestles amongst your cookbooks, or a rope-wrapped jar. Some fen beach kitchen accessories can also be personal to you and your family - like clear bottles or jars filled with sea glass you've found while out walking, or sand from your favourite beach.

For beach kitchen decor, plants and greenery also help to keep the space feeling fresh and natural. Pick ferns and grasses that echo dune grass or small headland flowers, or trailing grey-green eucalyptus plants to compliment a muted ocean colour scheme.

Embrace the calm. cool feeling of the sea with these beach kitchen designs, and keep your space feeling timeless with these tips. Check out the rest of our kitchen design guides, and when you've decided your final beach style kitchen ideas, book an appointment with our experts to see how we can make your beach kitchen dreams come true.