Shopping: Seaside Chic

Give me life in the fast lane any day, I used to cry. After twenty plus years in London and five more in Dubai I couldn’t get enough of glass and steel twisting towers, packed streets, the tube (or metro as it’s called in the UAE’s pseudo American drawl), gleaming malls and eight-lane highways.

But now we’re back in Blighty, having bought a house a stone’s throw from the beach. And guess what? My urban, minimal furniture and accessories look completely out of place in our beach house. So now we need to redecorate and go shopping. Here are my favourite pieces.


SHABBY BUT OH-SO-CHIC STORAGE £23, pasx 
It's rustic and looks like I could have just knocked it together from a piece of driftwood I picked up from the beach. Perfect for keeping all my knick-knacks in one place.

Small storage unit 

SEASIDE ARROW SIGN, £4.50, Live Laugh Love 
Living in a beach house means getting used to having things around me that have no purpose other than to be fun or decorative. So no more minimalism, but at least I'll always be able to find my way to the beach. It's over there!

Sign of the times - or the beach? 

BEACH HUTS AND BOATS CANVAS, £10, Arthouse 
Cool Britannia! Whimsical and fun, this picture brightens up any room. I'd hang it in my kitchen which looks over the harbour. I get the scent of the sea in the morning as the fishing boats come back in and the sun in the afternoon. With this I'd always be able to see the beach too (though mine has pebbles not sand.)

Picture perfect: Oh I do love to be beside the seaside.

ROCKING DECK CHAIR- SUFFOLK STRIPE £79 Idyll Home 
OK, so it's the wrong name - I live in Sussex not Suffolk, but I can live with that. After all, just look at this chair: the stripy fabric and beech frame look vintage and it rocks. Yes, it ROCKS! Whether I'm down the beach, staring out to sea, being lulled by the waves, or in my garden, staring at the harbour, I'll be rocking a good look. Did I mention that it rocks? I'm saving up already...

I'll be sitting pretty on this gorgeous deck chair

LONDON AND BRIGHTON CUSHIONS, £45 each, Evermade at Red Candy 
City or the sea? Both have my heart and now I don't have to choose thanks to these gorgeous limited edition cushions. Only 100 cushions in each design have ever been made so snap them up quick, especially as I'm going to grab one of each. I love the grey pigeon London one but the blue, white and grey Brighton cushion with the seagull in his sailor hat, is just as cute. They'll look nautical but nice on my sofa.

Urban chic - the London pigeon 

Coastal style, the cute seagull cushion