I, too, would love to see pix of your beach house. I have a townhouse in Florida and am in the process of decorating it. One idea I have come across, and have been thinking of incorporating, is using painter's canvas dropcloths for an inexpensive, yet beachy, look. They can be washed to soften them up and used as bedcovers or throws over older upholstered furniture. They can be used as drapery or shower curtains by adding clip rings. They can even be used as floorcloths or wall hangings. Hope you can use at least one of these ideas!

Hello Lisa..thanks for your comments - so kind of you. The pictures are not good (sorry) and to be honest whilst I'm renovating I don't have the courage the post much at all ..well at least until it's finished but here are a few enclosed. My real idea is to get a discussion going that we might all enjoy. and yes how light strikes (as in angle?) can impact on even the paint colour etc. I see so many questions from readers about wallpaper paint colour etc and yet experts and skilled people such as yourself will know that it's the cohesion that has to work and light can play such a huge part. A wallpaper can be purchased and then prove disappointing if used in different a light as can paint - which is why we use your good services where possible! I've a pile of boards each with different colours (I use linen style artists boards as I can shift them around - I leave a white border on them to allow a suitable contrast) The small bedroom picture with the striped curtains was more to show that curtain colour - it's now blended with duck egg blue paint (sorry it's a New Zealand company called Resene's so it won't be known of there but called Robin's Egg Blue), ivory carpets which I had edged in a green/blue wool. Before these drapes (Laura Ashley) were in a different room and just didn't work. The bedroom hasn't been finished (See? I'm still a tad embarrassed) but I mentioned these as with incandescent lights this curtain colour did not work at all. Taking my courage in both hands and uploading a picture of the main living area which is to be painted next to do away with the strong saturated green..very dark and gloomy as the natural light is very limited. Hoping you can't see the paint splotches on the wall. Another lesson I learned is to paint a surface white and THEN paint the choices. If we don't do this the original surface colour 'bleeds'. So I really hope to have others including myself recognise that we have to have one eye to the climate and outdoor colours all the time as well as the same paint colour possibly being different from room to room. Regards...and thank you once again for taking the time to reply.

Try a light warm gray

An avid reader and a keen photographer I wanted to create a room for this 17yr old teen, that reflected what she loves. As you can see the before image, of the room is not recognizable. There was a small window where the beautiful window seat now resides. The windows were all placed side by side as they came from other parts of the house, to form the corner window look. This room needed as much light as possible being on the south side of the property. Before: After: The wall shelving was put up at the time of the renovation, the floors sanded and new cupboards installed (Terranova Building and Renovation Services). The beams and ceiling were stripped and painted Resene standard white. Before: After: Apart from the wallpapering which I had an installer put up, the rest of the room was painted by myself. The Curtain Lady, (Cambridge) made the window seats. Overall the room is very pleasing to the eye and has a lovely calm feel about it. Natasha the proud owner of this room is very happy in her special space, and now the problem is... is it too nice to leave home now? After: See entire project here!