Before and After: Nautical Living Room
Sometimes, a room just stops us in our tracks—not because it’s beautiful, but because it has so much potential hiding beneath the chaos.
We came across this living room from IKEA’s website, and we couldn’t help but feel compelled to do something about it.
And since we love the challenge of transforming busy, cluttered spaces into clean, organized seaside retreats, that’s exactly what we did.
Because this room needed urgent help!!
Before: The Cluttered Space
So that is the original room on the left, and on the right my recreated version (without the unbelievable amount of clutter).
It’s a tiny room with a living and dining area that also functions as work area. It is incredibly cluttered with all the colors, shapes and decorative elements of the universe. And we want to make it a pretty coastal style space.
From Chaos to a Nautical Living Room
Because the room features a charming white brick wall and rich dark wood flooring, a nautical style is the perfect coastal design choice. It captures the essence of old harbor boathouses and fishery warehouses, which we can seamlessly incorporate into the decor.
Decorating: Nautical Living Dining Room Combo
We can see from the original image that this is a small space that serves many functions: living, dining and work. It’s suitable for a single person or a couple who is just starting to build their life.
So we need a living room area, a dining and work area. We also need to hide all the necessary clutter and avoid at all costs unnecessary items.
For a nautical look, we’ll have navy blue, white and dark nautical wood, touches of gold and bronze. We’ll mix glass, metal and natural fibers. We’ll use classic furniture with simple lines, sturdy white fabrics, and coastal accessories like candles, hurricane jars, boat prints, wood paddles and fish sculptures. For the wall art, you can either buy it, paint it or print a large beautiful photo of boats, dark ocean, something nautical and deep.
And here’s the inspiration and the products suggestions:
After: A Nautical Haven
Living Area: Nautical Style Furniture
When it comes to sofas, I admit, IKEA has a few pretty models for a good price which is hard to find on Amazon. IKEA sofas are also comfortable enough and easy to wash. And since we’re using one of their showrooms, why not using the pretty Hyltaarp? (no affiliation with IKEA, but it’s a very pretty sofa and fits this style). Both the loveseat and the sofa fit this eyeballed small room.
The TV Area
The navy blue wall gives the room a very cozy ambiance and creates depth. Paired with a classic polished nautical wood console-media table and modern elements to make the room cozy and moody while keeping a refreshing seaside feel. A mirror to reflect the light from the windows, a plant to bring the outdoors in. And some trendy oars on the wall.
The Dining Area
We want to make this small area cozy, functional and blend it with the living area. So instead of a dining table with chairs, we’ll put a bar table with stools tucked underneath. This will make the table look like a console table when it’s not being used. In one corner, a bookcase to store books and decor, and boxes to hide clutter and office supplies. And on the other side, a large picture frame with a nautical design, like a boat or ocean print and a large basket to put blankets. On the floor, we’ll use the same rug we used in the living area, but in a runner size. In the end we light it up with battery operated sconces to keep the bricks intact.
Final Thoughts. Mess to Nautical
From a cluttered rainbow to a cozy nautical functional living dining room.
And there you have it—this once cluttered, colorful showroom is now a cozy, nautical-inspired retreat. I love taking on these before and after transformations because I think any space, no matter how chaotic or dull, can be turned into something stylish and inviting.
If you love this transformation, leave a comment and stay tuned for more challenges.
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