Coastal Decor in the Dining Room & Foyer

Get inspired by this dining room styled with coastal decor, with lovely ideas for building your own beach house look! Admire turquoise jars, shells and candles that create a seaside look and evoke salty air and relaxation.

I channeled my inner beach house decorator last week and made the most of the kids being away to style my dining room. Woohoo! It was so much fun to come up with ideas without a clock ticking or kids crying for something in the background.

Coastal Decor in the Dining Room + 15 other gorgeous homes decorated for summer!

(I love and cherish my kids, but they can make decorating for a home tour a bit challenging. They were at their grandparents’ house for a few days last week, so I took full advantage!)

I’ve always loved coastal influences at home, with natural woven textures and plenty of blues and greens, but I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so direct with coastal decorating. This dining room setup looks like something I’d put in a beach house.

Funny side note: I knew it was extra beachy when my husband said it looked like King Triton from The Little Mermaid was throwing a party in there. I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or grateful he noticed I’d changed the decor?? I did laugh at the reference, but I wasn’t really going for a Disney theme. Hopefully it doesn’t come across that way to everyone. Ha!

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Usually a subtle nod to the beach is what I love in summer. I normally use a lot of pink, but this time I limited myself to greens, blues and my turquoise!

Coastal decor in the dining room with beautiful beachy blues and these coastal napkins from the Opal House line at Target!

I started with my inspiration piece, these napkins from the Opal House line at Target. I fell for the colors and the cute shells. I could only find 6 at my local store, so I used some navy pom-pom fringe napkins at the ends.

Then I grabbed this tray I’ve had since last fall to anchor the centerpiece. It looks like it’s made of driftwood, so I thought it was perfect. (Unfortunately it’s sold out, but I found a similar one here. It doesn’t have the beaded handles, but everything else looks the same!)

I have a box of shells I use in some way every summer. I pulled it out and used all of them on the table, either in the tray or on the plates and napkins. I placed the largest shells or a small collection of shells at each seat before arranging the rest around my centerpiece.

Rosemary Beach Town Hall Painting

When I gathered everything in my house that was turquoise, it was obvious I had a decent collection of antique blue Ball mason jars. I love them and keep them all around my home, so I gathered them to center the table and then filled the spaces around them with shells.

I hadn’t used my pretty turquoise vases in a while, and I got the idea to turn them into candlestick holders! The opening was a little wider than the candles, so I built up the bulk by dripping wax on the end of the candles. Then I let them burn down and dripped wax down the sides of the vases for a well-loved look.

Coastal Decor in the Dining Room - use an old vase as a candlestick holder!

Candles and the beach go hand in hand. I picture my table moved to a deck overlooking the ocean, with all that turquoise, the shells and candlelight. I think it would be gorgeous, don’t you? But for now we’ll just sit here in suburbia and dream.

My Summer Mantel Decor

My fruit baskets made pretty votive candle holders, too. I set the ball jar lids under the candles so the wax wouldn’t ruin my paper baskets if it dripped. Paper and fire don’t really mix, so it was a safety precaution too. I only burned them for a little while, so they never dripped, but I wanted to be safe!

Next to the dining room is the foyer, which I freshened up a smidge for summer. Nothing too fancy. I used my “relax” sign again because it’s probably my most favorite summer craft project ever!

As you can see, these are super simple, easy changes for summer. Honestly, my favorite thing about my entryway right now is my new light, which I bought for less than $100. I had dreamed of a new light here when we first bought the house 6 years ago, and I just recently got it done. I’m so glad I no longer have to crop the light out of all my pictures!

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Thank you for taking the time to visit my summer dining room and foyer today! I loved showing you around. A few DIY projects are featured in these rooms, so I’ve put links to them here in case you’re curious about any of them!