How to Design The Ultimate Classic Coastal Style Home

Organise + design your Reno with these resources

 
Classic Coastal Home Design Bundle
Sale Price: $197.00 Original Price: $496.00

Designing your dream home couldn’t be easier with our all-in-one Classic Coastal Home Design Bundle.

Equip yourself with our expert interior design tips, house layout, colour schemes, floor plans and products to recreate your own designer home.

This easy to follow, value-packed bundle provides 8 of our best-selling downloadable products that will take out the guesswork, and save you time and money. Many designs include detailed cabinetry plans and elevations, plus all designs include a full list of colours used, clickable products and more!

With a combined value of $496, start your project off like an expert with a massive 65% off!

Included room designs in the Classic Coastal Home Design Bundle are:

  • Classic Coastal Bathroom Design Guide

  • Classical Coastal Ensuite Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Kitchen Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Walk-Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Laundry Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Powder Room Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Master Bedroom Design Guide

  • Classic Coastal Facade Colour Scheme

Within these downloadable design guides you will find:

  • Plans detailing measurements and spacing so you’ll know where to position everything (within Plans + Colour Schemes only).

  • Full list of products – including tiles, cabinetry, mirror, lighting, tapware and paint colours. There are even details of which grout and silicone colour to use!

  • Design tips and tricks for you, your tradesman or your builder.

  • Cabinetry details with dimensions for your cabinet maker (within Plans + Colour Schemes only).

  • Clickable links to products and suppliers, so you can instantly explore any product online with the click of a button.

Follow the home layout design exactly or customise it with your own colours or products. Your interior-designed home is one click away. Start your home remodeling today!

Renovation Budget Tracker
$79.00


The Renovation Budget Tracker is a renovation budget template pre-loaded with over 200 items, from design fees and trades to tiles, tapware and furniture. It lets you plan your budget before you start, then track your real costs as quotes come in and you start paying. It totals everything for your whole renovation and for each room, so you always know where your budget stands.

What’s inside the tracker

You're never starting from a blank page. The items are grouped into 10 sections, each one a part of your renovation:

  • Planning and Site: design, approvals, demolition, skip bins and equipment hire

  • Builder, Trades and Materials

  • Cabinetry and Benchtops

  • Tiles and Flooring

  • Tapware, Sinks and Fittings

  • Electrical and Appliances

  • Windows, Doors and Blinds

  • Outdoor

  • Furniture

  • Other Costs

Every item has a place for your estimate while you plan, and your actual cost once you have a quote in writing or have paid. If the actual cost is higher than your estimate, it shows in red, so you see it the day the quote lands, not when the money's gone.

If a builder is quoting the whole job, their total goes in as one line, and you only add what isn't in their quote, like your appliances or furniture. Items you don't need stay empty.

Short notes beside some items point out the costs that are easy to forget.

A summary page adds it all up for you, by section, by room and in total, with your estimate and your actual cost side by side. Each item can be given a room, like the kitchen or ensuite, so you see what each room is costing you. Your contingency, the money you set aside for surprises, is added to your total at the percentage you choose. All amounts are entered including GST.

Who it's for

The tracker works for homeowners renovating or building, whether you're working with a builder or managing the trades yourself.

It's built for you if:

  • You don't know what your project will actually cost.

  • You've started planning, and costs feel like they're getting out of control.

  • You're juggling quotes and need one place to track everything.

I built this tracker for my own renovations and developments and I've used to keep every one of them on budget for around 20 years.

For typical figures, here’s what a renovation costs in Australia, and what to set aside in your renovation budget.

It works best in Excel on a computer. It also opens in Google Sheets and Apple Numbers, but some features may not work the same way.

 

Does the idea of balmy breezes, sun-soaked rooms and an air of relaxed luxury sound like perfection to you? What if we told you it’s possible to create that same look and feel in your home?

Classic Coastal homes embrace light, airy spaces, natural fibres and colours - resulting in an atmosphere that’s comparable to a beachside resort. It’s amongst our favourite home styles because Classic Coastal houses feel so good to live in. So how do you achieve this look in your home, and what are the must-have inclusions?

Classic Coastal White kitchen island bench with wooden stools with rattan pendants and brass handles

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Kitchen featuring kitchen island bench with rattan pendant lights

classic coastal white laundry with brass taps and handles and grey laundry cabinets for laundry storage

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Laundry

Colours and Finishes

A Classic Coastal home should feel uncomplicated, organic and comfortable. Colour selections and material finishes are vital to achieving this and will affect other decisions like furniture and soft furnishings. Taking the time to gather samples to compare colours and materials is essential to ensuring you get your colour scheme right.

Incorporating whites should be high on your agenda, and is essential to creating the feeling of light, open spaces. From painted wall panelling to kitchen cabinetry and splashback tiles, injecting white elements into every room in the house will create the perfect base for your Classic Coastal home.

Next, you’ll want to add timber or timber-look materials to introduce natural materials found in nature. There are many ways to effectively add timber to your home design, like timber wood flooring, cabinetry, handrails and panelling, or through features like floating shelves and furniture.

round bathroom vanity mirror in classic coastal powder room with timber vanity and vj panelling

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Powder Room

classic coastal ensuite bath with timber vanity and vj panelling

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Ensuite

Finally, to up the warmth and add contrast, incorporate light, neutral colours like greys or beige through finishes like tiles, cabinetry, carpet and paint, as well as furnishings. These soft, neutral colours work seamlessly with white and timber and will stand the test of time and changing trends. Remember when choosing colours, to also stick to either warm or cool tones throughout your home for consistency.

Just Add Brass

Adding metallic elements to a Classic Coastal home is the perfect way to add a touch of luxe. In every space from the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry to a walk-in closet, adding the warm golden hue of a brass tap or handle pairs beautifully with timber tones, and results in a soft and sophisticated space. You can incorporate brass in a range of finishes, like tapware, knobs and handles, and through accessories like towel rails and hooks. These elements can really make or break a space - so take the time to compare your options, and opt for classic, simple shapes so they don’t overpower or dominate the room.

modern grey bathroom tiles with freestanding bathtub and brass tapware

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Bathroom

Classic coastal wooden dining room table with white chairs and engineered timber wooden flooring

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Home Dinning Room

Design Elements

If you take a moment to imagine your ideal coastal getaway, stand-out features include ample natural light, fabulous cross-ventilation, and big picturesque views. Of course, not all homes have the luxury of being built by the water, but you can definitely incorporate these classic design elements in your Coastal style home to replicate that resort-style feeling.

For a home that feels comfortable all year round, positioning windows and doors to maximise the Winter sun and Summer breezes is essential. Incorporating large windows and sliding doors is vital, and for homes with warmer climates, louvre windows are ideal for adjusting airflow and keeping homes cool. For rooms where large windows aren’t viable, skylights are a fantastic option for flooding a space with natural light whilst creating a beautiful feature.

Pattern And Texture

Especially when incorporating a predominantly white interior, softening a space and adding pattern and texture are essential. This can be achieved with a range of interior finishes, including wall panelling, carpet, sheer curtains and soft furnishings.

Use wall panelling to create feature walls in bedrooms and living areas, and instantly add pattern and a relaxed element to your space. You can also use similar panelled profiles for your cabinetry to continue this look in different spaces throughout your home.

Classic coastal bedroom with grey carpeting and timber wood side table and wall panelling

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Bedroom featuring DIY Blinds Sheers in colour Allusion ‘Snow’

Then choose a light, looped pile carpet to add texture and contrast with white finishes, and soft sheer curtains to create a relaxed yet luxurious atmosphere. Sheer curtains allow sunlight into your home whilst providing good privacy by day. Sheer curtains are our go-to window furnishing, especially for bedrooms and living rooms, as they instantly finish and soften a space like nothing else.

Coastal Furniture

We’re often asked how we’re able to pull together furniture pieces for a consistent and cohesive look. Our secret? Keep it simple! A Classic Coastal home should have a connection to natural materials and casual comfort that makes you feel instantly at home.

When investing in pieces like sofas, dining tables or chairs, choosing light, neutral pieces results in spaces that feel light, calm and uplifting. Opting for neutral colours for larger furniture pieces, allows you to add soft colour through cushions and accessories. These smaller pieces are inexpensive to change if you want to refresh your space down the track, or as interior and colour trends change over time.

Worried about light colours with kids and pets? Opt for slipcover sofas that can be removed and washed, and timber tables that have been sealed for easy clean-ups.

Classic coastal dining room with round wooden dining table with white chairs and engineered wooden flooring

Zephyr and Stone • Classic Coastal Dining Room

Choose light timbers like Oak, and keep your timber tones consistent in colour to achieve balance and cohesion in each space and throughout your home. The natural texture of these pieces will help bring a sense of the outdoors and create a relaxed atmosphere. If you’re installing pendant lights in your kitchen or dining room, natural fibres like rattan also provide the perfect pairing for Oak elements in the same space.

Love the Classic Coastal look and want to recreate it in your home? Download our Classic Coastal Home Design Bundle. It’s the complete interior design solution, including cabinetry plans, bathroom layouts, colours schemes, products and more - taking all the guesswork out of your new project.

Ania Mikina

Ania Mikina is an interior designer and home design strategist, and the co-founder of Zephyr and Stone. She created Fix Your Floor Plan First™, a method that teaches Australian homeowners how to stop wasting money on square metres they'll never use, so every room earns its place and there's more left for the finishes they actually want.

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Creating a Designer Look With Feature Wall Panelling

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