Tropical Soiree Boudoir Decor

Decorating with a Tropical Flair

This summer bring the tropics home to your bedroom retreat, and enjoy the balmy breezes while allowing distant sounds of crashing surf to carry you away for dreamy sleep. Using a few key accent pieces, ocean colors, and accessories, you will be able to turn your existing bedroom into a decorator's dream, and the tropical soiree-style boudoir you've always wanted to lull you off to distant island fantasies.

Tropical Accessories

Ocean scenes and shells can grace wall sconces, lamps, artwork, and even nightlights. Notice the underwater scene depicted in the tiffany-style globe on the corner-standing floor lamp, as well as the shell tassels weighting the corners of my canopy mosquito-netting flounces (pictured above).

Shells can be scattered about loosely, showcased by the bed stand, adorning mirrors, or as hanging shell lighting, as shown in this "Crisp and Clean" bedroom from Southern Living Magazine online. Or make a cascading fabric-waterfall headboard, as in the "Ocean Inspired" bedroom, also from Southern Living Magazine.

White-Washed Neutrals

White-wash wood paneling for a casual beach "Cottage White" charm, and add simple white furnishings, while completing the look with lots of fluffy white bedding and curtains; or mix blues with white as in this "Simplified Master Bedroom", both from Southern Living Magazine online. Furniture can also be refinished in shades of weathered wood, as well as flea-market accessories, to add a neutral beach theme in colored hues.

See how monochromatic shades of lavender are used for accent items in "Details Count", and for soothing shades in "Your Bedroom Is...", both from Family Circle online. Neutral shades of white sandy beaches, smooth shells, and weathered driftwoods can be used alone or combined with more vivid island colors and/or wild-animal print patterns.

Tropical Print Patterns

Without changing a neutral beach-landscape color scheme, animal-print patterned pieces can enliven your bedroom as shown in this "Good Night" bedroom from Family Circle online. Nature's lush jungle tropic scenes, large splashy flora, bold animal prints, and nautical stripes can be mixed and matched in bedding, pillows, throws, and rugs, as pictured in this "Surf's Up" teen room from Ladies Home Journal online.

Mix watery blues with sunny-bright florals in bedding, pillows, and quilt headboards to spice up jungle palms, as I have done, pictured above. Stylized palm-frond pillows create interest among textured-neutral tones in a "Vacation at Home" beach bedroom from Southern Living Magazine online.

Tropical Color Schemes

Splash around bright colors of parrot plumage, and tropical bouquets of vivid sun bursting citrus shades, bold jewel-tones, or delicate pastel floral hues. Deep shimmery turquoise adds ocean drama to this "Hollywood Glamour" era bedroom, from Southern Living Magazine, or pair together bold tropical shades of turquoise and citrus, as shown in "Start with the Comforter" from Better Homes and Gardens online.

During the day open up storm shudders and bay windows, allowing every drop of golden sunshine rays to bathe your room in natural lighting. At night invite balmy breezes to blow through canopy netting, and drapery sheers for tropic-inspired sultry summer evening soirees.