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A La Costa interior designer takes seaside-inspired style beyond shabby-chic.
The feeling in a coastal room should be crisp, clean and refreshing. The room should project a relaxed lifestyle, without a lot of fussy extras or clutter.
“The classic beach look has been around for quite a while,” says interior designer Ingrid Anderson DeOrlow, owner of Garlands Home Furnishings in La Costa. “But every now and then, it gets reinvented.”
That‘s the case today. In surprising numbers, DeOrlow’s clients come to her for a modern, upscale twist on traditional seaside décor. Forget New England white-and-blue, wicker chairs and weather- beaten flags flying over the porch. De- Orlow describes her modern-day version as “coastal couture,” and it has a distinct California flavor.
The look blends over-the-top cool with casual comfort. It’s a stylish combination of high-end, eclectic furnishings and sophisticated accessories, in a palette featuring soft and pearly colors—from off-white to peach to light brown.
“You can have a coastal look on the beach or as far inland as Arizona,” De- Orlow says. “Coastal chic is about sand tones and colors of sea life and shells. Because of our year-round sunlight, these colors come alive in San Diego, while in other parts of the world they are colors seen only in summer.”
While her customers don’t always have a name for the style they want, they express interest in coastal references, natural textures and associations with the sea and the beach. “And they’re amazed at the endless combinations of colors that are available in the Southwest,” she says. (See sidebar, “The Colors of Coastal Couture,” for DeOrlow’s favorite palettes.)
With colors in hand, DeOrlow selects furnishings and accessories made from linen, cotton and other natural fabrics. Choices in her showroom include a recently added coffee table made of sea grass with a wood base, and bamboo lamps from Jamie Young Company.
“I am influenced by dressmaker details when designing furniture and soft furnishings,” says DeOrlow, who likes to employ textures and fabrics in unexpected ways. She uses “couture” to define the new coastal chic because she is often reminded of the understated elegance portrayed by a classy line of summer wear.
She stocks her La Costa showroom with handpicked contemporary furnishings that celebrate living near the sea. She also carries a wide selection of upholstered and slipcovered seating made in California, including Quatrine’s collection of furniture constructed of kiln-dried alder from the Pacific Northwest.
To accessorize, DeOrlow takes inspiration from items found on the beach. Shells, sea fans and starfish, for instance, complement the rust and green colors of a velvety wreath of dried magnolia leaves and willow branches.
“I love the play of light against a neutral backdrop,” says the former retail designer. In her showroom, she applied a neutral white palette so customers could easily imagine her vignettes as part of their own homes. A palette of white and lighter earth tones, she adds, also works well as a backdrop for seasonal changes.
DeOrlow believes there is a relationship between a person’s environment and sense of well-being. “When a room’s elements are in visual order, it creates a sense of harmony and calm,” she says.
The Colors of Coastal Couture
The new California coastal look is, in a way, coast meets garden, with florals and pastels, but modernized to have shimmer and glow. It’s all about a neutral color palette, with the interplay of California sunshine.
“It’s so interesting to use tone on tone,” DeOrlow says. “These colors aren’t about a trend. They’re livable and serve people over a long period of time. The colors I’m working with are really foundational—the landscape colors of nature.”
Here are some of her favorite color palettes:
❖ Interior colors inspired from stones and rocks can include taupe, putty, linen, driftwood, granite, mushroom, bark, smoke, pebble, khaki, dove, birch, flax, twig, burlap, pewter, truffle and slate, moving toward browns, such as coffee, saddle or mahogany.
❖ Canyon colors are plentiful in our region. Think rust, apricot, jute, toast, caramel, wicker, praline, ginger, cognac, honey, nutmeg, toffee, curry, chamois and sea grass.
❖ Striking shore colors are available in an ocean of blues, grays and greens: lichen, sage, thyme, olive, hydrangea, eucalyptus, fawn, herb, moss and pearlized colors such as peach and abalone.
❖ Off-white is everywhere: sea foam, whitecaps, pearl, sand, canvas, sail white, café au lait, sand dollar, bone, champagne, oyster, gardenia, jasmine, magnolia, lily, cloud, ecru, vanilla, opal, beige, winter white, dove wing, parchment and muslin.
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