Interior Decorating Your Sailboat ?

[ulpilot45]

Tami thanks for the link.. I wll be checking that out for a project for sure. Love my crafts. Guest on our boat wil have to share with my craft room [v berth]. I'm sure I can fit a few more things in it. Lol

[lippysyd]

So, I can't remember where I found this link (maybe here) http://www.c34.org/projects/kindred-spirit/shades.html

I followed it and made shades and it was super easy. I bought the shades and slats at Lowe's- cost me about $50 total. The slats are from the trim department, they're a rigid foam 1in slat- easy to cut. I think they came out well.

[Valacirca]

This is a great thread! Wonderful ideas!
I am big on pictures especially being so far from family but I have a pretty small boat (28) so the shelf space is valuable. Also not Interested in them flying off at me. Since I have several cupboards that are sliding door style, my photo solution project for this summer is to make new door panels and cut out spaces in them to be used as photo frames. Makes them sort of dual purpose. I'm hoping that works out as well as I am invisioning it in my mind... thoughts?

[Microship]

I have curtains for my boat that are made of two layers... the outside is Solarplex exterior UV-resistant fabric, and the inside is blue patterned Jacquard. In my pilothouse, I have two problems that made any kind of normal "deployment" system difficult... parallellogram vertical side windows and sharply raked forward ones, both of which would have been a problem with sagging or covered glass on retraction if I had used bungees or rods.

I ended up sewing 3/4" neodymium N52 disc magnets into pockets around the perimeter, then screwing aluminum brackets into the window frame with identical magnets, attached by 3M VHB high-temp double-adhesive tape. That last detail was the result of a ridiculous amount of failures with other products (including cheap double-sticky foam, Gorilla glue, and even epoxy) that failed from the thermal cycling or poor tooth on the nickel coating.

Anyway, it is now stable and they look pretty good, albeit rather spartan, and the sweet feature is that I can pop open corners to adjust the light in the cabin, fine-tune privacy, and so on. There is a little bit of sag on the forward windows that are angled like a car windshield, but the overall look is really clean.

Cheers,
Steve

[Rubyvee]

Originally Posted by Coops

Whilst i love traditional looking boats, i have never come to terms with making the interiors dark and somewhat gloomy. i remember going to the Southampton boat show(UK) back in the 80's and they had given a 25' yacht to a lady interior designer who had never ever been on a boat in her life and said "Do the interior". it was all easy clean, bright and pastel coloured, and looked tremendous. To this day i have always thought, i wonder why it was never developed/adopted further. Nowadays, if something dark down below needs renovating, it does not stay dark. i know that we are stick in the muds about our boats, and i love teak as well, but surely a bit of brightness and colour would not be amiss in our cabins. Anyone gone against tradition here? Show us pics please.
Here are pics of our little 20' as bought, it may change yet, getting rid of some of the varnish, but it is not gloomy.





Coops.

Beautiful! I love all the shiny wood!

[NatKat]

Interesting thread! Our boat desperately needs some decor. Here are some ideas I have been considering:
First off, I love bold color, but boat interiors are so small that too much color might be overwhelming. I find my eye gets hungry for empty space after spending lots of time inside the cabin (saloon?). That being said, these are some principles I would bring afloat from my land-based experiences:
1. Pick a theme and stay with it. I.e. caribbean / mexican color scheme (uses mexican color palette and stripes for pattern). Hawaiian color scheme (uses pacific islands palette and Hawaiian florals for pattern), Neutral color scheme (uses tans, black, white and solid colors). You can do this with any classic color scheme, Asian, Colonial, Greek Islands, whatever suits your boat and personality. Boat era might be a consideration. Our boat is 1966, so I want to pick a theme that will complement the design and times the boat was built. Although if I had a 70s boat I would still avoid harvest gold, burnt orange, and avocado green hahaha.
2. Personally, I will avoid any sort of velour, velvet or napped fabric on my settee & cushions. The nap just holds dirt, wears down, and looks tacky. I like sunbrella or the sunbrella knock-offs (I live close to Los ANgeles fabric district where you can get sunbrella knock-offs for $10 per yard & cheaper if you haggle). This fabric is easy to clean and durable. Because of their small size, boats get more use per square inch than houses. Things get dirty faster. Plush upholstery is NOT easy to clean.

Since we call the lovely city of Fogtura our home port, I just chucked the old ugly curtains and never replaced them. I would sew new ones if we went someplace hot & sunny. I would make sure the curtains complement the theme and look good with the settee fabric.

My "wish list" is for real latex foam. Latex is the only foam with natural resistance to mold and mildew. I have latex foam pillows, so at least our faces aren't in mildew-y pillows ... but I don't even want to see what the cushions look like ... unless they are the original 1966 in which case they probably are latex foam. It is an unsolved mystery for now ... but if I had the budget ... I would definitely use latex cushions for health reasons.

As far as pictures and plants ... I like functional decor and use most of our limited "wall space" for hanging useful stuff like cooking utensils and gear and suntan products and cargo nets and whatnot. I am thinking of using some of the Ikea hook and rail systems, although hanging stuff is a mixed blessing. It can get to banging real loud when you are trying to sleep if a swell or wind comes up. Sometimes, I have to move my kitchen gear off the walls into a drawer ... so i can't recommend this to everyone. That being said, I find great beauty in functional decor.

QUESTION: the floor of our boat is NOT pretty wood like so many boats and carpet just looks like sh*t afer about 5 minutes. I wanted to use some rubber matting or something we can just pull-out and wash. Not the locker-room shower stuff which hurts to walk on with bare feet - something a bit kinder and softer. Any recommendations? Links? Thank you!

[Cheechako]

I used high end patterned light green fabric with brownish fish etc in the pattern. This went on my 44 footer in '93. I got it from the local commercial design center. (through my cushion seamstress) The fabric was very expensive but gave the boat a very well finished look. Compared with the labor the fabric's is less of an issue. I sold the boat in '98 at a large profit. That boat just resold again recently (for even more!). Same fabric in it 20 years later and it looks great!

[D&D]

We're happy to assist, with both suggestions and products as appropriate. We are cruisers…and we offer a range of products around a 'cruising in comfort' theme...and we only offer products that we use and test ourselves.

So firstly, we would ask what base colour are you working with (i.e. Timber type, Gelcoat, Upholstery colour etc) or are you starting from scratch?

Our experience suggests the trick is to keep it simple and add accents of colour(s) which can be bold (or not) with cushions. You can then create a totally different look for a change of season with simply 2 sided cushions, e.g. patterned one side, striped the other...the choice is endless!

Once we narrow down the base colour(s), we can create a number of ‘Moodboards’ to assist in narrowing down your selection. It's then easy to create a space pleasing to the eye yet durable to the conditions.

Our Nauti Cushions use a synthetic fabric that is tested & proven in the health industry...& now, on our vessel, the marine environment as well. Starting with durable and machine washable fabric, we then digitally print images, stripes & even texture effects to obtain the look you wish to create. Our fabrics are also available in a range of finishes from linen look to silk satin dependent on your own personal taste. The effects that can be achieved are stunning! Our Nauti Cushion Covers can be made in a variety of sizes & being light in weight they can be easily shipped worldwide.

There is also a wallpaper type fabric available on which we can print art (or images, or effects) and which is then glued to your wall, i.e hard wearing and with no swinging or banging.

For floor coverings, we can offer non-slip runners or coverings for specific areas that are digitally printed with whatever effects (vessel name, background pattern, specific image...anything!) that will suit your vessel.

We will attach a couple of moodboard samples in a separate post, just to show you the vast range of effects you can achieve. Take a couple of snapshots of the areas you wish to transform & PM them to us along with a few colour preferences, piccies etc.

We then accessorise with a personal choice of beautiful Enjoy Flameless Candles, crafted from real paraffin wax with a flicker effect that is so realistic we have had guests go to blow them out on the dinner table right in front of them! Flameless candles use LED's and replaceable batteries which makes them much longer lasting (and safer!) than conventional candles. We find our ENJOY Flameless candles are perfect for both night watch &/or creating an ambience to dine or relax in.

All these suggestions are simple, can be custom made to your personal taste and are very affordable!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by D&D

We will attach a couple of moodboard samples in a separate post, just to show you the vast range of effects you can achieve. Take a couple of snapshots of the areas you wish to transform & PM them to us along with a few colour preferences, piccies etc.

[charliehows]

???? dont know what happened there...
Why is the predominant colour used for furnishings blue? combo of blue, woodgrain, white is almost a default - not that, as in the 20 footer above, it needn't look great...

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by charliehows

Why is the predominant colour used for furnishings blue? combo of blue, woodgrain, white is almost a default - not that, as in the 20 footer above, it needn't look great...

Colour matching with exterior surroundings .
Although less adventurous or "original", that blue, white, timber combination is always a winner.

Injections of any bright colour easily stop the combination looking boring or too severe.

Just look at my avatar, do autumn tonings really look right with surrounds like this?

[o_q]

Originally Posted by zeehag

LOVE the teak interior of my garden ketch. wouldn't trade it or modify it for anything in life.

Resisting change seems to be a common method of promoting one's self. "there's nothing wrong with anything I do/have/am"

[o_q]

there seems to be a battle between two types of people here:
Those who are aesthetically inclined.
Those who are lazy and/or messy, and possibly justifying it by labeling themselves "functional".

[D&D]

Originally Posted by o_q

Resisting change seems to be a common method of promoting one's self. "there's nothing wrong with anything I do/have/am"

Ouch!

[Sandero]

Pillows and small art!