20 Coastal Kitchen Ideas to Bring the Beach to Your Home (2024)

A key element of coastal style is a relaxed, airy feeling that makes you want to gather with friends or family. And because the kitchen is often a place we go to unwind at the end of the day or to share a meal with others, the coastal look has become a popular kitchen style.

The brightness of coastal style naturally lends itself to open concept kitchens, but it can also be used to make a smaller, enclosed kitchen feel more roomy and spacious. Design elements such as white cabinets, natural wood, and blue accent walls all contribute to creating a coastal kitchen. Kitchen-adjacent seating areas, such as barstools pulled up to an island or a cozy breakfast nook, also help the room feel more relaxed and communal.

Coastal kitchen decor ideas don’t have to be literal, though they certainly can include touches like marine-inspired wall art or decorative palm fronds. Even simple decor items, such as seafoam-color dishes, can bring a hint of coastal style to a modern kitchen. Use these coastal kitchen ideas to inspire your next kitchen refresh.

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Small Coastal Kitchen Design

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You can still create a coastal kitchen even without much space. In this room, pale blue cabinets incorporate coastal colors while also making the space feel a bit bigger. Marble countertops and backsplash paired with light natural wood ceilings also help create the illusion of an airy coastal kitchen in a small room.

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Modern Coastal Kitchen

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Combine coastal style with elements of farmhouse design to create a bright, white kitchen with natural wood floors. Using bead board throughout the space on the ceiling, island, and walls, gives the room a cohesive feel while also bringing boardwalks and beaches to mind. Brass light fixtures add a hint of farmhouse style, while a few light blue accents, such as vases and dishes, help further the feeling of living on the coast.

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Coastal Backsplash Ideas

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Several hues of blue help create coastal style in this wide-open kitchen. The focal point is the blue backsplash, which features tiles in varying light and dark shades of blue, mimicking the colors of the ocean. Cushioned blue barstool chairs tie in with the backsplash, while white cabinets and counters allow the color to take centerstage.

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Colorful Cabinets

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A simple change, such as painting kitchen cabinets, can instantly incorporate coastal style. These blue-gray cabinets immediately draw the eye, helping to brighten up the darker wood of the table and flooring. The two-toned cabinets fit into a modern coastal kitchen without undertaking a major transformation.

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Nautical Coastal Kitchen Ideas

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Lean into nautical design by painting accents such as kitchen chairs and drawers in navy blue. Natural wood elements throughout the space, such as shelves and barstool seats, also evoke nautical design. Using ship-inspired navy blue and wood textures are modern coastal kitchen ideas that incorporate darker colors instead of classic light blue.

Casual Coastal Kitchen

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To bring the feeling of a coastal vacation to your home, incorporate casual seating into the kitchen. This design not only has a space for rattan barstools, but it also has a built-in restaurant-style booth backing up to the counter. The blue-and-white patterned cushion paired with white cabinets and a light wood table gives a coastal feel to the entire kitchen and dining area.

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Neutral Coastal Kitchen

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You don’t necessarily have to incorporate coastal colors to bring the design to your kitchen. In this space, marble counters pair well with white cabinets and walls to give the kitchen a light, airy feeling. Touches of natural elements, such as the wood floors, shelves, and picture frames, help bring the feel of the coast inside without adding any obvious nautical elements.

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Beach-Inspired Wet Bar

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If you have space for a wet bar in your kitchen, it’s a good opportunity to use some of the bolder colors of coastal design. In this room, the wet bar feels like it’s own space thanks to the bright blue paint on the cabinets or paneling. The color sets the bar apart from the rest of the room, and rope fixtures on the cabinets further the coastal feel.

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High Ceiling Coastal Kitchen

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Many vacation homes on the coast feature high ceilings, open spaces, and gorgeous natural wood. This design has all of those elements, with soaring high ceilings and exposed wood beams as the focal point. White wall cabinets and countertops offset with darker wood drawers and cupboards, which help draw the eye upwards.

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Sand-Inspired Coastal Kitchen

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If you want a coastal kitchen idea inspired by the beach more than the water, look no further than this upscale space. Instead of white cabinets and blue accents, this coastal kitchen relies on light natural wood and rattan bar stools to create the feeling of a sandy shoreline. A marble backsplash and white pendant lights also help create a calming coastal feel.

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Coastal Kitchen with Tiled Floor

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Bold kitchen tile can instantly level up a simple kitchen. In this design, white and navy blue tiles help create a coastal kitchen inspired by Mediterranean style. The tile is just slightly darker than the blue cabinets and island, which help brighten the entire room.

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Beachy Coastal Kitchen

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A coastal lifestyle is all about relaxation, and this beach-inspired design helps achieve that pops of bold colors. Gray tile floors and white cabinets and counters serve as a neutral, bright backdrop, which lets other design elements shine. Bright red stools immediately draw in the eye, while pastel dishes and natural woven shades add to the beach-side feel.

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Casual Coastal Kitchen

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The rustic design of this coastal kitchen and dining area creates a casual space for cooking and eating. The wood from the dining table looks similar to the driftwood you’d see on the coast, which pairs well with the distressed seafoam green of the doors on the wet bar. When paired with gray flooring and white walls and cabinets, the result is a simple, bright coastal kitchen.

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Retro Coastal Kitchen

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Aqua accents, such as the oven, cabinets, and pendant lights in this kitchen, instantly bring the coast to mind. Lighter elements, like an open island with gold fixtures and a granite countertop, help the space feel larger and more open. A simple blue and white tile mosaic against one section of wall complements the aqua appliances with different hues of blue.

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Rustic Coastal Kitchen

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This smaller coastal kitchen feels much bigger than it actually is, thanks to large paneled windows, high ceilings, and white walls. Rather than solid blue, a lightly distressed kitchen island shows some brown shades as well, which makes the space feel lived in yet polished. Small space solutions such as creating a cubby for the microwave in the island also helps free up valuable counter space.

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Small Coastal Kitchen Ideas

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Even a tight space can evoke coastal style. Light gray floorings and pale blue cabinets help this space feel a little larger while also using beach-inspired colors. A small wood ceiling fan also brings natural elements to the room without overwhelming the narrow kitchen.

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Beach-Inspired Kitchen

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If you want to add more literal elements of coastal design to your kitchen, sleek metallic fish and natural coral are fun coastal kitchen decor ideas that still feel modern. The rest of the space is light and airy thanks to white cabinets and counters, and the silver appliances and fixtures tie in with the wall decor. Natural woven bar stools complete the coastal look.

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Vintage Coastal Kitchen

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Blend two design styles seamlessly by pairing bright blue vintage style cabinets with a natural butcher block table and rustic cabinetry. The bold colors feel retro and beachy at the same time, while white paneled walls and exposed ceiling beams make the space feel relaxed and casual. A small section of mirrored backsplash also helps this tiny kitchen feel larger.

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Ocean Kitchen Decor

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An easy way to add elements of coastal design to your kitchen is to decorate with beach or ocean-theme items. The fireplace just outside this kitchen and eating area is studded with shells, while a blue surfboard serves as a countertop for dining. These small touches combined with white cabinets and cool gray flooring create an airy, beachy space.

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Eclectic Coastal Kitchen

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Chevron blue and green wallpaper instantly catches the eye in this coastal kitchen design. It also helps tie in many of the other decorative elements, such as the lime green chair cushions, dark blue door, and mahi mahi fish decoration. White cabinets, kitchen island, and paneling serve as a neutral backdrop so the colors don’t overwhelm the small space.