The Perfect Blend: Combining Minimalism and Coastal Vibes in Japandi Home Decor

From seashells to a beachy color palette, adding a hint of coastal vibes to the new interior design trend called Japandi will make your living space even more relaxing. In this article, I’ll share how I combined interior design styles to create a Japandi home decor collection with a coastal twist.

What is the concept of Japandi?

As a minimalist, I was drawn to Japandi as soon as I saw it, first on Pinterest, due to the unique mix of the stricter, more rigid version of minimalism from Japan with the more laissez-faire, cosy version from the Scandinavian countries. It’s like wabi sabi and hygge combined in one decor style.

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And what I bring new to it in this home decor collection is a coastal focus by incorporating sea life and blue home accents.

What are the elements of Japandi design?

The elements of this style focus on natural materials, a neutral color palette and an emphasis on clean lines. The furniture is kept to a minimum and decor is often functional and sparse. The Japandi design style emphasizes soft lighting, such as lamps, which provides a gentle, warm glow. This interior design style is perfect for creating a non-distracting, calming and comfortable atmosphere that will be appreciated for years to come.

Is it OK to mix interior design styles?

Mixing interior design styles can be a great way to create a unique look for your living or working space. It’s a great way to express yourself and create a personal touch to your space. It’s important to understand that mixing interior design styles isn’t about being eclectic and jumbling different pieces together. It’s about finding the right balance and flow between different styles to create a cohesive overall look. You should consider the color palette, the materials, the textures and the scale of the different elements you’re using. Look for elements that will bring the room together, like a shared color or texture, or pieces that have a similar shape or style. Mixing interior design styles can be challenging, but if done right it can create a stunning and unique space.

In my case, I was drawn to Japandi due to favoring uncluttered spaces and a neutral color palette, but something was still missing: the seaside, some coastal vibes, seashells. So I mixed interior design styles and this is the result.

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With a combination of Japanese and Scandinavian minimalism, this collection of home decor brings a unique angle through its coastal vibes, making it perfect for beach homes. All the pieces from this collection are carefully designed to bring peace, relaxation, and comfort to any room. Featuring colors and designs reminiscent of natural textures like bamboo and jute, this home decor collection will help you create a calming atmosphere in whichever room it’s used in. Transform your home into an aesthetic haven with these timeless calming colors and blue home accents and get the perfect blend between East and West with minimalist coastal Japandi home decor.

The Power of Blue: Enhancing Your Home’s Ambiance with Abstract Art

From calming shades to eye-catching hues, blue is an incredibly versatile color that can elevate the ambiance of any space. Blue has a number of properties that make it an ideal choice for home decor. First, it reflects feelings of peace and serenity. This makes it an excellent choice for a living room, bedroom, bathroom, or any space in your house where you want to create a calming atmosphere. Additionally, blue helps to open up the room, making it feel larger and airier, which goes well if you’re into minimalism like I am.

After creating several pieces with a rather muted color palette, I wanted a change, so I created a piece of bright blue abstract art which can become the focal point of your room or you can mix and match pieces of home decor and fabric housing blue abstract art for a unique and striking look.

If you’re favoring the minimalist aesthetic and you’d rather spend your time by the seaside than anywhere else, blue abstract art is the perfect accent. It’s classic yet modern, peaceful yet inviting, and sure to give your space a little something special. So go ahead, take a look at the pieces below!

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Minimalism in action: why I prefer to display art as paperweights instead of wall art

I’m a minimalist who loves visual art and hates clutter. If you are the same, then this blog post is for you.

Do minimalists have decorations at home?

As a minimalist, I learned the hard way that I need art in my life, even if apparently, it has no use. What I did though, in order to avoid clutter is to display art on objects which have some function, for example, I’d rather buy a beautiful mug than having that same artwork hanged on the wall above my couch.

Do people still use paperweights?

Paperweights have been around for centuries and there’s no denying that they add a special touch to any room. Fine art paperweights make exquisite gifts and their intriguing designs can make a lasting impression. A paperweight can also be a meaningful way to commemorate a special moment or milestone and no matter the occasion, paperweights can be a beautiful and lasting way to honor and celebrate it. Yet at first glance, paperweights may appear to be nothing more than pieces of glass with some intricate designs.

And as a minimalist focused on each object having a well-defined function if I am to allow it space where I live, it might seem strange that I have a glass paperweight taking up place on my desk. It seems like an artifact from a different century, but I put it to good use by holding in place paperwork that I need to deal with as soon as possible, for example, things like invoices or fiscal receipts. I can’t cover too many papers with one paperweight and this way I avoid being overwhelmed by paperwork.

My desk faces the room’s window instead of a wall and a fine art paperweight is more likely to inspire me and not distract me when I’m creating or when I’m just doing administrative stuff. The paperweight I currently have on my desk houses a marine Ikebana poem I wrote, called “Hoar”, and it tells the encouraging story of not being bitter after you are the witness of your first white strand of hair on your head because life may surprise you and good things will happen to you beyond youth. You just don’t know how medicine will evolve and how one incurable element one century ago will be repairable in the future.

But like any marine Ikebana poem, this one also looks like just another still life bouquet of flowers and the text doesn’t distract me if I’m brainstorming or not actively trying to read the poem embedded inside the paperweight.

And while paperweights can have various shapes, my favorite one is the typical cabochon or dome shape like you see above. I love how this form seems to bring the best out of a 2D image or 3D inclusions housed inside the paperweight. The simplicity and the minimalism of the cabochon shape also contrasts well with the complexity of the image/inclusions reflected throughout the paperweight.

What do minimalists put on their walls?

If distracting, wall art can be moved from place to place, but unless it is small and can be leaned against a surface, I find hanging it to be a hassle and to be frank, all the walls in my home are white. Paperweights, on the other hand, are portable by design since you can hold one in your hand. I love that they are small and I can easily move them somewhere else if I need to focus and I want my desk to be completely empty.

Besides, a pet peeve of mine which few people know of is that I hate to go into an art museum expecting to be inspired by a diversity of art forms and once I set foot there, I encounter paintings only, as if painting is the only art form. I am often more inspired by Pinterest where an art search is going to be more diverse and inclusive. As a consequence, I wrote a visual poem called “Your Kind of Art” about the courage it takes to indulge in a rare art form and publicly calling it “art”. You can see it below, available on a small, square metal art print if that’s your thing, but since it is available on Zazzle, you can easily change its size, shape, type of canvas or even type of product on which it is printed.

What inspires me to create

All things considered, creation is a journey of self-discovery. I have tried several art forms and I’m constantly trying out new ones. As a child in art school, I mostly studied music with some years of studying ballet and one year of painting. I am still moved by music and I have saved countless YouTube playlists I absolutely need when creating different kinds of things, but I ended my music career a very long time ago because this art form seems so ephemeral and so reliant on technology in order to access it.

As an adult, I rediscovered the joys of writing. I ended up writing several articles in the life extension niche, 3 non-fiction books and 5 books of visual poetry. I had the 3 non-fiction books translated in 6 more languages and I was surprised by being contacted by readers who don’t speak English, but still found value in what I wrote and had translated. This experience also got me interested in translation as a field and I currently keep myself updated to the medical field (after going to medical school, doing a residency in geriatrics and gerontology and then deciding that clinical work is not really what I want to do for the rest of my life) by freelancing as an EN-RO/RO-EN translator in the healthcare niche only.

Initially, I wanted to have my visual poems translated in other languages as well and I even started doing that in Romanian, my native tongue, but for the moment, this project is on the back burner because even if I have the text, I still have to visually edit the poems to look like Ikebana bouquets of flowers. I wanted to have them translated in Japanese too, but with the kanji characters, I imagine the formatting of the visual poems will be even more difficult to achieve if the number of characters will be different compared to English.

Visual art, though, is understandable even by the illiterate and unlike music or a movie, it is instantly perceived due to the peculiarities of the human brain which favors visually displayed information and I like that instant gratification.

Another thing influencing what I create is me resonating with Stoicism as a life philosophy. I view it as an European version of Buddhism where attachment is perceived to lead to suffering. I think some degree of attachment is necessary to form a cohesive self identity and just to enjoy life, but excessive attachment, especially when it comes to objects, is something that I’m seeking to avoid. You may wonder now what that has to do with creating art.

Stoicism influences me by making my art unique, yet not rare. For example, I don’t sell originals (as in physical paintings that exist in one place only): I either create digital art or I draw on paper and make the scans available online. If drawing, I prefer watercolor pencils because I can separate the messy part of applying water with a brush at the end (which is still cleaner than having to regularly replace the water for any new color like with traditional painting) and I can do the actual drawing anywhere, even lying down in bed.

Along the same lines, when it comes to art prints, I don’t limit their number. All the art prints I licensed are open edition ones. If you bought an art print with artwork created by me, you will be able to buy it a second time if the first one was destroyed for any reason. I saw my share of people putting themselves in danger to save objects(!) and I want to avoid encouraging that behavior through the way I make available what I create.

I have always oscillated like a pendulum between art and science and at this stage of my life, I think design is a medium where I can combine them in one activity. Making my art available on functional objects is also why I see myself more as a designer rather than an artist. I’m not sure if my previous STEM education or just being into minimalism is to be blamed here for not indulging in art for art’s sake, but briefly, this is how I ended up displaying artistic poems on paperweights and other functional objects.

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125 Seashell Wall Decor Ideas Featuring Concrete Poems

Are you looking to add a touch of coastal charm to your home? Seashell wall decor can be a beautiful and unique way to bring the beach indoors. In this article, I will show you 125 innovative ideas for incorporating seashells into your wall decor, along with a twist of creativity – concrete poems.

From Shells to Marine Ikebana 125 Unique Coastal Wall Decor Finds

What exactly is a concrete poem?

Concrete poems, also known as shape poems or visual poems, are poems that take on the shape of the object they describe. For example, a concrete poem about a bird might be shaped like a bird. Concrete poems may also be arranged in a specific shape or pattern. The arrangement of the words on the page is just as important as the words themselves. The words and lines are placed in such a way that they create a visual representation of the poem’s subject. The shape or form of the poem can be anything from an object to an animal to a symbol. The words themselves are often used to add meaning to the visual representation. which is depicted in the theme of that poem. For example, the 125 art prints below contain marine Ikebana poems which are are visual poems shaped like an Ikebana composition (Ikebana is a Japanese style of arranging flowers in a vase according to specific principles).

How to appreciate concrete poems

Concrete poems are often dismissed as mere gimmicks or novelties. However, they can be just as powerful and meaningful as traditional forms of poetry.

Here are some tips on how to appreciate concrete poems:

  • Look beyond the shape

While the shape or the form of the poem is important, it’s important to also focus on the words themselves. The words and lines should work together to create a cohesive and meaningful poem.

  • Consider the visual aesthetic

One of the primary appeals of concrete poetry is its visual aesthetic. Take the time to study the shape of the poem and consider how it adds to the overall meaning of the poem.

  • Pay attention to the sound

Poems are often meant to be read out loud and visual poems are no different. Pay attention to the sound and rhythm of the words as you read the poem. The sound of the words can add an extra layer of meaning to the poem.

Concrete poetry may not be as well-known or appreciated as other forms of poetry, but it is a unique and valuable art form. By focusing on the words, considering the visual aspect and paying attention to the sound, you can gain a better understanding and appreciation of this fascinating form of poetry. By embedding this fascinating form of poetry into wall decor, the same piece of art can be experienced on multiple levels.

Throughout the 125 artworks seen in the slideshow below, I have combined the beauty of seashells with the art of concrete poetry to create unique pieces of wall decor. All these artworks are printed by Pictorem, a supplier I chose due to their exquisite quality, but also because they arrange the planting of 1 tree for every shipped print.

You can choose from a wide range of print options to suit your style. Whether you’re drawn to the classic elegance of canvas prints, the modern allure of acrylic and metal prints or the rustic charm of wood prints, you can transform your living space into a personal gallery. Start by exploring these 125 coastal artworks today and find the perfect piece to inspire and enhance your home!

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All the artworks above are available for sale here (just click on the word “here“).

Beyond blooms: is Ikebana restricted to flowers only?

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Are you familiar with the Japanese art form of arranging flowers in a vase and wondering whether Ikebana is restricted to flowers only?

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There are many offshoots of this beautiful art form where the aesthetic principles are maintained, but non-flower elements are used instead, for example, in Ikebana with fruits and vegetables (Morimono).

Ikebana without flowers: a new way to approach the art form

A second example of Ikebana with unconventional elements is marine Ikebana and by the end of this blog post, you will know how I ended up creating this genre and how this type of Ikebana looks like.

Because while initially admiring Ikebana arrangements in books, on the web and in offline exhibitions, when it came time to actually practice it, I never felt comfortable in using living plant material or cut flowers for a variety of reasons.

So I ended up making Ikebana with non-living elements: in the beginning just with marine elements, mostly seashells, and then with poetry too.

Minimalism meets coastal when marine Ikebana makes use of seashells, but this sea life art form can also use other “fruits” of the sea, such as dried sea urchins, starfish, sea horses, corals and maybe even sea glass. All these marine elements can be beachcombed without killing any animal.

Yet too much beachcombing is not good for the environment or for one’s clutter-free home, so I started thinking of ways of limiting my marine collection (mostly made of seashells).

Subsequently, when designing marine Ikebana arrangements, I started with small arrangements of 3D physical marine bouquets emerging from seashell vases, which could either function as trinket containers or could be attached to regular containers. As a minimalist, I can’t stand clutter and decorative containers proved to be a solution to enjoy visual art while keeping things neat.

I could have left it at that, but during a walk I got this idea of replacing the branches and twigs with free verse poetry as curved text, while maintaining the same line shapes.

Following this unexpected idea, I started taking photos of my marine Ikebana arrangements, did lots of photo editing (mainly to remove the background and crop individual elements of the arrangements) and started jotting down ideas of beautiful words which could be turned into free verse poetry for this novel art form.

In keeping with the philosophy of Ikebana, I wanted the words to be both beautiful and for the poems to suggest the passage of time. Marine Ikebana may be made of inert, non-living material, but I still wanted to suggest, and not necessarily show, the typical awareness of the passage of time which I admired in classical Ikebana (and Japanese art in general) for so long. Which brings next to:

Creating a relaxing coastal oasis with marine Ikebana poems

If you wonder how Ikebana combined with marine elements and poetry looks like, this section is for you.

I have included 9 marine Ikebana poems which I applied to 3 types of objects:

  • posters
  • desk accessories such as photo blocks and paperweights

By clicking on any of the images below, you will be taken to the Zazzle marketplace where each design can be customized without you being logged in. If you like any of these visual poetry designs, you can easily change the background color, select a different shape and/or size (depending on the product) and you can also transfer the designs to any other product from the Zazzle marketplace. It’s a lot of fun!

And now the poem list begins.

Time Travel

The following desk accessory is an ornamental glass paperweight featuring a visual poem called “Time Travel” which reveals a sense of time travel when listening to music recorded decades ago by musicians who are not among us anymore.

Cake

This desk decor idea features a visual poem called “Cake” about the only temporary human organ: the placenta. Hint: placenta in Latin means flat cake and I liked the play on words, so I used this theme to write a poem about the biology of it.

Paranoia

Next comes a poetry poster featuring a minimalist and coastal visual poem called “Paranoia”. The poem is enclosed in a pyramid and talks about a recent historical event: the Covid 19 pandemic and its early stage when paranoia spread faster than the virus, there was a toilet paper shortage due to panic buying and humans left humanity at the door.

Hot Chocolate

Although a common comforting drink, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to hot cocoa and this marine Ikebana poem, called “Hot Chocolate”, depicts the inherent sad story of each ingredient used to make this drink.

Graveyard Shift

My medical background proved to be a fertile ground when it came to depict the passage of time through marine Ikebana poems. “Graveyard Shift” is one such example, revealing the life and death realities faced during night shifts when most people calmly sleep in their cozy beds.

Dust

Next comes a sophisticated glass paperweight featuring a visual poem called “Dust”. It is a free verse poem about star dust, both in a nebula when a star is formed and metaphorically speaking, in all living beings like you and me.

Dreams in Stone

The following octagonal desk ornament features a visual poem, called “Dreams in Stone”, about water slowly carving dreams in stones until they become sand and “swim back” to the seaside for a better life.

In Science We Trust

Minimalism meets coastal in this science poster featuring a visual poem called “In Science We Trust”. Shaped like the tree of life or its bonsai variant, the poem praises the many benefits of science, technology and inventions which are so common that we take for granted.

Confidence

The last poem from this blog post on Ikebana without flowers is called “Confidence”. If you ever undertook a creative project, you know that in the beginning, nothing is certain and it takes a leap of faith to take an idea and run with it. Similarly, the poem talks about the creative process with its highs and lows and the full drama.

As you can see, Ikebana evolved beyond the traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers to include non-floral elements such as shells and free verse poetry.

If you know someone who would like to see this, please use any of the share buttons below. Thanks!

5 seashell art prints for your walls

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Are you looking for some unique seashell art to delight you and remind you of the carefree days you spent by the seaside? Then you’re in the right place!

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I am a graphic designer specializing in marine Ikebana poems and I draw my inspiration from Japanese aesthetics and the Romanian coast of the Black Sea. Marine Ikebana poems are visual poems which resemble Japanese Ikebana floral arrangements, but instead of branches, I write and add lyrics as curved text and instead of flowers, leaves, fruits and vases, I include collage photos of seashells. These poems are created digitally, but they are available to be printed on many different media, wall art prints included.

For this blog post, I included links to 5 examples of seashell wall art which are available on Zazzle. This is a platform where you can customize the designs in any way you see fit, at no additional charge to you and even without being logged in. You can pick a different size, a different material on which the image is printed or transfer the design on a different product. For your convenience, I have added here 2 versions of each artwork: one with the original background color as published in book format and another one with a transparent background which you can change in Zazzle by selecting a different color. If you encounter any problem, leave me a comment here or contact me on Zazzle and I will help you.

Note: once you add any of these seashell art prints in your cart on Zazzle, you can also add a standard frame or a custom frame and mat.

Which one do you like the most? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

7 golden ratio examples in art and design

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As a seashell collector with a background in engineering and medicine, it was only natural to turn to the golden ratio when I decided to make something beautiful by starting to design visual poems. If you’re not familiar with the golden ratio, this blog post will tell you what it is, how to use the golden ratio in art and design and it will show you 7 examples of how I used the golden ratio in visual poetry.

What is the golden ratio and why is it important?

Imagine a line split in two parts: a and b. If (a+b)/a=a/b, then that ratio between a and b is called the golden ratio, the golden mean, the golden section or the divine proportion.

The golden ratio is important in art and design because proportioning one’s creation by making use of this irrational number (which is approximately 1.618) leads to aesthetically pleasing art and design.

how to use the golden ratio in art and design

How to use the golden ratio in art and design

There are probably ways to use the golden ratio in non-visual arts such as music, but here I’ll give a few ideas on how to use the golden ratio in visual art and design with examples below on how I used these in my own visual poems:

  • fit the image you create inside a golden rectangle. A golden rectangle is a rectangle whose width is a, whose length is a+b and if you divide a/b you get the golden ratio.
  • place the main part of your image in the left or right third of the image (leaving the other two free) by using a golden ratio grid as your guideline instead of using the rule of thirds, thereby dividing the grid in 1:0.618:1 instead of 1:1:1.
  • place the main part of your image in the origin of a golden spiral. A golden spiral is a spiral which gets wider by a factor of the golden ratio with every new quarter turn.
  • if your image has a shape other than a rectangle or if it contains different shapes which increase in size, you can use a different golden shape to balance the elements inside your image or to place the main part of your image. You can have circles, triangles, pentagons and many other shapes increasing in size by a factor of the golden ratio and following a linear path (sitting next to each other, e.g. squares) or the path of a golden spiral.

How I use the golden ratio when designing visual poems

1. Seashells

I start each visual poem by sketching an Ikebana flower arrangement, but instead of using cut flowers, I use English words and seashells, the latter being an example of the golden ratio in nature. While the growth path of each seashell made by a mollusk is different depending on its species and environment, I have inadvertently included many logarithmic spirals into these poems through this choice.

2. The golden spiral

While there are many ways to use the golden spiral when you create something beautiful, I use this golden spiral image 4 times as a separate layer in Inkscape, the main open source software I use when designing marine Ikebana poems from lyrics and photos of my seashells, mainly to find the perfect place for the title and/or logo/signature of each poem:

The golden spiral superimposed 4 times on the "Time" visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series
The golden spiral superimposed 4 times on the “Time” visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series

3. The golden ratio grid

I also use the golden ratio grid when deciding on where to place the seashell vase of each Ikebana arrangement as you see below:

The golden ratio grid superimposed on the "Time" visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series
The golden ratio grid superimposed on the “Time” visual poem from Volume V of the Diamond Dust (Poems From the Black Sea) book series

Ready to see some examples of the golden ratio in art and design?

Scroll down to see 7 examples of everyday items on which marine Ikebana poems designed with the help of the golden ratio are available.

Which one do you like the most? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!

2 functional decor ideas with golden ratio art printed in stone

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Do you like visual art, do you like the durability of stone as a material, but you also expect some functionality before you buy something for yourself or as a gift? Then you are going to like the following functional decor ideas with golden ratio art printed in stone!

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Pin for later if you don’t have time to read it now!

As a minimalist myself, I understand both your love of open space as well your prolonged pondering whenever you need to bring a new object in your home or office or both. While there are minimalists who prefer single use tools because those do their work best, in some cases, decorative objects can also have some kind of simple function, like the examples below, where stone is used to hold art when used as decor and the same stone is used to protect furniture from spills, stains, burns, condensation or from being scratched.

It’s a simple solution to enjoy visual art without turning your house into a mountain of clutter, especially if you move often or travel often.

Hassle-free art or how to display art without hanging it

If you’ve read other blog posts of mine, you know that I love visual arts as much as I love open space and there were times in my life when I thought I had to choose between the two. In the meantime, I realized that as long as I keep the walls white and move the art to functional, preferably small, objects, I can have my cake and eat it too.

While there are paintings done on stone and images printed in stone, it is a lot easier to enjoy beautiful art on a durable material such as stone if that plaque is displayed on a table, a desk, a shelf and NOT on a wall.

Here are 3 ways to enjoy art available on stone without bothering with wall art:

  • use the stone as it is, e.g. use it for its aesthetic function as desk decor – especially if the stone has an irregular shape and it is small, e.g. a painted rock or pebble. If the stone is shaped like a tile or a plaque, you can reuse it as a stone placemat to protect furniture from the heat of the food and/or for easier cleaning if whatever you’re eating produces crumbs.
  • buy or make a display stand if you need the stone tile in a more vertical position in order to admire it
  • attach non-skid or non-slip pads if you need the stone tile in an horizontal position, e.g. stone platters or slate tiles for serving food

Functional decor idea 1: stone coasters

Coasters for drinks are useful and maybe a bit frivolous since you could always use a napkin underneath your glass or cup. If you are wondering what are coasters used for, they are used to avoid the furniture from being scratched, to absorb condensation if the drink is too cold, to avoid steam being trapped between the hot drink and the furniture and of course, to avoid spills.

The images from the collection below contain visual poems designed by me and published on the Zazzle platform as stone coasters. Given the size of such a coaster, 4″ x 4″ (or approximately 10 x 10 cm), it is possible for the actual lyrics to not be easily readable without a glass magnifier, but each design can still be enjoyed as a floral Ikebana composition. The lyrics only add to the experience.

If you want to improve the design, on Zazzle you can play around, change the background color, add or delete photos and custom text until everything is according to what you like and need.

You can also choose between 4 types of stone to print your coaster:

  • marble
  • limestone
  • travertine
  • sandstone

Functional decor idea 2: stone trivets

If you’re wondering what is a trivet, stone trivets for hot dishes are plates used to avoid the furniture underneath them being stained or burned.

The images from the collection below contain visual poems designed by me and published on the Zazzle platform as stone trivets. Given the size of such a trivet, 6” x 6” (or approximately 15 x 15 cm), you are more likely to be able to read the actual lyrics, but even if you can’t, each design can still be enjoyed as a floral Ikebana composition. The lyrics only add to the experience.

If you want to improve the design, on Zazzle you can play around, change the background color, add or delete photos and custom text until everything is according to what you like and need.

You can also choose between 2 types of stone to print your trivet:

  • marble
  • travertine

While originally my visual poems were published against a black, cappuccino beige or chocolate brown background, most stone coasters and stone trivets from the collections above have their white or cream natural stone background because I think the poems look better like this on stone. I also changed the font to pure black for easier reading, if one is interested in that.

Don’t forget you may need a display stand if you want to use a stone coaster or stone trivet as a unique piece of home decor for your desk, table or shelf!

Coastal home decor ideas featuring earthy tones with blue accents

Coastal home decor ideas featuring earthy tones with blue accents

Whether you live by the seaside or not, you can now turn your home into a relaxing seascape with these coastal home decor ideas featuring earthy tones with blue accents.

Scroll down to find out what is a coastal color palette, what are earthy tones, whether blue goes with earthy tones and why you would choose such a combination.

I’ll answer all these questions featuring real products for the home so that you can judge by yourself whether this looks good or not.

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What is a coastal palette?

A coastal color palette is a range of colors inspired by your typical beach seascape: pastel blues, angry storm blues, airy whites and creams, light beige tints resembling the sand and darker brown shades inspired by driftwood.

The wall art is one such example where you can notice several hues of brown mixed in with some blue accents. The image is actually a visual poem about the first signs of aging once youth is gone.

Another example of a coastal color palette is this ceramic tile below, featuring two blue iris flowers resting near a seashell flower hexagonal vase with lots of darker and lighter hues of brown against a sandy and neutral beige background. This beige tile would fit very well in a beach themed bathroom.

What are earthy tones?

Earthy tones include any color with a bit of brown in it, reminding you of earth, soil or the ground, like in the desk or shelf decor you see below.

For example, if you mix blue with a bit of brown, you’ll get an earthy blue tone, like you see in the lateral dark blue Murex snail shells from this candy jar.

And while we usually associate a coastal seascape with lots and lots of blue, actually there is quite a bit of brown in it from the sand, driftwood or shells, like you see in the coastal baby blanket featured below.

Does blue go with earthy tones?

By being quite dull neutral colors, earthy tones theoretically go well with any other color, just like black and white do, so you can’t go wrong if you pair an earthy tone color with blue.

But the reason for which I favor this combination in just about any visual poem I design is that it represents best the planet on which we both live. We both call it Earth (which is brown), but also The Blue Planet.

As an example of pairing blue with earthy brown shades, take a look at the visual poem printed on the trinket tray below. It is called “Grateful” and it depicts the irony of being grateful for not getting what I wanted and getting what I didn’t want, which worked out better than expected in the end. The three blue iris flowers from it are actually made of seashells from the Black Sea.

I first got the idea of mixing the earthy tones with the seascape blue hues after finding out about Japanese dry gardens, rock gardens or Zen gardens where sand represents the waves of the sea, while tall stones represent islands or mountains.

I tried to create such harmony in each of my visual poems and I’d love it if you could tell me in a comment below what do you think about pairing earthy tones with blue accents and whether you’d like this combination in your home. Until then, I’ll leave you with a couple of more examples of coastal home decor ideas to scroll through, finishing with an edible and sweet one 🙂

From beach to shelf: how to organize your seashell collection

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Do you collect seashells? Then don’t let clutter take over your space and learn how to organize your seashell collection.

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I am a seashell collector myself and throughout the years, I learned how to organize my collection both in terms of storage and display.

You may also find this blog post useful if you collect rocks, fossils, coins, sea glass or other small items, but I will focus on shells because this is what I like and what I collect 🙂

My available storage space is tiny. Coupled with being a minimalist, this naturally limited my seashell collection.

And like most seashell collectors, I collect seashells for their aesthetic, but your purpose may be different. Whether you collect seashells for crafts, art, aesthetic value, scientific purposes or even to resell them, you need to read this blog post in order to save time and space.

Here are some things to consider given your purpose of collecting shells and other factors related to the shells themselves:

Do you want to store them, display them or both?

I store most of my seashells in different types of containers in one shelf only and I display some of them by rotation.

If you mainly need to store your shells, it is very important to use an opaque container in order to keep the light out because light will make the colors fade.

You may also choose a transparent container if you want to immediately find a specific shell in your collection or if you want to both display and store your shells, but on the long term and if you care about their natural color patterns, it is best to keep them away from light.

If the container has a lid, you will also protect your shells from dust and your fingers 🙂

Here is a seashell display idea which could fit in a beach house or a regular home with coastal vibes. I designed this mason jar on a platform called Zazzle (if you click on the image, that is where the link will take you). The image and the text are fully customizable at no extra charge to you.

I designed this blue iris coastal mason jar as a clutter-free way to display beautiful seashells or small decorative objects. You can easily change the “home sweet home” text, the background color (which is currently set to none) and you can transfer this design to any different product from the Zazzle platform.

But apart from whether you mainly want to store or display your shells, there is another important factor to take into consideration when choosing a container.

What is the size and/or shape of the seashells from your collection?

These things matter if the shells are to fit the container of your choice.

In order to avoid keeping them loose, you also don’t want to put small shells in a big container. Besides, it’s a waste of space.

I collect regularly sized seashells, but also microshells and I group them by size, place of origin and on whether they were bought or beachcombed by me.

If you are also one of the rare people who collects microshells, here is an example of a tiny container in which I store them: a lip balm past being used for its initial purpose. I also like to store sewing needles in lip balm containers, but that’s a different story.

The lip balm below features a typical marine Ikebana bouquet made of a blue iris sculpture, some green foliage in the background, a white seashell cut like a leaf and one of my favorite seashells which I bought from Japan: the precious wentletrap or Epitonium scalare.

Apart from tiny containers for microshells, I store larger seashells in keepsake boxes like the one below. The lid from this box features a visual poem written by me, called “Scar Collector”. The poem itself is a play on words between how a pearl is formed by an irritant entering the mollusk shell, the growth process of a typical shell (larger ones being older) and how we, humans, accumulate scars, both physical and mental, as we grow up and grow older.

The marine Ikebana artwork is similar to a Japanese Ikebana flower arrangement, but instead of plant material, I use seashells and lyrics. The graphical part of the poem includes many shells, among them a blue painted part of my favorite seashell: Thatcheria mirabilis or the Japanese wonder shell.

I also store some seashells in wide mouth bottles. The one below features another visual poem written by me, called “The Ink Pot”. The shape and the lyrics of this poem assemble a metaphor of nostalgia flowing from an ink pot I found at home. In my time, fountain pens is what we used to write with during primary school and finding that ink pot brought back so many memories from my childhood.

Meanwhile, for both practical and environmental reasons, I quit using ballpoint pens and I got back to using a fountain pen which I periodically refill from an ink pot 🙂

And speaking of fountain pens and writing, here comes the last thing to take into consideration when organizing your seashell collection.

Do you need to keep proper records for each shell?

If you collect seashells for scientific purposes or if you specialize in rare shells which you may want to sell one day, it is important to maintain proper records for each seashell.

In practice, this means storing a card or a label with each shell and/or keeping a computer database for your whole seashell collection.

To save you time, I created a design template for the shelling notepad below. The notepad has 40 easy tear-away pages and the design is printed on each page.

The shelling notepad includes text fields for the date and the location of the find, who found the shell, weather conditions during the find and any other comments you may want to jot down, including the name of the species if you know it or if you can find it.

You can customize the text fields, change the rectangle color or the background color (which is currently set to none). You can either delete the text that reads “seashell name or identifier” or customize it with the name of your seashell collection or a specific name of a part of it, like a certain group of shells.

And with that being said, we reached the end of this blog post on how to organize your seashell collection. Now it’s your turn: how do you store or display your seashells? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below!