Balmoral Living: Apartment lounge room

The lounge room was the reason I bought the apartment. The previous owner was a lover of French provincial style and in the lounge room she had installed floorboards which she painted white, french doors flanked by sash windows, a juliet balcony tiled with tumbled marble and a gas fireplace. Together they created great bones and all I had to do was dress the room.

Not long after we moved in, my son came home from a beach holiday with a shoebox filled with shells. They were so varied and beautiful that I put them on display in a glass vase. Every time I walked into the lounge room the luminous colours of the shells would catch my eye, which inspired the coastal palette for the apartment's decor.

Lounge room (my son's shell collection on the left)

I've never been a fan of beach decor, so I went tentatively down the path of trying to capturing a coastal mood without crossing the invisible line into "beachy". My primary influences are Swedish coastal and Hamptons styles, both of which I love.

I chose a colour palette which reminded me of the shells and water - sandy colours and white with accents of blues and greens. I re-painted the ragged walls with a colour that reminded me of sand; Dulux Bone White.

I purchased a lounge in a natural-coloured fabric, throw rugs, cushions, a foot stool and a gorgeous textured area rug from Laura Ashley. Linen curtains came from Freedom Furniture.

I'm attracted to natural materials, so over time I added various accessories in marble, linen, stone and wood from Camargue and Pond at Mosman, Parterre at Woollahra and Abode at Willoughby and Waterloo. This grouping is in the entrance area just off the lounge room - the orchid came from Matt Bisaro at Mosman.