20 Beautiful Beach Cottages

By Coastal Living
Updated June 30, 2020
Annie Schlechter; Styling: Jennifer Kain Defoe

From polished and sophisticated to rustic and casual, you can find your very own coastal style from this collection of our favorite beach cottages.

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1. Charming South Carolina Cottage

When Bonnie and Anthony McAlister of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, decided to renovate their beach cottage, the only thing they knew they wanted was color. “We wanted the house to be comfortable, but also fun and exciting,” says Anthony. “The idea was to get that ‘coming into a beach house feeling’ where you know you’re going to have a good time.”

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Lively Living Area

The living and dining room areas were enlivened with punches of green and coral. Coastal accents—sea grass rugs, coral pieces, bamboo flatware—are scattered throughout to reflect South Carolina’s beach-loving lifestyle.

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Soothing Blue Bedroom

Inspired by the harbor, the homeowners chose a calming blue palette and added an oyster shell-encrusted mirror. They mixed in elements that really bring the room to life—throw pillows and a killer light fixture.

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Tropical Kitchen

J. Savage Gibson

The floor is painted a leafy green, which will give an even more weathered, beachy feel to the kitchen when the boards start to show through. Vintage-inspired beaded board lends even more character to the room while the white keeps it fresh and crisp.

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Relaxing Wicker Porch

J. Savage Gibson

The homeowners scoured antiques consignment stores for the vintage fishing net, which provides a focal point in the outdoor space.

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2. Chic Beach Cottage

A North Carolina couple learned to live with—and play up—their cottage’s quirky charms in Morehead City. While planning a renovation, Catherine and Mason Williams grew attached to the small 1914 cottage and decided not to make any additions but to optimize every inch of the 1,350 square feet. That’s where the couple’s four years of living on a 53-foot Ketch sailing yacht came in handy.

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Sandy-Hued Living Room

The couple chose blue, white, and sandy hues for their living room. Fun lampshades bring the colors together, and a touch of rope trim provides a nautical touch. A casual wooden coffee table and coastal accessories used sparingly add to the nautical feel.

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Cool Blue Bedroom

Although the master bedroom is small, the homeowners maximized their space by affixing a headboard that has plenty of shelf space in lieu of floor space-hogging bedside tables. Cool blues and whites make the room seem comforting rather than cramped.

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Durable Breakfast Nook

This plush seating area sees frequent use for eating or for a cozy reading nook or office. The natural golden shade of the cushions forgives sandy feet, and the glossy paint on the wood floors is ideal for a beach cottage because it’s a low-cost, high-charm treatment.

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Subtle Coastal-Themed Kitchen

This galley kitchen is made to look larger by using the same shade of paint on the walls and ceiling. Cabinetry doors and drawers are accented in a cheery hue to keep the white kitchen from feeling sterile. Horizontal planked wood siding adds character that plain, painted drywall couldn’t, and a few coastal-themed decorations, such as the marine-style pendant lights and shrimp sculpture, convey a sense of place without going overboard.

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3. Surf Shack Chic

When Susan and Spencer Croul stumbled upon this cottage, they wanted to maintain the surf culture of the Newport Beach area and preserve the elements of the cottage that made it so unique and charming.

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Exotic Living Room

The living room was decorated with generous upholstered pieces to ensure maximum comfort. The corduroy, leather, and vintage grain sack upholstery encourages lounging, while batik prints in rich reds and marine blues provide an exotic beat.

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Island-Style Bedroom

Batik prints in the same color palette as the living room are used in the bedroom against a backdrop of crisp white. A John Severson watercolor painting of Waikiki Beach hangs above the built-in bed, bringing the outdoors in.

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Cozy Dining Room

Lisa Romerein

Woven accents—a sea grass rug, a painted wicker chair—plus a few nautical nods, such as the brass pendant fixture, keep the mood casual and the focus on the water. “This is the SoCal version of an East Coast fishing shack—everything is cozy and masculine; nothing is delicate,” the homeowner says.

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Subtle Nautical Kitchen

The kitchen’s 1950s rope-and-wood chairs and the sailboat prints exude nautical style without being over the top. An Oriental rug covers the vintage Douglas fir floors in rich reds and blues, tying in the kitchen with the rest of the cottage.

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4. Charming Coastal Cottage

Richard Leo Johnson

Stella and Dave Peterson’s coastal Georgia vacation home has all the classic details—broad porches, exposed rafter tails—of a century-old house. But it was only built to look that way. “I’m an old-house person, but I’ve realized you can build character into new construction and create your own history,” Stella says.

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Pastel Living Room

This serene living room came together in a wash of pastels. To promote conversation, designer Jane Coslick opted for four chairs instead of the traditional sofa-centered seating arrangement; she repeated fabric from the dining room on the round ottoman to unify the look of the adjacent rooms.

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Understated Bedroom

A piece of salvaged crown molding serves as a shelf and holds a collection of sea coral. The homeowner scoured flea markets and integrated her finds into the decor. “I sought things that would lend a sense of history: old windows, mirrors, side tables, cabinet doors, and dressers,” she says. She then used paint to freshen furnishings and give them a coastal vibe.

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Quirky Dining Room

The 10-foot-long heart-pine dining table was painted and distressed; a hodgepodge of side chairs scored at a local thrift store complement the table. A fresh application of candy-stripe fabric unifies the mismatched set of chairs.

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Retro Beach Kitchen

The punchy turquoise hue of the vintage-style appliance puts a chic spin on the space. A tumbled-glass backsplash mimics natural sea glass and contrasts the sleek concrete countertops. Reproduction pendant lighting and period barstools top off the soda fountain look the homeowners hoped to achieve.

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5. Simple Beach Cottage Style

Homeowner Jerry West Sanders transformed this Steamboat Island, Washington, cottage into her dream home. “I wanted a simple, coastal look for easy living,” she says. “I like color, but I don’t use it in this setting.”

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Bright-White Living Room

To keep things simple in her living room—as to not distract from the gorgeous view—the homeowner used easy-to-wash white slipcovers and hung white linen or cotton draperies and shades on doorways and windows. A little splash of blue from the throw pillows is the only color used.

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Neutral Bedroom

A damaged mantel serves as a headboard in the master bedroom. Because the small space doesn’t allow for bedside tables, the homeowner installed sconces for nighttime reading.

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Rustic Dining Room

Mexican tile floors give the dining room—which also doubles as an office—a more rustic look. “The room had wood walls and wood beams, so I felt like that was enough,” homeowner Jerry West Sanders says. To connect the room with the rest of the interiors, she introduced touches of white in a painted table, corner cupboard, and chandelier.

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Outdoor Living Space

Previous owners built an outdoor room at the end of the main-level deck as a windbreak. The space is outfitted with a hutch, buffet, chandelier, and draperies to make it a comfortable extension of living space.

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6. Diamond in the Rough

One of 19 small, shingled homes along Defenders Row on Goat Island on the Rhode Island shore, the Southern Cross offered unparalleled views of Newport Harbor on one side and Narragansett Bay on the other. It was the homeliest cottage homeowners Reeder and Marion Laffey Fox had ever seen. After polishing up the faded cottage, the couple agreed it was a brilliant investment.

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Watery-Blue Living Room

The interior look was based around seashells and watery blues and greens. A mixture of casual wicker, wood, and soft upholstered furniture creates the perfect mix for a beach cottage.

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Deep-Blue Bedroom

Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn

Bright white forms a clean backdrop for deep blue accents in the master bedroom. The four-poster bed is positioned directly in front of the balcony, giving an unobstructed view of the harbor.

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Relaxing Sunroom

A sea grass rug, wicker and wood furniture, and plenty of streaming light from the French doors fill this sunroom. A few nautical accents recall the idyllic setting.

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Polished Kitchen

The green squares faux painted diagonally on the floors add a touch of whimsy. “I wanted to inject some color beneath your feet,” the homeowner says. “This was the perfect solution.”

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7. Entertaining Cottage