Interior Decorating Your Sailboat ?

[janice142]

One more thing: I DON'T want "durable" -- as I prefer to revamp regularly. That said, I have a sewing machine and it's not that much fabric to redo my small boat. If I had a "yacht" and needed to redo the seat cushions I'd go for easy-to-clean stain-hiding patterns that are durable and not sticky to sit on in high humidity areas. (whew!)

Decorative items don't have to last forever -- just bringing pleasure for a time is sufficient. So far my valances have lasted between six and eight months before I'm sick of 'em and make more. Right now I've got seashells and before that fish, turtles, planets and stars... you get the drift. It's so easy to change the look of a cabin that whatever I happen to love today might not be here the next time you see the boat. In fact, it probably won't! (I'm getting tired of the nautilus shells...)

[SailorGirl7497]

Originally Posted by janice142

Hello SailorGirl7497. Flying rats on the ceiling? When many folks wear hats for two reasons: #1: sun, and #2: seagull poop! I can't see that myself but then again, it's your boat.

As for your sky view, planets too might be nice (I've done that in a house with a ceiling black and glow-in-the-dark star patterns plus painted ones) ... I tried similar on the boat (white overhead/with just planets) and it isn't very good. That was one of those ideas that seemed like a good idea at the time. (shrugs) HOWEVER I LOVE your idea of fish swimming. Instead of paint if your overhead is slick I might suggest cutting out magazine pictures of the fish and then using Elmer's glue to adhere... Paint brush the glue along the edges (smooth it out, don't worry about the middle of the fish) and then stick it up there. IF anything gets dirty or grimy you can wet the surface of the paper and it will come down. Removing the glue takes a bit more effort but instead of paint, I'd go with the glue method. I'd like to see the results of your fishy experiment too (if you go that way) as I've considered similar in the head along one bulkhead.

Addendum: I do have a few glow-in-the-dark planet stickers in my cabin and do like them. They are subtle and since you're looking for color, I'd chose an aquatic scene.

Yea I was leaning towards the fish myself! XD I do like the planet and stars idea as well! But I think I might stick to the fish. I never thought about glue but that does make alot of sense. I'll be sure to post some pictures of it when it's finished! Thank you for your ideas and opinions!

[bobconnie]

I like port holes myself ! mre shippie you know !! and I found out that a major home store sells a plastic tinted material that has a magnetic like action going on !! you cut out paper first to fit and redo on the tint stuff and stick it up !! works great, cant see thru from outside when the suns up, reduces glare and heat from out side, removes easy and stores easy! at sea can stay up all the time at the dock you will need something for nights if your privaicy is important to you LOL I hate curtains cus of the dirt I use the same as above scarves just OUR 2 cents Connie and Bob

[minaret]

Originally Posted by osirissail

As Amgine stated (post#8) remember that everything in a sailboat is subject to being "thrown around" when underway. So pictures, nick-naks, everything need to be "bolted" or restrained from moving. Unlike a land home where gravity is the only problem, boats move up/down, back and forth, and rotate.

So pictures need to be screwed or bolted in place, plants (real or fake) need to be clamped down, books and stuff need to be behind doors or wooden restraints. It is not really difficult to do but needs some extra thought when putting something here or there.

One of the great joys of a boat is the small size restrictions, so your "accents" are limited in size and number or you end up with a "closet full of stuff" look.

Personally, I use butyl tape to fix all my decorations and knick-knacks in place. No fastener holes required and it can be removed without a trace easily. It is also strong enough for stuff like chairs or even tables. My last boat had the new custom saloon table fixed in place with butyl so as not to drill holes in the sole. I could stand on it easily without any wobble. I use it for all sorts of stuff. Instant results with no damage.

[DeepFrz]

In a small space with lots of things breaking up the view go easy on the patterns. A little will go a long way. A nice bright ceiling of one color will make things easy to live with. A few bright accent pieces will cheer up the space.

[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.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Coops

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.

For a 20 footer that's one hell of a Galley .

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

For a 20 footer that's one hell of a Galley .

Yes, I have lived in apartments with less kitchen than that !

[msponer]

Originally Posted by Coops

Whilst i love traditional looking boats, i have never come to terms with making the interiors dark and somewhat gloomy. ...

Yes, my wife and I joked while boat shopping -- "Wow, another floating humidor..."

But they look awesome when lit at night with paraffin lamps. To go below in one of those boats at sea is such a pleasure, like a cozey and homey little bubble of a backwoods cabin within the vast desert expanse of the ocean. And if you are in a life where you are anchoring up mangrove rivers and rowing up to the boat in a little hard dinghy... Well, I don't know, the antique furniture look just matches that life so well.

So I appreciate that. But... we eventually started to feel like we are more rough and tumble people, our life on land is one of cheap Ikea furniture, and the fine joinery started to feel like we were living at the beach with grandma's living room, rubbing sand into seven layers of perfect varnish with our feet and fixing diesel within a space that is just too nice for the way we are. It was never natural to me to spread out a microfiber hand towel on the fine varnished table while I rebuilt a pump or soldered an autopilot control head back together. White painted plywood seems so malleable-- we can actually add a shelf or bench or whatever here or there, make small changes, without wrecking the value or aesthetics of the boat.

So this is our current aesthetic. Bright, cheap, durable, and easy to fix. But we'll see if we love our new boat as much as loved our floating humidor.

[zeehag]

my boat is a shiplet with round ports and beautifull teak interior--to gain light i just open the hatches in daylight.....and i love the ambiance of the dark teak in evenings with oil lamplight. perfect and sooo traditional.

[Ocean Girl]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cUks1PMabe...ject%2B003.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cUks1PMabe...ject%2B004.JPG

Can't seem to figure out how to post the picture, but here is the link. My mom stitched this while sailing around the world. Didn't think it could fit it on the boat but the captain had a clever idea to turn the picture into a cabinet door, pretty cool.
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[Coops]

Originally Posted by Greenhand

Yes, I have lived in apartments with less kitchen than that !

But did you have to cook on your knees or sat down?

Coops.

[Coops]

Originally Posted by msponer

But they look awesome when lit at night with paraffin lamps.

Totally agree, but we do not need more heat in the cabin down here.

Coops.

[ReMetau]

We like the curtains Diana made. We also hang some art like the one in our salon, but we also have some in our berth. We like to hang things we have collected along the way, like this whistle or this pottery to hold our wooden utensils.

[ardoin]

My curtains are cotton and lined with white cotton on the back side. I have a bold vertical stripe pattern on the inside. Use the mini sail tracks to mount them so they can slide one way or the other. I do not have space to hand picture (only 3 places where they are safe to hang underway. But all three are nice. Other wise, in the shelves I keep some nice items, but have to stretch mesh and shock cord over the shelves to keep the Indian pottery and other fragile items from flying across the boat. There is no exposed FRP on the interior of my boat. That is good, but it require that any decorations you do use match glossed teak.