DECORATING ADVICE : Case of the Blues Will Perk Up Beach Cottage

Question: Our 6-year-old vacation cottage on the beach needs a new look. It has high ceilings. The floor and woodwork, including a built-in bookcase, are pine. The walls are white, and I’d like to keep them that way. The kitchen has an island with blue tile and lots of blue and white accessories. I need fabric roll-up blinds for the eight windows facing the ocean.

I’d like to repaint my old rattan love seat and chair; right now they are a horrible wine color.

Please suggest colors, fabrics and styles for the upholstery, rugs and blinds. I’d like a casual, beachy, funky look using blue and white.

Nancy Burg

Answer: Install linen roll-up blinds that have wide sunflower-yellow and white stripes. Edge the rollers with yellow cording.

Paint your rattan love seat and chair white, and cover the seats in a yellow and white tweed, which will be practical and sturdy. Accent your love seat with some blue and white Oriental pillows. There are many prints on the market that feature the blue and white look; you might find a design of blue and white ginger jars or a blue and white willowware pattern.

For the rug, I would try a beach sisal. This strong fiber is inexpensive, though it will be a bit scratchy for bare feet until it ages a bit. Purchase a light-blond wood coffee table that has a 1940s look, hopefully a blue-tint mirrored top. Shop for some blue mirrored accessories too, perhaps a lamp or additional end table. If you have space, find a chaise lounge with a rattan frame. Cover the chaise in the blue and white Oriental print.

Q: I’m going to redecorate my living/dining room. I have navy-blue carpeting, which I will keep. My walls and ceiling are white. We’ll make slipcovers for the couch, love seat and the dining chair seats. The sofa and love seat are now beige. One wall in the dining room is mirrored.

What color fabric should I use for the slipcovers? My windows have white vertical blinds. I would like valences to accent the blinds. Should I keep the walls white or paint them a different color?

Leona Ketza

A: Repaint your walls with a very soft peach color, and your trim with a white semi-gloss enamel. Choose a happy print for your couch and love seat slipcovers--maybe a print of pale-blue flowers with peach roses, purple lilacs and pink carnations on a navy-blue background. Use the prints as your window valence--and line it in a soft lilac color. For the dining room chair seats, choose a sturdy peach tweed. If you follow the above plan, you will have brightened your room easily!

Q: I like the color green. Any comments?

Ruth Franche

A: It may not be easy being green, as Kermit the Frog attests, but decorating with green is a breeze. Green is nature’s color, and looks harmonious just about anywhere. Who doesn’t enjoy such lush shades such as fern green, forest green, willow green and moss green?

If you want to create a room that is both rich and natural, consider painting the walls deep forest green. The trim can be painted with a white, semi-gloss enamel, and the ceiling can be painted a soft aqua blue. And, for flooring, why not consider a checkerboard pattern of 18-by-18-inch white and green squares. The pattern should be stenciled and sealed with a few coats of polyurethane.

Now comes the fun part of decorating: selecting the upholstery for the sofa and chairs. Look for a rich forest-green solid or print. To highlight the sofa, find white, pale foam-green and chartreuse pillows. Then add a couple of cushions in a favorite garden color--daisy yellow, pink, lilac or poppy red, for example.

A poppy-red lacquer coffee table would add excitement to the setting. Accessorize your room with some shiny brass pieces. You may want to purchase a standing lamp or a few gold gilt wall appliques that hold candles.

If you decide to go green with your next decorating project, don’t forget about celadons, emerald and teal green. You’ll find a great mix of green shades in fabrics and wallpapers.

In my own home, I have a green library that is furnished in country pine. The contrast of the pine against green is handsome and warm. When pine furnishings are set against rich, deep colors, they come alive!