Our 6 Favorite Ocean Bedroom Decor Ideas

Ocean bedroom decor is wonderfully calming and transports young dreamers to another world. An ocean-themed bedroom is a popular idea for beach houses, but it can also be used to make you feel like you're at the beach wherever you happen to live! To make decorating a little easier, we've grouped our decor ideas by subtheme and age.

Ocean Bedroom Decor Themes for Kids

Young children are often fascinated with the sea and all of the colorful creatures that live there. Create a marine paradise with these imaginative ocean and beach-themed bedroom ideas.

Mermaid-Themed Bedroom Decor

If you have a little mermaid at your house, help her create her own underwater nook where she can let her imagination run free.

Colors: aquamarine, blue, navy blue, and yellow

Headboard: a clamshell, curved, or wavy design with an overhead canopy for a bed fit for a princess

Bedding and curtains: mermaid prints, starfish, sea horses, seashells, and bedding or curtains in our suggested theme colors

Wall art: "Always be yourself" mermaid sign, "Dream big little mermaid" sign, or a personalized mermaid sign featuring the child’s name

Other wall decorations: mermaid, bubble, fish, and seaweed decals, and seashell, fish, starfish, seahorse, coral, lobster, and crab props

Materials and textures: shells, white or distressed-white wood, coral, and rocks

Scuba Diver Bedroom Decor

Boys who love marine animals like sharks and manta rays often go for a scuba-diving theme. Create a minimalist design with a few wall decals of scuba-diving goggles and bubbles, or go all out with scenes of coral reefs, shipwrecks, or even a chest of sunken treasure!

Colors: dark, mid, and light blues, bright colors for coral and scuba-diving goggles

Headboard: shelving with marine trinkets

Bedding and curtains: dark blue with coral, sea horses, octopuses, and manta rays

Wall art: "Be adventurous little one" wall sign, "wild and free" wall sign, and prints or canvases of marine animals

Other wall decorations: decals, tapestries, or wall murals featuring sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, whales, sea horses, fish, coral, octopuses, crabs, bubbles, scuba-diving goggles, oxygen tanks, flippers, shipwrecks, treasure chests, and rusty anchors

Materials and textures: dark wood (such as oak), distressed wood, and rusted metal

Beach-Themed Bedroom Decor

A beach theme is easy and fun to create for children of all ages. For younger kids, focus on bright colors and sandcastle-building props. For older kids, a surfing theme can be really cool.

Colors: white, cream, lemon, yellow, and various shades of blue

Headboard: curved or wavy

Bedding and curtains: white bed linen with solid or printed blue accents featuring starfish, coral, seashells, sandcastles, and surfboards

Wall art: Turn your child's drawing into a sign and include paintings or prints featuring favorite beach scenes, fish, starfish, dolphins, and sharks

Other wall decorations: a surfboard leaning against the wall or hung above the headboard, fishnets decorated with wooden or cardboard fish

Fixtures and furnishings: seashell or rock table lamps for a coastal vibe

Materials and textures: warm-wooden paneling, jute, wicker, bamboo, or rattan furnishings, sand-filled jars, seashells, and driftwood bed canopies or mobiles

Ocean Bedroom Decor for Adults

If you're one of the 40% of Americans who live in a coastal county or one of the 4-6% of Americans with a second home, it makes sense to give your home a beach vibe. These three themes have plenty of workable decor ideas.

Beach Bedroom Decor

For the master bedroom, beach decor typically has a more subtle look than beach-themed bedroom decor for kids. Go for lively or subdued coastal colors with a couple of stand-out touches like prints or oars.

Colors: white, lemon, light, medium, and navy blue

Headboard: wooden shelving with framed beach photos and beach trinkets like seashells and coral, a rattan or bamboo headboard, a wave-shaped headboard, or a curved headboard

Bedding and curtains: crisp white bed linen with solid blue accents or prints featuring coral, seashells, sea horses, or waves

Wall art: framed beach art, pictures of the seaside at sunset, or this "Welcome to the beach house" sign

Other wall decorations: warm wood paneling or shiplap, beach-themed wallpaper, a sun-shaped clock or mirror with golden rays, oars hanging horizontally on the walls, life buoys, and fishnets

Fixtures and furnishings: sea-inspired candle holders and table lamps, wicker or woven storage baskets, and a driftwood bed canopy

Materials and textures: wicker, rattan, bamboo, jute, wood, and cotton

Tropical Island Theme

If you have a coastal bedroom in Florida—or dream of vacations in Hawaii—take some tropical-island inspiration for your ocean-themed bedroom decor.

Colors: mid blues, lush green, and bright floral colors

Headboard: rattan, wicker, or bamboo

Bedding and curtains: crisp white with accents in blues and sea green

Wall art: framed pictures of tropical beaches, surfing, or your favorite cocktails

Other wall decorations: surfboards, tropical flowers, and hammocks

Fixtures and furnishings: potted palm trees and other lush indoor plants

Materials and textures: wood, wicker, bamboo, and rattan furniture, real and faux plants

Nautical Theme

For more of a nautical theme as opposed to a beach theme, include shapes and props you might find on boats and ships with accents in white, yellow, or orange against a background of dark blue and black.

Colors: navy blue, white, yellow, orange, and black

Headboard: reclaimed wood with ocean trinkets or portals

Bedding and curtains: crisp white and navy blue with white or orange anchor or ship-themed prints

Wall art: a vintage world map sign, ship paintings, or nautical prints

Other wall decorations: life buoys, marine animal outlines, props such as telescopes, anchors, and the steering wheel of a ship

Fixtures and furnishings: vintage lamps and wooden chests

Materials and textures: wood, cotton, rope, rubber, and metal

Let Your Imagination Run Wild!

Whether you go for a coastal feel with a beach-inspired bedroom or set the scene for a complete underwater adventure, well-chosen ocean bedroom decor can be both relaxing and inspiring. 

When selecting your decor, remember to balance out dark background colors with bright accents and to choose a combination of solids and prints. Above all, have fun with your chosen theme!