Making a Boat a Home: The Art of Decorating A Boat

Many of you write us asking what the inside of our boat looks like.  I've got some older pictures posted on our "Boat" page, but - as I mentioned back in the British Virgin Islands - we have been doing some redecorating, so things look a little different.

Let me start by saying that I am the type of person who revels in her surroundings.  I need to live in a nice space.  It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy or perfectly coordinated, but a clean, cosy and organized living space is a must for me.  Some might call it a a trait of the "fairer sex", but believe me when I say I've met several women who could care less about their boat's interiors.  To each his own.  But for me?  It's gotta look nice and it's gotta be comfortable.  To me, comfort is synonymous with happy cruising.  Call it OCD, call it 'being anal' call it what you will - but clutter and chaos make me edgy, antsy and all out of sorts.  Luckily, we bought a boat with so much storage we still have a load of empty spaces, so being clutter-free is not a problem for us.  Point for the bigger boat...

Even still, when living on a boat function must always take precedence over form, so the phrase "interior decorating" is laughable.  While there are plenty of ways to personalize and get creative, when it comes to a boat's insides, for the most part, what you see is what you get.  There's no moving things around or rearranging furniture and your affinity for feng shui will have to fly out the porthole. You must be very mindful of anything frivolous and non-essential that you mount, place or hang, lest they become projectiles on a rough passage.   That said,  the inside of a boat and how "pretty" it looks should be the least of your concerns when boat shopping, but still - gorgeous interiors have sold more of their fair share of shoddy boats so it goes to show that not everyone is all function out here.

I like to think of us as a little of both (form and function); sure Scott could care less about our new throw pillows or the colors of our bedspread, but he also knows these things make me happy and so he let's me go about my meager decorating attempts with little resistance.  I tend to veer away from the "nautical" theme that so many seem to favor out here...after all, we do live on a boat, I don't think we need lighthouse pillows and seashell wall accents to punctuate it - but that's us.  To personalize our space, we added some cheap non-skid floor mats, some professionally framed posters that have special meaning to us (we are from Chicago, we met and married in St. Joe).  We also added some nice, colorful throw pillows, some custom baskets and storage containers and a few special knick-knacks we've collected here and there throughout the islands.  Everything is mounted either with industrial strength velcro or museum putty (I love the stuff!!!) and we have been in pretty rough seas with nary a casualty.  "A place for everything and everything in its place" as they say...

So with no further ado, here are some pics and a little tour of how we made our boat our home...

Looking forward into the salon from our to our starboard settee which we converted from two seats to one.

The same view, port side.  We made the custom sink cover/cutting board out of starboard.  Extra counter space!

Our navigation station with all of Isla's toys underneath.  We plan on converting this to a forward facing nav station with a seat...to be continued...

Our walkthrough to the aft cabin.  This is where our computers usually live.  We keep the shelf behind here very organized and neat with baskets.  "A place for everything and everything in its place" is our storage motto.

This is looking aft at the expanded view of our walk-through - TONS of storage here.  Full engine access is to the right.

Looking froward through the walk through from the aft cabin.  Note the double doors to engine room.  Awesome.

Looking aft again from the walk through into our aft cabin.

Aft cabin. Again, tons of storage, king sized bed and we each have a built in "night stand" of sorts (not pictured)

Our aft head with separate shower

Another view of the aft head - we have old fashioned rum labels mounted on wood on the starboard side - you can only see one but there are four.  Very cool and brighten up the bathroom.

A view of our main salon as seen emerging from the walk through, companionway stairs to port (left).

Our galley.  As much as I despise cooking, I love this galley.  Huge refrigerator with top and bottom door access as well as a HUGE locker for pots, pans and all the other kitchen equipment I hardly ever use.

Our bookshelf got pared down when we both got e-readers.  But reference books are best kept in book form in our opinion.  Ganesh, the "remover of obstacles" sits contentedly in the middle.  Our boat full of Hindu and Buddhist influences, we have three Ganesh's throughout the boat and we're also big fans of the "eye of Rah".

Our little Buddha sits happily atop the small desk light in the nav station - thanks to museum putty.

The "om" symbol is affixed to the door of Isla's room.  It carries with it a lot of meaning and symbolism, but suffice it to say it embodies the "essence of the entire universe"

Isla's room.  The one place where clutter reigns.  She loves her little area and we are firm believers that while you CAN have too many toys, you can never have too many books!

Her collection of books and binkies.  She is almost paci-free now, only for naps and bed.  Baby steps...

The forward "guest" head.  Very light and roomy.  Again with tons of storage.  A full length mirror is on the left.

This is what I remind myself of always.  It is hanging in our forward head.