Create a Tropical Island Retreat in Your Home

The tropical look provides an island retreat awaiting you as you walk through the front door. Close your eyes and imagine the colors you'd see walking along the shore of an island paradise. Use soothing blues and white to reflect a glorious sky, lush greens, and earthy neutrals like beige, cream and brown to represent a sandy surf. Accent colors include reds, corals and other hues that remind one of tropical flora.

Be environmentally conscious and fashionable when purchasing your floor covering. Sisal and jute rugs woven from natural fibers keep the tropical look alive on the floor and provide textural interest against wood flooring.

A popular accessory for Tropical-style rooms is a wide-blade fan constructed from rattan or with palm paddles. Many of these fans today perform double-duty as light fixtures, with bulbs already attached at the base of the fan. This option keeps rooms bright and circulates air, making it a thoroughly modern, space-efficient design that nevertheless brings thoughts of the Tropics to mind.

While tropical woods like ebony, mahogany and teak are popular for attaining a tropical look, don't purchase them unless they are certified sustainable. Wood furniture can also achieve a tropical look with carvings; popular motifs include pineapples, palm leaves or trees and flowers. Bamboo and rattan furniture also go far to create your private paradise, are eco-friendly, and utterly picturesque.

Keep fabrics breezy and light, both in color and texture. Favorite tropical prints reflect native botanicals that provide splashes of color, like the hibiscus or Bird of Paradise. Use real plants to bring the lush beauty of the tropics indoors, or dot bare surfaces on walls with floral prints or indigenous art. For a fun and practical twist, place a travel trunk someplace that needs some tropical flavor, and use it to store linens and other items out of the away.

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