Cruise Ship Home Style Guide

Tara Dickinson
Style Guides
January 11th, 2023
5 minute read

Unlike beach themed decor that can range from Hawaiian to Boho and Shabby Chic, or nautical coastal design that has a more classic maritime feel, cruise ship decor is a whole other beast. The style is much more opulent, decadent, and over the top, rivaling some of the most ornate Las Vegas resorts. Although inspiration does come from the sea, with all shades of blue still the reigning color choice, the mindset is one of luxury. The goal is one that seeks to deliver guests to exotic fantasy worlds. To recreate this same atmosphere of imagination and extravagance in your house, let’s dive into the different aspects that come together to form a cruise ship home decor style guide.

Tips From Cruise Ship Designers

  1. Take a good overarching look at your space and really think about how you want to move and what you want to feel within that space.
  2. Be creative with color choices (you can always change your mind and repaint).
  3. Use inexpensive LED lights to highlight art and create other wow effects.
  4. Go bigger and brighter than you might initially conceive.
  5. Think bold patterned carpets, furniture in rich colorful shades, and add some intricate details to the walls and ceilings.

COLOR

The usual maritime suspects are here in the cruise ship color palette.

But as you get into the true opulent cruise ship themes, the paint shop opens wide. You’ll find more deep rich jewel tones with lots of gloss and shine. There’s not much room for pastels or anything subtle. So be creative with color choices and have fun going big and bold.

ROOM DETAIL

When thinking about how to decorate your home in a cruise ship decor style, you want to take time to pay attention to the details, details that will speak of high-class elegance.

FURNITURE

Because personal space, individual cabins and staterooms, is somewhat sparse on a cruise liner, designers have learned how to make the most of these compact areas. To do the same in your cruise ship home decor, look at all the ways you can make effective use of your space especially using functional furniture that does double duty or has clever storage components. Mostly you’re going for over-the-top, opulent decor that remains classy and elegant. Do this with rich color tones in your furniture. Other furniture elements to consider in a cruise-inspired home decor setting:

TRAVEL COLLECTED ACCENTS

The decor on cruise ships has been inspired by elements from all around the world. As these liners sail the globe and stop in all ports of well-known and some less-known countries, ship designers are inspired and collect all manner of textiles, accents, and works of art to decorate these vessels. Do the same in your cruise ship inspired home decor setting by using the exotic elements you’ve collected on your travels in your home’s decor accent displays.

WATER FEATURES

It’s so obvious it might be overlooked, but many cruise ships have water features as part of the decor theme. As this floating city is all about water, it follows suit to bring in the natural surrounding elements as part of the decor theme.

ART & INSTALLATIONS

Cruise ships are notorious for their extensive, outrageous, and exquisite art installations that include all forms of expression. To get the same effect in your cruise ship-inspired home decor, add some explosion of glitz and color in a selection of art displays. You can surely make these a focal point of every room. Any of these art elements can and should be used.

BEDROOM EXAMPLE

Go as decadent as you can to get the same glamorous look that cruise ships employ.