Rattan furniture saw a stylish comeback in recent home and design magazines, and we’re here for it! Rattan, wicker, and woven cane is no longer dull or dated; instead, it’s a highly sought-after furniture style.
Because of its light color and often air-like quality, rattan, wicker, and cane furniture are great for coastal homes. It brightens up a space (which is an essential characteristic of a beachy home), but it will also add texture and personality to an otherwise dull room.
But how can you use this stunning furniture around your house, and how can you ensure it remains as beautiful as the first day you bought it? Let’s see how you can ensure you choose pieces that will outlast the trends and create a welcoming home.
How To Use Ratan In Your Coastal Home
Long thought of as a great outdoor furniture option, rattan, wicker, and cane furniture pieces found their way into our hearts as much as they did our homes.
Rattan can bring life and warmth to most interior spaces and suits all styles, including coastal, boho, and traditional decor. If you want a more contemporary look, you can also choose to paint it.
With the unique texture and dimensionality it adds to a space, it’s quickly become one of the hottest trends in recent years.
What makes it a popular design choice is also its affordability – many secondhand stores sell rattan furniture at a fraction of the price you would pay for a new piece.
These furniture pieces often require some TLC, though – so choose carefully!
If you’re new to rattan and want to incorporate it into your coastal home, there are a few simple ways you can do so.
Let’s look at a few ways you can start using rattan furniture to accentuate your coastal home:
Install Large Rattan Pendant Lights
If you’re new to rattan and want to experiment with the style before going full out, lampshades are a great place to start.
Not only will it replace the awful boob light decorating your ceiling, but it will also add interest and a design appeal to your home.
Often simply changing out a light fixture makes a world of difference in a living space, and if you don’t like it, you can easily change it out – something that you can’t say as easily about investment pieces.
To embrace the rattan style lampshade, you can opt to paint your walls in a similar color, use a textured wallpaper, add a jute or hemp rug, and add a few light-colored throws to the closest seating area.
Create A Cozy Feeling In The Bedroom With A Statement Headboard
A great way to incorporate and experiment with rattan is to invest in a headboard for your bedroom or guestroom.
Adding a headboard behind your bed will create a finished look while adding texture. It will also create visual warmth and can easily tie into small furniture pieces like a rattan mirror, chair, or smaller pendant light.
In recent years rattan headboard designs have become grander and visually stunning, so finding something to suit your style won’t be too difficult.
Companies like Article and Urban Outfitters stock some stunning and unique rattan furniture pieces, including headboards and side tables.
Avoid Overdoing It
While rattan is a stunning style of furniture to have around your house, it can quickly become overwhelming – especially if you’re going for a coastal style rather than a bohemian one.
Certain rattan pieces may make your house feel outdated, so you want to mix and match furniture styles to make the most of rattan accent pieces while still keeping to the coastal theme.
To avoid overdoing it, it’s best to avoid buying furniture sets (unless you want to make it a design feature).
You want to approach rattan with a less-is-more strategy and select specific pieces that complement the coastal style without being too in your face.
Embrace The Variety Of Rattan Colors
The beautiful thing about rattan is that you can find more than one colorway and style to suit your space.
When we think about rattan, the yellow cane-like rattan comes to mind. But with modern dyes and styles, rattan colors have improved to match most homes’ styles.
Other than being available in various natural colors, you can also choose to paint your rattan furniture to match your interior style.
You can also paint it a bright color and accentuate the details by making it a statement piece.
What’s nice about the versatility of rattan is that you can combine traditional pieces with more contemporary styles to create a unique look in your home.
Rattan Works With Any Style
One of the things that’s difficult not to love about rattan is that it goes with most existing furniture pieces.
In a home with a coastal style, rattan pieces can easily add a missing element that you can’t create with modern and contemporary furniture pieces.
If you’ve recently invested in a large sofa but no armchairs, then buying some rattan armchairs is an easy way to add texture and visual interest to the living space.
What’s nice about rattan, especially with chairs and benches, is that you’ll probably want to buy or make pillows to make it more comfortable.
With this comes the opportunity to cover the pillows in a light and natural material like linen or cotton. These materials will make the chair look lighter and help it integrate into the coastal feeling of your home.
You can also decorate with sand-colored throws and scatter cushions – make sure these have exciting patterns and textures to make the space even more inviting.
It Adds A Rustic Element To Your Coastal Home
Adding rattan to your home will create a rustic feeling that few other furniture pieces will.
Rattan will blend in with whatever color scheme you have, making it a great furniture style to invest in.
It will also add an organic and natural element to your space, integrating your home with the outside natural world.
The light and neutral rattan shades create an open, fresh, and spacious atmosphere, an excellent mindset to embrace for the warm coastal summer months ahead.
Mix And Match Rattan Weaves And Styles
A fantastic thing about rattan is the large variety of weave options.
By combining various rattan weaves, you can create a visually exciting scheme around a room or around the house.
You can combine natural rattan with painted rattan to create a very modern and contemporary piece without sacrificing the natural and soft feeling rattan gives a room.
Online creators like Lone Fox often combine natural and contemporary styles to achieve a truly unique look in their homes.
Use It Inside And Out
Rattan was once a trendy outdoor furniture style – but with its recent resurgence, many have opted to use it indoors as much as outdoors.
These furniture pieces suit the natural outdoors as much as a coastal interior.
Rattan is also a great option for year-round aesthetics.
You can add bright-colored scatter cushions and throws to your furniture pieces in the summertime, decorate with seasonal flowers, and maybe even display some unique summer dinnerware.
You can cozy up your rattan furniture during the winter months by adding darker shades of throws and loading up the natural colored blankets.
Add A Few Rattan Seats Around The House
What’s nice about rattan is the ease with which you can move it around.
Unlike solid wood pieces that often stay where you place them upon moving in, rattan can easily be moved around by one to two people (depending on the size of the piece).
The fact that it’s so easy to move around makes it a great way to add seating or a design element around the house.
Rattan has a casual and inviting feel, perfect for living spaces where comfort is key.
Chairs and benches feature unique textures and natural tones that pair well with nearly any color scheme.
You can style an empty corner of a room with a striking woven peacock chair, or place a rattan ottoman at the end of your bed for a finishing touch.
Pair It With Your Favorite Coastal Plants
Because rattan is a natural material, it works very well when paired with your favorite coastal plants.
You can easily create an indoor jungle by styling your rattan furniture with loads of palms, ferns, succulents, and vining plants.
Rattan also works well paired with botanical prints and natural materials like jute or wood.
If you want to create a more eclectic or dessert coastal feeling you can pair your rattan pieces with succulents, cacti, and mid-century or metallic accents.
Upcycle Old Furniture
If you want to add more rattan and cane features to existing (but outdated) furniture pieces, you can easily DIY it!
Many online creators like Alexandra Gater use cane webbing and ratan furniture pieces in their design process.
Suppose you’re uncertain how to approach upcycling furniture or need some inspiration. In that case, you should search around YouTube to find DIY videos and creators to help you along the way.
You can also look for rattan details in accent chairs, headboards, storage pieces, baskets, and mirrors to boost your interior style.
If you’re not into big upcycling projects, you can easily give your rattan pieces a new life with some stain or paint.
Because rattan is so similar to wood, it’s just as receptive to stains and paints. Giving it a new color can modernize it in no time flat.
Increase Your Storage With Rattan Baskets
Speaking of baskets, they’re a great way to make open storage pretty.
Frequently we neglect storage containers and opt for those cheap plastic ones that are a bit of an eyesore.
Instead of reaching for the plastic containers, try baskets and rattan storage.
Often when thrifting, you’ll be able to find some beautiful rattan storage containers for a fraction of the price – it doesn’t have to be expensive.
You can store extra blankets, towels, linens, and pillows in larger baskets. Small baskets can fit on top of large dressers, under accent tables, or in cabinets. Storage can be pretty as much as it is functional.
Use Rattan In Children’s Rooms
Because it is such a lightweight and easy-to-clean material, rattan is perfect for kids’ rooms.
Many rattan pieces also don’t have sharp corners, which is excellent for safety.
You can use rattan pieces in children’s playrooms, bedrooms, and house areas you want to make family-friendly.
You can invest in a hanging rattan chair if you want to give your kids (or yourself) a dream reading nook. Add a few pillows and blankets for extra comfort!
How To Repair Or Restore Rattan Furniture
Restoring rattan furniture isn’t tricky at all. By following a few steps, you can restore your favorite rattan furniture pieces in no time.
How To Fix Splits And Cracks
Over time, rattan can become dry, split, and cracked. Often these pieces can be saved (or at least given a chance before going to the secondhand store).
To prevent the cracks, apply boiled linseed oil once a year. You can use a large paintbrush and as much linseed oil as the rattan can absorb.
Wipe away any remaining linseed oil with a soft rag.
How To Paint Rattan Furniture
The easiest way to paint rattan is by using spray paint.
Clean the rattan piece you want to refinish and let it dry thoroughly.
Apply a thin layer of any wood primer followed by 2 to 3 laters of your chosen color.
Clean the item and let it dry. First, apply a thin primer coat, and then 2-3 thin layers of your chosen color. Be sure to give the paint plenty of time to dry between each coat.
How To Refinish Rattan
Another way to restore rattan is to refinish it.
Start by giving the rattan piece a good clean and allowing it to dry completely.
Use a “liquid sander/sandpaper” and apply it evenly over the piece. Because of all the curves, it’s impossible to use a sanding belt or orbital sander to get into all the nooks.
Apply your desired finish in 2 coats and allow adequate drying time between coats.
Conclusion
Rattan is an excellent material to use around your coastal home.
It creates a light and airy feeling. It also draws natural elements into your home, making it a warm and welcoming space.
You can find some stunning rattan furniture pieces in secondhand stores, online, or even local sellers – and even if the piece isn’t looking too great, you can quickly restore it to its former glory.
Don’t overlook this excellent material when decorating your dream beach home!
