It's easy for "themed" decor to get cheesy. (In fact, if it's "themed" at all, you can pretty much guarantee it's bad or borderline bad.) What keeps anything good, however, is authenticity. It's no longer a theme, it just is what it is. When we visited Aguadilla, Puerto Rico last week & visited this beach & beachside restaurant (above) I was in love. It was completely and perfectly "beach." Appropriate & real.
The open air restaurant was right on the beach and they'd hung capiz shell chandeliers all over. When we got there in the morning, my family hit the beach while I took these pictures. (waitresses just staring.)
There were rustic dining tables for eating & a few different loung areas:
The loung area above was separated by hanging bamboo stalks that knocked gently into each other in the wind like wooden chimes. It was such a beautiful detail and if I ever do an outdoor space on a tropical beach (yes someone please call!! ;) ;) I'd love to use these:
There were hanging shelves above some of the tables layered in candles, coral, shells & rope wrapped bobbers.
For casual elegance & outdoor parties, I love stemless wine glasses (above).
A tree gew right through the resturant, below:
The hanging fishing floats were huge!!!
I could have spent all week here...
I loved the white curtains hanging throughout.
A few hours later, a storm came right around lunch time...
...So we had lunch under the roof while the rain poured down. On the tin roof (below) Perfection.
Super-lush fern grew all over & to me, there's nothing better than watching a thunderstorm.
(with mojitos! ;) I just love that energy in the air.
And... I completely forgot the name of the resturant but it starts with an "e" and I'll ask my cousin when she gets home from her honeymoon.
***UPDATE: It's called Eclipse! (Thanks so much to a reader, Wendi, who googled it!!)
Later today, I'll be on Cecy J where I was interviewed about my favorite things to do in the DC area.
Have a good one!
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