Hawaiian style elements have a certain charm to them. Even people who would never comment on your curtains or your new coffee table, when confronted with gorgeous wooden koa furniture, are liable to ask where you got it.
There’s something about that Hawaiian style that is very pleasing to the eye. It brings to mind sandy beaches and swaying palm trees, crystal blue oceans and seagulls flying overhead. Just having a little bit of Hawaii in your life can help you to keep things in perspective and chill out whenever life starts getting to you. Here are a few ideas for incorporating Hawaiian style into your life.
By: Maria Mathers for martinandmacarthur.com
1 – Wear a Little Wood
Wood is a part of the Hawaiian lifestyle. In the other forty nine states, we mainly use wood for furniture, but in Hawaii, you’ll see wooden sandals, wooden watches, wooden everything. A wooden watch or a pair of wooden sunglasses can be a fun little accessory to throw on when you leave the house in the morning. If nothing else, a pair of wooden shades are a great conversation starter.
2 – Pick Out Some Koa Furniture
Koa is that beautiful, dark, strong wood from Hawaii that you see coffee tables and other furniture made out of. This wood was used by the ancient Hawaiians to build canoes and short surfboards. Reddish in color and similar to black walnut, the wood has a brilliantly luxurious look to it, almost like an organic form of marble with its brilliant mix of lighter and darker bronze tones.
A polished koa coffee table, chair or bed screams luxury, and it’s hard not to feel relaxed at the sight of this beautiful wood.
3 – Pick Out Some Hawaiian Décor
Authentic Hawaiian decor made of koa and other materials in the traditional Hawaiian style really has a beautiful look to it. You don’t need to convert your whole home into the Copocabana, but a few items here and there can really lend your home a tropical flavor without feeling tacky.
4 – Learn to Surf
If you live near the beach, there’s something to surfing that really takes the mind off of everything else. Zen like in its way, surfing is fun, challenging, exciting and relaxing all at the same time. When surfing your mind is on nothing but the waves. It’s no wonder that the Hawaiians have always been known as a laid back people: They invented the very notion of catching a wave.
5 – Buy a Straw Hat
In the old days, when people were really serious about hats, you couldn’t get away with wearing a straw hat after the summer time. Gangs of roving hoodlums would assault men caught wearing straw hats in the winter, stealing their hats and tearing them apart. Today, a straw hat can be worn whenever you like, and if you live in a warm or sunny area, then it only makes sense to keep one around.
6 – Pick Out Some Hawaiian Shirts
Hawaiian shirts can look a little goofy when coupled with certain outfits, but an authentic Hawaiian shirt with wooden buttons and a pleasing print, coupled with a nice pair of jeans, a wooden watch and some sunglasses makes for a nice look.
Hawaii is all about the aesthetics, the ideals, the principles of relaxation, of simplicity. It’s hard to feel worried or frustrated in Hawaii. Whenever you feel anxious, you can catch a wave and get over it. Inviting a little bit of Hawaii into your every day life can really help you keep chill and relaxed in the most trying of times. Pick out a couple pieces of koa and see for yourself.
So, what do you think ?