Welcome to florestine - the home of coastal style

What are your favourite coastal pleasures?  Hot sun beating down as you lounge on the beach?  Plunging into breaking waves?  The salty tang of sea air?  Floating on a warm cradle of tropical sea?  Sailing on aquamarine seas between islands?  Sipping chilled champagne watching a gaudy sunset slip into velvet indigo darkness?  Dawdling over fresh-caught lobster at a beachside restaurant? Trickling sand between your toes? Beachcombing for storm-tossed treasures? 

 

Like you, we love the seaside.  We assuaged our coastal dreams by styling our house in a palette of zingy Italian blues and cool whites.  Then we filled our garden with an exuberant display of hot Greek island colours.  All our spare time was devoted to searching for the perfect coastline in the British Isles to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Indian, Atlantic and Pacific. 

 

Our seaside obsession grew stronger.    Surely we weren’t the only people to feel the tension float away the moment they saw the sea glittering into the distance?  Whose spirits soared with the simple pleasure of walking along the beach, dribbling sand between their fingers, watching waves, collecting shells, swimming in turquoise seas?  The only ones dreaming of coastal homes from peeling beach huts stilted high above the sand to romantic desert island hideaways?  Always looking for the perfect memento to bring home to recapture those magical days at the coast?

 

Then we had our “aha!” moment.  Why not leave our London jobs and dedicate ourselves to tracking down the best of coastal style? Thus florestine was born.  We moved to glorious Dorset; a pebble’s throw from the fabulous sailing opportunities at Poole and the start of the magnificent South West Coastal Path - the perfect harbour for a coastal style business.

 

Our mission is to source and commission a beautiful, ever-changing, ever-growing collection of interior design objects, gifts, artwork, photography, gifts and accessories for you, your homes, families and friends. 

We scour the seven seas to fish out the best coastal style available.  To bring a dash of coastal chic, beachside calm and holiday fun into your daily lives.  Everyone has their own precious seaside dreams,  memories and style.  And we love exploring coastal style from around the world.  So we’ve kept our interpretation of “coastal style” generously broad.  We seek out wonderful things from the UK, Europe and further afield. 

 

Some of our principles

We have a great time searching for fabulous seaside finds.  We do follow certain principles which matter to us and we think probably matter to you too.  So here they are:

 

Something green

Yes, we know the sea is blue but sometimes it’s green too.  And at florestine we’re as green as possible. We use recycled packaging where we can. If we can re-use packaging we receive we do. It keeps costs down for you and helps the environment a little bit.

  

Something old
We actively seek out recycled materials - check out our florestine range of sail bags which are hand-sewn in France using sails which have reached the end of their natural life on the seas and have been lovingly transformed into a stylish and wholly original range of bags.

 

Something natural

We loathe plastic and we love natural materials. That means no cheap Far Eastern plastic things. And lots of lovingly hand-crafted driftwood, pebble and shell masterpieces instead.

 

Something local
We're nosey. We like to know where things come from. Provenance matters. So over 60% of products are "Made in Europe."

 

Something hand-made

We're big fans of hand-made stuff. Big smelly factories are not always best. So we spend a lot of time seeking out craftspeople and artisans. People who love what they do, who care about materials and who painstakingly create beautiful hand-made objects. From little workshops in the UK, round the Mediterranean basin and from family artisans in Vietnam and Madagascar too. Gorgeous things crafted by their hands, just for you.

 

   Something unique

Isn’t it great having things other people don’t have?  That’s why we’ve launched the “florestine” range.  Our “florestine” products are all hand-crafted and are unique to us.  And you, of course.  We’re constantly expanding our range so keep an eye out for new arrivals.

 

So, welcome to our world of coastal style.  Imagine aquamarine waves breaking gently on a dazzling white beach... We’re sure you’ll find the coastal style treasure you’re seeking... Thank you for your visit.