Coastal colour is often treated as a mood board of white, navy and rope. That palette belongs to a brochure, not to the Wide Bay.
The light here is warmer, and the timber in a Queenslander already has a say. A room that faces the river can take a chalky green and a deep ink, but it rarely wants a cool grey. Sand is not beige: it leans yellow in the morning and pink by late afternoon.
Five palettes we return to: river-silt and raw linen; pine-shadow and unbleached cotton; burnt clay with a single brass note; soft limewash against dark stained floors; and a reserved scheme of bone, tobacco and one worn blue.
None of them require a theme. The test is simple. If you closed the shutters, would the room still feel like this particular house, on this particular street? If the answer is no, the palette is decorating, not styling.