Living in a siesta atmosphere: Mediterranean style in the interior with photos of completed projects
The simplicity and uncomplicatedness of the Mediterranean style may seem a little casual. However, take a closer look and you will see the elegant beauty of the European South, in which every detail is clearly thought out. In this review, you will learn everything about how to create a Mediterranean style in the interior, photos of design projects will help you better feel all the subtleties of this unusual design direction.
The content of the article
- 1 The atmosphere of the houses in the Mediterranean style, photos and options
- 2 Coloristic design
- 3 Choice of finishing materials
- 4 Solid and elegant: description and photos of furniture items for interior design in Mediterranean style
- 5 Organization of lighting
- 6 Interior decor of an apartment in Mediterranean style
- 7 Photos of interiors of different rooms
- 8 Video: interior ideas in the spirit of the Mediterranean coast
The atmosphere of the houses in the Mediterranean style, photos and options
What do you associate with the words "Mediterranean coast"? Can you imagine cozy houses overlooking the endless sea? Or, perhaps, you feel a light sea breeze that penetrates the house through the wide-open windows, blows up light curtains and gently touches your hair? Do you feel the warmth of the sun and the salty taste on your lips? This is what the Mediterranean interior is: full of light and freshness, warm and romantic, inspiring and peaceful.
The atmosphere of the Mediterranean coast is amazing and unique! To bring it to life amid the cold Russian winters and autumn torrential rains is a difficult task. But you must admit that the result is worth the effort.
It doesn't matter if you decide to furnish a small apartment in the midst of the bustle of the city or create a Mediterranean-style interior in a country house. There are a few things you should consider, which we will discuss below.
The Mediterranean coastline spans several countries, each with its own traditions and history. It is the great length of the coast that determines its ethnic orientation. The brightest representatives are the Greek Cycladic, Spanish and Italian styles.
In the spirit of Greece
The Greek design direction is defined by simplicity and some carelessness in decoration. The walls are finished with relief plaster, the ceilings are whitewashed, the floors are covered with tiles or boards. Furniture items are the highlight of the Greek interior. They are made by hand from natural wood, decorated with carvings and forged elements. Furniture is aged to create a burn-out effect under the warm southern sun. The furnishings look like authentic works of art against the background of discreet finishes.
Palazzo italiano
Italy is the birthplace of hardworking and cheerful people. That is why there are so many handmade items in the Italian interior. This applies to decorative items (vases, paintings, dishes) and finishes. The walls are often decorated with frescoes and hand-painted, mosaic tiles cover the floor.
Many forged elements have been added to Italian furniture. A characteristic piece of the interior is a coffee table with a glass top, framed in an ornate metal frame. Wicker chairs are set around the table, and graceful lamps shaped like street lamps descend from the ceiling.
Spanish siesta
The main feature of Spanish design is the arched vaults. They are found everywhere, from the front door and window openings to the arched vault over the kitchen hearth.
Another feature of the Spanish house is the domed ceilings. By the way, in Spain ceilings are often made partially or completely of glass. Wood is rarely used to decorate houses. Therefore, stone and brickwork dominate in the decoration of the floor and walls.
Coloristic design
For colors, use natural shades of yellow, blue and green. That is, those colors that will bring the interior decoration of the room as close as possible to the view outside the window. Designers, starting a project, choose one main color, which will be combined with white or close to white shade of yellow. The photo below shows the Mediterranean style in the interior of the living room, made in blue and white.
Helpful information! Using natural shades will not only bring aesthetics to your home, but also bring emotional balance to its residents. Psychologists say that green calms down, blue refreshes thoughts, directing them in the right direction, yellow adjusts to positive.
The Greek style prefers the use of refreshing shades of white and blue. Italy is characterized by deep warm tones of green and yellow. The Spanish style is dominated by yellow-brown shades.
Choice of finishing materials
It is customary to use only natural materials in the decoration of the premises. In the interior of the Mediterranean, everything should be natural and in maximum harmony with nature. An important aspect of style is its simplicity. You will not find any pretentious stucco or alabaster. Mediterranean-style furnishings can be considered rude, but this is its charm.
Features of the design of the floor and ceiling
For finishing the ceilings, paint or plaster is suitable.Very often ceilings are decorated with wooden beams, which are painted in the color of the ceiling or leave the natural color of the rock. Since one of the most important characteristics of the style is the desire to fill the space with air and light, the ceilings are made as high as the architecture of the room allows.
The floors are usually not finished with wood, as this is not very practical in the subtropical Mediterranean climate. More often tiles are used in the Mediterranean style. This can be plain brown unglazed tiles or variegated mosaics. Also, the floor is covered with natural stone, marble, granite and other rocks are used.
Using paint, plaster and wallpaper to decorate Mediterranean-style walls
The classic version of the material for wall decoration is stucco. It is a water-based gypsum-lime mortar. In addition, fine marble chips are added to it. It turns out a kind of decorative plaster that fits perfectly into the interior.
“Walls are usually not flattened to perfection, and corners are also not drawn out. The finish looks rude and discreet, creating an atmosphere of simplicity and comfort. "
The color of the walls is usually white. Sometimes the solution is slightly diluted with sky blue or sand paint. This technique is typical for the Greek direction. The choice of shade depends on the side of the world that the windows of the room face. Warm shades are suitable for the north side, cold ones for the south.
In the spirit of Italy to paint the walls. Several shades of the same color are chosen and layers are superimposed on each other. This method of painting looks very advantageous on the walls, creating the effect of a play of light and shade.
Wallpaper is sometimes used to decorate the walls. They choose a plain canvas in soothing colors with a textured surface or wallpaper imitating natural materials: masonry, pebbles, etc. An interesting solution can be the use of photo wallpaper. They should depict the landscape of the Mediterranean.
Solid and elegant: description and photos of furniture items for interior design in Mediterranean style
Furniture, like other elements of the interior decoration of the room in the Mediterranean style, is simple and uncomplicated. The furniture used is functional and practical. It is important to select unique pieces of furniture, devoid of "mass". Massive cabinets made of natural wood, sideboards, chests are suitable as storage places. Upholstered furniture is simple and comfortable, devoid of pretentious shapes and curves. Wicker rattan furniture is often involved in the setting: chairs and armchairs, benches, hanging swings.
The simplest and most laconic decoration is found in the Greek direction. It can be described as spartan. There is nothing superfluous in the interior: each item performs a specific function. The Italian interior is more elegant due to the use of forged elements. Spanish furniture is solid and massive, harmoniously inscribed among the stone-lined walls.
Organization of lighting
The Mediterranean coast is bathed in sunshine for most of the year. Therefore, the design concept includes creating a sunny and bright interior full of air. Numerous lighting fixtures will help fill the room with light.
Wall lamps, framed with wrought iron of an ornate shape, look harmoniously. Mediterranean-style chandeliers are also made with forging elements. Plafonds are chosen in plain and simple shapes.
The main light sources can be supplemented with LED strip along the perimeter of the ceiling, spotlights, table lamps and floor lamps.
Helpful information! You should not choose pretentious forms of lighting. For Mediterranean-style rooms, light sources that mimic elegant street lamps or ordinary candles are suitable.
Interior decor of an apartment in Mediterranean style
The concept of the style is to convey the atmosphere of the southern European provinces. Various decorative elements used for home improvement will help convey the atmosphere of the sunny coast most authentically.
Accessories
The decorative elements fully reveal the marine theme. The task of the style is also important to emphasize the unity of man with nature. Therefore, many potted plants and vases with bouquets are used for the arrangement.
Paintings in the Mediterranean style depict the azure coast and the depths of the sea. For decoration, figurines made of wrought iron, wood and ceramics are widely used. In the Mediterranean interior, it is customary to install open shelves: completely wooden or with forging elements.
We should not forget about the national items of southern European life. In the interior, Greek vases with traditional ornament, reproductions of paintings by Italian landscape painters will look appropriate. For zoning space in a Mediterranean style, for example, in a living room combined with a kitchen, columns are often used.
Important! The style should remain simple and functional, so you should not clutter up the space with an abundance of accessories.
Mediterranean-style curtains and other textiles
As with other furnishing elements, natural materials are selected for textile decoration. The Mediterranean is not characterized by an abundant use of textiles. Least of all it is in the Greek style. This is the most concise direction in all respects. The windows are decorated with light curtains, other textile decor also has a purely practical function - bedspreads, tablecloths, bedding.
There is not much more textiles in the Italian direction, but it is always more varied and looks richer. In addition to light curtains, dense curtains of deep colors are hung on the windows. They are picked up with strings, and a lambrequin will look appropriate at the top of the window. Arches and doorways are decorated with similar curtains.
The color scheme of fabrics is consonant with the coloristic design of the room: monochromatic natural shades are sometimes complemented by national ornaments. For upholstery upholstery, fabrics with a contrasting strip or check are often used. White and blue, for example, are perfect for Greek designs. Italian style is softer. Olive with light yellow is more suitable for him. In the Spanish direction, shades of brown and terracotta dominate.
Photos of interiors of different rooms
In this section, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the photos of rooms made in Mediterranean style. These photos will help you make sure that the Mediterranean atmosphere is perfect for both a cramped hallway in a small apartment and a spacious living room of a country house.
Entrance hallway in Mediterranean style
Use light colors to decorate the walls in the hallway. They visually expand and fill with air even a very tight space. However, take into account the high traffic of the room. To keep the interior in its original form as long as possible, use wear-resistant, washable materials for decoration. Use chests and wicker baskets for storage. And instead of a bulky cabinet, attach open hangers with hooks to the walls.
Photo of the interior of the Mediterranean style kitchen
The design of the Mediterranean-style kitchen (photo below) is literally saturated with warmth and comfort. In such a kitchen you want to cook and receive guests. For kitchen design, the Italian style is most often chosen in other directions. A solid kitchen set made of natural wood looks appropriate in it (imitation is suitable in a simplified version). The floor is laid out with mosaics or tiles. It is recommended to embed and hide the technique behind wooden facades, since the simplicity of the style does not harmonize too much with technical progress.
Living room decoration
The Mediterranean living room has plenty of light and space. Large windows are open as much as possible, letting in even more sunlight into the room. The interior is not cluttered with unnecessary accessories and items. Against the background of white, the main color of the style, contrasting sofa cushions and a small carpet with a national ornament stand out advantageously. Forged products add sophistication and special charm to the room.
Photos of bedrooms in Mediterranean style
The Mediterranean style bedroom interior gives a feeling of safety and lightness. A light canopy over the bed will provide privacy, while plants placed in pots will refresh both body and mind. Wooden shutters will allow you to create twilight.
In the bedroom, contrasting colors can interfere with relaxation after a hard day's work, and the snow-white walls can be associated with a hospital room. Therefore, for this room it is better to choose gentle pastel colors combined with deeper, but not bright shades.
Mediterranean style bathroom finishes
The classic Mediterranean bathroom is designed in shades of blue or terracotta. For plumbing, they choose a snow-white color. A shower cabin with glass partitions will look relevant.
Balconies and loggias in Mediterranean style
It seems that the Mediterranean style is perfect for decorating loggias and balconies. With a little time and effort, you will be able to recreate a real terrace in your home. Wicker chairs near a small glass table with wrought iron legs will become a favorite place for secluded relaxation.
Video: interior ideas in the spirit of the Mediterranean coast
We hope that after studying this material, you understand: the atmosphere of the Mediterranean Sea can be made available to living spaces of any purpose and of any size. In addition, devoid of frilly details and luxury items, the style will be a godsend for those who do not plan to invest heavily in home improvement. If you want to get a cheerful and sunny interior in your home at no extra cost - go for it!