Mediterranean Furniture - 162 For Sale on 1stDibs

What Is Mediterranean-Style Interior Design?

Mediterranean-style interior design is a riff on the décor found in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. Whether you’re channeling a warm, carefree summer in Santorini, Capri, or Ibiza, the best Mediterranean-style interior design focuses on indoor-outdoor living; natural materials and finishes; and an effortless, minimalist-chic approach to decorating that is rooted in centuries of life along the beautiful Mediterranean coast. Mediterranean is a variation of coastal design, which is a broader term based on the generic codes of seaside living.

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History of Mediterranean-Style Interior Design

When interior designers talk about Mediterranean style, they are generally referring to the aesthetics of Southern European countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, notably Greece, Italy, and Spain. But it’s important to keep in mind that there are actually 21 countries that border the Mediterranean, meaning that true Mediterranean style is just as likely to come from Israel, Morocco, and beyond. While many Mediterranean cultures borrow elements of one another’s style and share a collective sensibility related to their shared proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, they each still possess centuries of distinct culture and design traditions.

Variations on Mediterranean style even exist within individual countries. For example, in the part of Southern France that borders the Mediterranean, French Riviera Style is a glamorous take on Mediterranean style that originated in the 1930s. This particular style has seen a resurgence in recent years everywhere from fashion to hotels, restaurants, and design. One example of French Riviera style are the vintage and widely reproduced rattan sun-shaped mirrors that have become mainstream in all manner of interiors around the world in recent years.

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Though Mediterranean style has a timeless appeal, it can be interpreted in both classic and more contemporary ways. The original features of older homes like natural stone walls, exposed wood beams, or tile floors might preserve the character of the property, while adding contemporary furniture and decor make the home feel current. Contemporary Mediterranean architecture and interior design might focus on modern lifestyles with bigger rooms, larger energy-efficient windows, and modern luxuries like swimming pools, but old school materials and architectural details may be preserved or added as a nod to history.

Because Mediterranean-style architecture is particularly suited for warm, sunny climates, in the U.S. it is most often found in places like California and Florida. But Mediterranean-style interior design has become a catch-all for building and interior design and architecture throughout the U.S. and beyond. Just like spaghetti and meatballs is an American riff on Italian cuisine, the generic, clichéd way that Mediterranean-style interior design is often interpreted in the U.S. and elsewhere can be unrecognizable to a native of a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea. But there are some commonalities that can help you to identify the essence of Mediterranean style and adapt it for your interior regardless of location or climate.

Key Elements of Mediterranean-Style Design

Emphasis on indoor-outdoor living

Maximizing natural light and views of the outdoors

Arched windows and doors and interior arched casings

Exposed beams, natural stone walls, and tile or hardwood floors

Airy, breezy interior spaces

Less-is-more styling

Use of natural materials in finishes and decor such as wood, rattan, tile, ceramics, terracotta, wrought iron, linen, and cotton

Neutral palette with white plaster walls and natural finishes

Use of color as an accent, with palettes that reflect the natural environment, from the blue-greens of the ocean to the yellows and golden tones of the sun

Space planned for hospitality and family, with plenty of focus on common areas to include multiple seating options, and a large dining table

Mediterranean-Style Interior Design Tips

Mediterranean. The style to rediscover the pleasure of life.

Imagine a place blessed by the sun, a place filled with open, friendly, and welcoming people. A place with soul, admired for its unique beauty and its white homes, with cosy and calm open spaces like patios, terraces, and gardens, which become an Eden to enjoy all those good things we can do during the day.

A place to live and celebrate.

The Mediterranean is much more than a sea, it is a culture based on light, life on the streets, feasts, joy, smells, and flavours.

Mare Nostrum is our way of living and feeling, it is our identity. This sea is part of our DNA, and this unique setting is our daily source of inspiration.

Experience, enjoy, feel… immerse yourself in the Mediterranean style.

Live the Mediterranean style through every pore of your body and soak in its essence.

Feeling Mediterranean is feeling good, it is like experiencing a unique way of living that touches our hearts and stays there. Living here is a privilege, a fascinating place to find the true meaning of life.

Beaches where the waves and long summer days play eternally to contemplate the horizon, places to feel the sun on your face and the softness of the sand on your feet. Capturing all these sensations and bringing them to a comfortable and beautiful decoration is the purpose of a style that is the symbol of the Mediterranean character.

Trendy venues and terraces are the main protagonists in summer days and during those sunsets that always end at dawn. They are the soul of summer, spaces where light reigns and the sun reaches every corner.

If you want to give your business a Mediterranean air, look for naturalness, simplicity, and authenticity.

The best option for this type of decoration is choosing natural materials such as wicker, rattan, or tuff, also elements of craftsmanship in ceramics, esparto or forging that transmit the warmth of this popular culture capable of turning local raw material into useful and beautiful objects.

Our design furniture in Mediterranean style inspires tranquillity and relaxation, through its nuances it evokes the fresh breeze, the salty smell, the relaxing sound of the sea, and that extroverted and generous character that is the greatest virtue of our land.

The Mediterranean, cradle of our origins, guides our steps and inspires our designs.

Mediterranean Furniture - 162 For Sale on 1stDibs

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