Casual Casa: mediterranean

Showing posts with label mediterranean. Show all posts

Colorful window shutters of Mediterranean homes

Add some casual color to your life. Mediterranean coasts are some of the longest inhabited parts of our world and that collected wisdom taught them how to live a casual, easy-going, colorful life. Painting a whole house a wild color may be too much, but colorful shutters, window frames, and/or doors seem to be just the right amount of lively color.

^ These top two pics are from Alacati, Turkey.

Sources: images 1 & 2, image 3, image 4, image 5

Mediterranean casual style of Provence and Tuscany

Stone walls, colorful shutters, easy-going gravel, and plants that are allowed to grow into their natural forms make for a pretty and cozy setting. This approach is also low-maintenance and ages well. When people, especially in the US, try to recreate this look they often create an unnaturally pristine version and miss out on the perfectly imperfect charm.

^ Even fully-paved narrow alleys can be charming with colorful stucco, shutters, and wild and free potted plants.

Image sources: image 1, images 2 & 3, image 4, image 5

Colorful Mediterranean doors with flowers

These Mediterranean doors and entryways have perfected imperfection and coziness. Their aged appearance combined with bursts of colorful flowers subtly remind us to appreciate -not fight- the passage of time and the beauty of nature. Rustic materials that age well and grow character with signs of use/age also let us relax and be comfortable around them, making these entryways very beautiful and easy-going.

Sources: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5

Interior and exterior inspiration

^ The exposed beams on the ceiling are cool but what struck me was the easy-going and great-looking paint job on the kitchen cabinets.

^ Mediterranean style xeriscaped yard with some French touches, specifically the carefully trimmed foliage.

^ Love the couch cover, the rugs and, of course, the huge windows. A cozy and casual room, for sure.

^ Love the color of the door, the brick stairs, the potted plants, and the small front porch. Seems like a very cool and charming house.

Sources: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4

Gravel for natural garden paths

Along with a mixture of plants and boulders, gravel is a "natural" choice for relaxing and easy-going landscapes. Gravel is:

easy to live with, you can move it around, adjust it's path/shape/size easily
will keep dust and mud under control
inexpensive compared to other options
it is permeable so it keeps the soil under and around it more healthy, and
looks great as part of a natural looking landscape.

Gravel generally does better in relatively dry climates, and it has been used extensively in Mediterranean landscapes and in the American South-West for good reason.