The Main Ingredients of Modern-Mediterranean Interiors

It's a hybrid style with many monikers and incarnations. Some designers dub it "Warm-Modern" others call it "Transitional" especially as it pertains to kitchens but in some parts the country where Mediterranean architecture dominates the landscape, this interior style is known as "Modern-Mediterranean."  Recently, I toured a newly finished custom home built in the Mod-Mediterranean style for a client in his mid-30s who wanted something timeless yet with an edge that reflected current trends. As I was walking through the home, I noticed six main ingredients that successfully create this fusion of Old World and Modern Day decor known as the Modern-Mediterranean style.

 Sleek Wood Beams

Notice the ceiling beams in this grand room are smooth and clean-lined without any distressing and texture. The beams, in a dark espresso color, compliment the contemporary hanging light fixtures. The wood beam in all its variations is the first ingredient of  a Modern-Mediterranean interior. The use rustic materials (such as wood) in contemporary applications (as seen in these sleek beams) is a basic guide to creating this hybrid look.

Here is a variation on the sleek wood beam in this formal dining room. Instead of beams, smaller wood slats create an ultra-chic grid design in a contemporary wave form shape, another example of seamlessly integrating rustic materials in modern forms.

Single Color, Solid Surfaces

In the kitchen, the Modern-Mediterranean look draws inspiration from Scandinavian style with geometric design elements, a contrasting color palette of earth tones and a noticeable lack of embellishments, fussy finishes and the busy patterns of granite and other stone countertops. The look is seamless.  Notice the contrasting double islands, each with a solid color quartz countertop.

The island in the middle of the kitchen has a countertop in dark espresso quartz with a white cabinet base. The island that faces the grand room has a white quartz countertop with an espresso colored cabinet base that pulls from the Modern-Mediterranean 22-foot high fireplace that it faces.  Again, notice the beams in the kitchen are very simple, smooth, and sleek.

Monolithic design is a close companion to the Modern-Mediterranean style. You'll find elements of this throughout the home such as this custom-made desk of white quartz that seamlessly wraps around from the floor to the wall, providing a sculptural element to the space.

Glass Tile

Glass tile brings any space into modern-day especially glass mosaics, another main ingredient of the Mod-Mediterranean style. Throughout this home, the builder used glass mosaics in key focal points. Notice in the master bathroom, glass mosaics set in a backdrop of stone frame the window and tub and tie together the vanity and shower. Mixing stone and glass as two contrasting materials, natural and manmade, cue the Modern-Mediterranean look.

The kitchen backsplash made of glass mosaics in earth-tone colors frames a stainless steel sculptural range hood for an industrial luxe vibe. Notice the cabinets have flat-panels in contrasting colors, some lighted with LEDs from within and above and below.

In the photo below, the main hallway has a barrel ceiling made of glass tiles that frame rustic travertine stone. The barrel design is very Old World yet the materials mix rustic with modern for a seamless blend of both styles. Notice how the LED lighting hidden in dark wood cove provides a wash of indirect light so that the ceiling literally glows at night as a functional lighted pathway and artistic feature.

 Contemporary Light Fixtures

Contemporary light fixtures are a great way to stay on trend in the home without permanently dating the style. Light fixtures are a quick, affordable and easy way to update the look of any living space to reflect current trends. The light fixtures in this home are the popular drum style with linen circular or drum enclosures encasing modern hardware.

The glass-beaded chandelier in the tower entrance took over seven hours to install but provides a classic element to the space and is not out of sync with its Modern-Mediterranean interiors.

Stone

Stone is a main ingredient of the Modern-Mediterranean interior often used as the rustic canvas. When creating this fusion of styles, first decide on whether you want your large surfaces areas (the canvas) to be rustic or modern. If you go with a rustic foundation, then stone floors such as travertine create the perfect palette to add in more modern details such as floor medallions.

Metal

Stainless steel and iron details give both a modern and timeless take on metal as the final ingredient of Modern-Mediterranean interiors. In the tower entrance of this home, the spiral staircase has iron railings minus the scroll work typically associated with decorative iron in Mediterranean architecture.

The fireplace in the grand room showcases a stainless steel niche framed by glass mosaics and a stainless steel hearth.

For a closer look at this home, I invite you to check out a recent video that I co-hosted that takes you on a walking tour of the Modern-Mediterranean home.