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How To Bring Colourful Spanish Interiors Into Your New Home

Posted 9 July 2018 by Helen Christie

A new build home is a blank canvas, and adding your own personal stamp to it is one of the best parts of buying a new home…

When buying a new home, you’ll want it to reflect your design passions first and foremost, with keen travellers able to draw on inspirations the world over. If you’re a regular holidaymaker in Spain, then it’s not unlikely that you’ll have been inspired by the rustic yet sleek architecture that abounds across Europe’s premier tourist destination.

This guide will help you realise your dream of a chic, Mediterranean inspired home, complete with Spanish design flourishes and a hot weather friendly layout - giving you a unique new home that’ll be fit for decades of comfortable living.

Source first-hand inspiration

Making time on your Spanish holiday to draw some inspiration from the architecture that surrounds you is always a good idea. Whether it’s walking whitewashed village streets on your holidays in Lanzarote or losing yourself in the neo-gothic glory of Barcelona, a trip like this is a great way to help you truly incorporate some Iberian flair into your new home.

If authenticity is the main priority for you, it might be worth browsing local building suppliers for materials such as tiles that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Having specially sourced flourishes in your home can really add to the sentimental (and financial) value of your new house, so it’s well worth putting some time into choosing your materials.

Get the tiles right

If you are to source your tiles from Spain, it helps to know what you’re looking for. Spanish homes have largely tiled floors, helping the interior keep cool during the day. Premium porcelain tiles in an eye-catching pattern like those found at the Moorish-influenced Alhambra Palace in Granada are a luxury option, but one that’s well worth the money, as your home will look stunning as it bursts with colour. If you’re on more of a budget, consider some plain white floor tiles for a stripped-back look that evokes a laid-back Mediterranean lifestyle.

Add rustic touches

Your home should be a place to relax in, and with a Spanish-influenced interior, you can easily channel relaxing holiday days. Making sure there’s plenty of flow between the inside and outside of your home can evoke a relaxing rustic villa break. Consider balconies for your upstairs bedrooms and a kitchen/dining area that flows out onto a terrace decorated with colourful plants and flowers.

While a new build might seem a bit crisp and fresh for some old-world rustic touches, once it’s been lived in for a little while and you’ve successfully grown some climbing plants over your terrace, you’ll feel like a wistful old granjero when relaxing with a glass of wine on a summer’s evening.

Introduce evocative colour schemes

A warm palette of colours for the walls and furnishings is sure to evoke sun-soaked Castilian days. Nothing says this more than a rich shade of terracotta, so consider a feature wall in your living room in this hue, and make sure to balance it out with lighter shades for a maximum aesthetic impact.

You could also take inspiration from avant-garde Spanish artists such as Joan Miró and César Manrique, and use playful primary colours in certain areas of the home to evoke a sense of creativity and Mediterranean vivaciousness.

Consider authentic shutters

Probably the most stereotypical facet of southern European home design, wooden shutters are ubiquitous across Spain. Having some form of shutter for your new home is an incredibly functional option, as they offer unbeatable darkness for when you’re sleeping in the summer months, as well as keeping the house insulated during winter and cool during summer days. This means your interiors will be incredibly comfortable all year round in a quintessentially Spanish way.

From shuttered windows to tiled floors, add a touch of Spanish flair to your interiors and you can live la buena vida without even having to go abroad!

This post was written in collaboration with Optima Villas.


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