If you like your beaches and islands with a Spanish accent, then look at some of the stellar decorating themes at Mexican and Spanish resorts. They may sit on different continents, but Mexico and Spain share a flair for fabulous coastal properties with rustic and colonial details. You can emulate the look with a quick addition of paint and a switch of textiles, or you can invest more time and money for a island-theme full-home makeover. Does this Spark an idea?
Palette
Aim for a splash of Spanish and Mexican color. Cobalt blue and bottle green evoke the Mediterranean Sea, while earthy terra-cotta, mellow yellow and mango orange add the warm tones of island sunshine. You can paint four walls a plain antique white, but try some fine grain sand in the paint to emulate the textured walls of Spanish haciendas and Mexican beach resorts. You might also opt for a faux finish, such as painting the walls a dark color, adding a thin layer of translucent antique whitewash, and sanding away at the edges with fine grain sand paper for the look of a crumbling hacienda.
Architectural Elements
Add some authentic flavor to your Spanish/Mexican home with some architectural elements that impart an island feeling. Skylights or solar tubes allow natural light to pour inside. Large wooden doors, instead of windows, lend a rustic colonial touch. Create vignettes within your home that integrate your exterior landscape, such as a courtyard, garden, patio, deck or terrace. You can emphasize outdoor spaces by leaving windows exposed and filling your landscape with vivid flowers, plants, herbs, fruit trees, cactus and succulents. Painted tiles can border architectural elements such as stairs, window frames, door frames, niches and counter tops.
Furniture and Finishes
For a rustic island theme, furniture in natural materials works best. Go for bold pieces in medium stains that feature trademark details of Mexican and Spanish craftsmanship, such as hand-painted trim, chunky metal hardware, hammered tin frames, engraved panels, wood joinery and a series of niches in different orientations and sizes. You can evoke the island architecture of red tile roofs by adding a small red tile roof over a doorway or on a garden wall. Saltillo tile in terra-cotta or rusty red adds depth to floors, counter tops or tabletops. Wrought iron and oxidized metal looks perfect on furniture frames, wall art and fixtures. In the bedroom, a simple platform style bed gets an island makeover with a mosquito net overhead as a canopy.
Tags: Mexican Spanish, counter tops, fine grain, fine grain sand, grain sand, rustic colonial, Spanish Mexican