Mediterranean style was big in early 20th-century American housing as architects sought to evoke the elegance and romance of the Mediterranean by echoing its architectural lines, textures and colors.

This warm, comfortable style– nowadays often called Tuscan or Spanish Modern — has made a comeback as homeowners seek a refuge from the supersonic pace of modern life. Mediterranean-style bathrooms serve as calm and cozy places to get ready for work or unwind from the evening traffic heading back home.

Architectural Elements

Mediterranean bathroom styling got its start from the traditional Greek neoclassical school of architecture, Italy Florentine influences and from the Southern Spain Hacienda and Alhambra styles. Mediterranean bathrooms incorporate classic regional architectural details, such as arches and niches.

It includes features like hand painted murals and reclaimed marble floors.

It uses natural color scheme that would give the space a cool feel. It also bring in Tuscan and Provence inspired palette of warm colors and washed away patina and old paint pigmentations. If you include in your bathroom an arched bathtub alcove or a barreled shower niche, you’re already off to a good start.

Textured, earthy limestone walls wrap you in elegance and old world timelessness. Antique wooden shutters that you can fling open to greet the morning can turn the bathroom into a convincing Mediterranean experience.

Of The Earth

Mediterranean building materials come from the earth. Requiring durable and water-resistant fabric, the bathroom is the perfect place for showcasing earthy original encaustic tiles that are hundreds of years old and were reclaimed from antique Italian, French and Spanish coastal Mediterranean villas.

Water, Sun and Sky

Not just earthy, the Mediterranean color palette also echos sunny landscapes, seas and skies. Antique biblical stone with a tapestry of wheat, amber, ivory and sand turn up brightness without sacrificing elegance.

A bit more serene is the kronos stone which can be best described as a river of floating silk, rich in texture, subtle in movement and even handed in complexion.

Mix It Up

Mediterranean styling is eclectic. Elegance and rusticity mix happily to promote the look of a home built over many generations. Furniture and fixtures from different periods and nations do the same.

An age-worn, oak vanity looks at home among antique marble, while an elegant chandelier illuminates the rough-hewn ceiling beam from which it hangs.

Mediterranean stone tub

This Mediterranean bathroom design has a unique circular layout, which makes almost all pieces inside the bathroom customized to fit the shape of the space. The desks/counters follows the shape of the walls and is finished in a light cream color to match the walls, while the bathtub was placed right at the center of the room.

The bathtub is also round and directly connected to the glass partition of the shower area with two sides open. Since the shower is placed beside the window, it has the best view of the ocean.

Antique limestone Vanities

If you’re planning on building a Mediterranean style bathroom, it’s important to choose the right bathroom vanity to complement its distinctive, slightly exotic style.

Antique marble vanities inspired by French and British designs were once the most thought after in the old world. Eventually, as we pass from the twenties to the forties’ and fifties, those marble vanities gave way to their much warmer and old world limestone counterparts.

Designers that thought after that southern European charm, started looking for bathroom vanities with a slightly more rustic, weathered finish with a stronger focus on elaborately carved European woodwork.

Reclaimed marble and limestone shower walls

A balance between contrasting styles and textures is an approach that we absolutely love, as it showcases a hint of creativity and drives away any boredom from the bathroom design.

Using a fabulous stone accent wall in the contemporary bathroom ushers in textural and visual contrast and gives the room a wonderful focal point. But think of styles beyond modern and rustic, as there is an endless world of possibilities that stone walls can bring into your bathrooms.

The likes of salvaged marble and earthy running bond limestone are perfect for a Mediterranean-style bathroom, while randomly installed limestone pavers works well in modern bathrooms with rustic, farmhouse or craftsman flair.

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