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Mediterranean style in paint

Mediterranean style does not copy Greece or Tuscany: it keeps the light — yellows that let the sun in, sea and ultramarine blues, olive and vine greens, terracotta reds and ochres — and the natural materials that go with them: lime, wood, ceramics, earth. It is worn as a drench in a south-facing room, or as accents in a northern house that wants a permanent summer. Eight Mylands palettes, from drenched yellow to Pompeian red.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Kitchen with matt golden-yellow walls, ceiling and woodwork, raw wooden table, hand-painted ceramics, terracotta tiles, harsh light — Golden Square No.131 drenched: the kitchen has the sun inside it

Understanding

What Mediterranean style is — and what it is not

Mediterranean style is first a light: the harsh, white light of the coasts from Provence to Greece, which bleaches walls and saturates colours. It mixes what the trade routes brought — ultramarine blues, ochres, painted ceramics — with what grows there — the olive, the vine, the lemon, terracotta. It is not a catalogue of blue and white: Mediterranean interiors are yellow, green, earth red, and the white there is a lime white, never pure.

At home, two ways to wear it. Drenched, in a room that gets sun: a single confident colour on walls, ceiling and woodwork, and the materials do the rest. As accents, in a northern house: lime-white walls, and blue, yellow or red on a door, a kitchen, a floor. In both cases, matt on the walls — Marble Matt Emulsion has the chalky texture of a lime render — and wood, terracotta, linen, rattan.

Eight palettes

The sun, the sea, the vine, the earth

1. Drenched yellow

A muted golden yellow on walls, woodwork and ceiling of a kitchen or dining room: sunshine all year. A muted yellow can stand in for a neutral; a white with a hint of yellow on one wall calms it.

Everywhere · Golden Square No.131 One wall · Lots Road No.24

2. Ochre and earth red

An earthy ochre on the walls and a muted red on the woodwork, with a black walnut table: the dining room of a farmhouse, by candlelight.

Walls · Haymarket No.47 Woodwork · Indian Lake No.288 Furniture · London Brown No.287

3. Courtyard blue-green

A fresh blue-green on a terrace, conservatory or kitchen wall, with terracotta and black: the shaded courtyard of a southern house. Outside, in Masonry Paint.

Wall · Bridge Blue No.222 Ironwork · Downing Street No.10

4. The dining room ultramarine

A clear, deep blue on the walls, artisan ceramics on the table, a terracotta floor: the Greek dining room. The vivid blue is in the FTT collection.

Walls · Ultramarine Blue FTT-018 Ceiling · Holland Park No.5

5. Olive green

An olive green on the walls, a deeper green on the woodwork, an earth brown on a door: the warm trio of a living room; outside, the same deep green on shutters, with terracotta pots.

Walls · Stockwell Green No.203 Woodwork · Sorrel Green No.207 Door · Westmoreland No.160

6. Chalky terracotta

A matt terracotta red on the lower walls, a soft grey above the rail: Italian floor tiles carried up the wall. Soft, warm, never orange.

Dado · Crayfish Party BH.19 Upper walls · Chambers Gate No.85

7. The lively kitchen

An apple green on the walls, a deep blue on the base units, a sky blue on the wall units: the energetic kitchen of fishermen's houses, calmed by a wooden worktop.

Walls · New Lime No.149 Base units · Proper Blue No.67 Wall units · Morning Blue No.32

8. Pompeian red

A very deep, almost brown red on the walls of a sitting room or library, broken by a band or an orange accent: the Roman villa, by candlelight.

Walls · Huguenot No.49 Accent · Coral Orange No.277

Dining room with clear ultramarine-blue matt walls, warm white ceiling, wooden table, painted ceramics, terracotta floor, window open to the sun — Ultramarine Blue FTT-018: the Greek dining room, with ceramics and terracotta

The materials

What goes with the colour

Mediterranean style owes as much to materials as to colours. What goes with it, and what to take away.

With	Without
A chalky matt on the walls (Marble Matt Emulsion), like a lime render	Satin and gloss on the walls, which read as modern
Raw or oiled wood, rattan, rush, undyed linen, washed cotton	Smoked glass, chrome, velvet
Hand-painted ceramics, artisan tiles in wet rooms	Uniform, glossy tiling
Terracotta on hall and utility floors, terracotta pots	Charcoal grey floors
Geometric textiles, stripes, one pattern per room	Piled-up patterns
Lots of light: light curtains, internal shutters, no drapes	Heavy lined curtains

Decluttering is part of the style: a Mediterranean room shows its walls. For outside — shutters, façade, furniture — see Using exterior paint colours.

To avoid

What turns it into a postcard

Blue and pure white everywhere. That is the hotel, not the house; Mediterranean white is a tinted lime white, and the blues sit next to yellows and earths.
Bright lemon yellow. It shouts; southern yellows are golden, muted with ochre.
Orange terracotta. It dates; take a chalky, greyed earth red.
Satin on the walls. The harsh light reflects in it; matt absorbs and reads as lime.
The whole style in a northern house. Without the sun, a yellow or blue drench can weigh; go through accents, and a golden yellow on a single south-facing wall.

Sitting room with deep, almost brown red matt walls, an orange band below the cornice, linen sofa, jute rug, a lamp lit — Huguenot No.49 and a band of Coral Orange No.277: the Roman villa

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Does Mediterranean style suit a northern house?

As accents, yes: lime-white walls (a warm white, never pure), and yellow, blue or terracotta on a kitchen, a door, a floor. As a drench, keep the golden yellow for the sunniest room; elsewhere it can weigh.

Which white for "limewashed" walls?

A warm, creamy or stone white — Lots Road No.24, Holland Park No.5, St James No.40 — in Marble Matt Emulsion, whose chalky matt and crushed marble give the texture of a render. A pure white would look clinical.

Can a façade be painted in these colours?

Yes, in Masonry Paint, very matt and breathable: ochres, earths, lime whites. It does not go on a limewash or a still-live lime render. See Painting an exterior wall.

Which finish for furniture and shutters?

Multi-Surface Eggshell or Satin for furniture, Satin or Gloss for shutters and doors exposed to the sun: the higher the sheen, the better the film resists UV. See Colours for shutters.