Casa MZ16: Warm Mediterranean Apartment 丨 Estudio Calma

Casa MZ16 reimagines a central Valencia, Spain apartment as a warm, precise interior by Estudio Calma. The studio responds to clients who asked for light, calm and an easy everyday rhythm, using color, furnishings and subtle work rather than heavy construction. Each room reads as a measured composition, yet the home stays relaxed and open to the Mediterranean daylight that pours in from terrace and windows.

Soft daylight filters through sheer curtains and settles across pale stone floors. A muted green lounge chair, terracotta console and textured rug catch the light and quietly define the living room.

Casa MZ16 is a 2024 refurbishment of an apartment in Valencia, Spain by Estudio Calma, conceived for clients who asked for a warm, luminous home. Rather than rebuild, the studio leans on color, lighting and tactile finishes to transform the interior while keeping the bones intact. The project becomes an exercise in precise control, from custom furniture pieces to terrace planting, to create a calm everyday setting.

Composing With Light

Natural light is the starting instrument in the main rooms, filtered through floor-to-ceiling curtains that soften the sun and cast a gentle wash across the floors. Track lighting in the living area runs in a straight dark line overhead, giving focused illumination at night without crowding the ceiling. A tall ribbed floor lamp adds a warmer glow at eye level, so the room can shift from bright daytime clarity to low evening intimacy. Every surface reads differently across the day, from the matte upholstery to the satin cabinet fronts.

Color As Structure

With few structural changes, color takes on the work of defining each room. In the lounge, a low terracotta console runs along the wall — a grounded line that anchors the seating and quietly echoes the tiles of the terrace outside. The generous sectional sofa sits in a soft mauve tone, paired with a gray rug marked by concentric arcs that trace movement through the room. Walnut shelving occupies an entire wall, its warm grain organizing books and objects while visually tying into the dining bench and other built-in cabinetry.

Everyday Rooms, Carefully Furnished

The dining area is pared back to a long timber table and slender chairs, backed by a continuous low cabinet that doubles as storage and seating when needed. Above, a linear pendant hangs with quiet precision, reinforcing the horizontal rhythm that runs through the apartment. In the kitchen, full-height cabinets in soft gray wrap around integrated appliances and conceal storage, while a clean island with an induction cooktop forms a practical surface for cooking or conversation. The palette here stays restrained so the daily routines of cooking and gathering feel simple and uncluttered.

Quiet Retreats And Terrace

More private rooms pursue the same calm vocabulary. A wardrobe-lined dressing area pairs warm wood with pale cabinetry, creating a gentle corridor that leads toward bedroom and bath. The main bedroom keeps to white bedding, a wood headboard and soft curtains, with a ceiling fan introducing a subtle graphic note and everyday comfort. In the bathroom, large-format tiles, a floating vanity and a clear glass shower screen keep lines clean, while generous mirrors amplify light.

Outside, the terrace becomes an urban patio finished in terracotta tiles dotted with small white squares, giving a playful pattern underfoot. Simple outdoor furniture and potted plants frame this open-air room, turning it into a bright extension of the interior for reading, meals or quiet time.

Back inside, the apartment stays grounded in existing surfaces yet feels thoroughly renewed by measured choices in furniture, lighting and color. As the Mediterranean light shifts from morning to evening, it animates each room differently, keeping daily life at Casa MZ16 both relaxed and carefully tuned.