Terracotta coverings: functional and long-lasting elements

The handmade terracotta brick, by its nature and tradition, finds use in many areas of building construction and renovation. It can be used both as a load-bearing element (solid brick walls) and as a buffer but above all, in modern architecture, it finds its natural use in the creation of cotto cladding, that is, as an element capable of enriching and furnishing, expressing its beauty in material simplicity.

It is understood that beyond the aesthetic function, cotto coverings are also very functional and long-lasting and often boast of being above any fashion or trend with their own style unique and unmistakable.

The terracotta coverings can be for interiors or exteriors. Externally it can be used as a faced brick to cover the walls of a curtained house or simply to embellish details capable of enhancing the entire building (terracotta coverings for thresholds, terracotta coverings for stairs ). We can also propose the same internally: a terracotta covering of an exposed wall (New York loft style) or if we think of the terracotta covering of a staircase or internal thresholds. For the creation of modern coverings full of character, cotto listelli are used , raw or enamelled according to taste. They are details capable of furnishing and enhancing the entire environment with warm and welcoming colours.

The advantage of terracotta coverings is certainly the craftsmanship and the possibility of customising the artefact in relation to spaces, dimensions etc. Covering a staircase in terracotta means making modular pieces (in print) capable of covering the step perfectly (without cuts) or even better making a single piece of terracotta than covering the entire tread (a terracotta monolith). The same concept can be proposed again in cotto cladding for fireplaces or even for internal or external thresholds or even for sills or covers: these are all exclusively tailor-made elements capable of integrating perfectly with the structures existing.

In the bathroom and kitchen, handmade terracotta finds its application in glazed terracotta. This is a totally artisanal double-fired product: handmade terracotta base, enamelling with a hand airbrush and subsequent firing in electric muffles at high temperatures. Enamels and crystals, solid colors or color mixes, shiny or opaque nuances capable not only of covering but of enriching the most intimate places of our home with value and personality.

Making glazed terracotta coverings means not only covering but giving value to our environments, having the possibility to choose from a vast scale of colors ( strong and bold shades or soft and neutral colours) as well as customizing the same in terms of nuance, size and finish.

Fornace Bernasconi is and represents these possibilities. It has been producing both natural and enamelled handmade terracotta bricks for decades capable of tastefully covering the rooms of our home, both internal and external. The craftsmanship of the product allows for customizations of colour, size, thickness and finish capable of fully satisfying the needs and wishes of the client with particular attention to the aesthetic, functional result and cost.

Thanks to the great versatility of the shapes and the thousand colors to choose from, you will be able to diversify the environments while keeping them harmonious. It is an artisanal product that will allow you to obtain perfect solutions: the cuts are made by hand and cover walls, floors and stairs to the millimetre.

Enameled terracotta gives its best in environments such as bathrooms or kitchens. Let’s see what it is and how to use it to obtain the best results.

For bathrooms you can use glazed terracotta tiles in a solid color or mixed colours. You can decide whether to use glossy or matt finishes and, in any case, you will obtain coverings of undisputed value which will give a defined personality to the most intimate place of your home.

The glazed terracotta coverings can be used in any style: being handcrafted products, they allow you to vary the shape, color and pattern to adapt to the environment and furnishings. Among the most well-known and used styles for the bathroom, some stand out for their originality.

The first is the minimal style which, as the term itself says, fits into a context that instead of adding ornaments and objects, operates by subtraction. Its aim is to reduce the bathroom furnishings to the essential, in a modern setting. The main feature that must catch the eye is the sobriety, in the structures and decorations. By means of very linear geometric shapes an environment must be created in which there is a lot of empty space, to allow freedom of movement. To be faithful to this style, we give up everything that is superfluous, decorative and impractical.

The most modern materials are used to cover the drawers, such as Plexiglas, Corian, stoneware and various types of resins. For the choice of glazed terracotta coverings, we will be directed towards natural and soft colours, such as white, grey, sand, to choose from in the glossy or matt version.

The English style is of a completely different tone, for which 1920s style ceramic sanitary fixtures are used and all the furnishings must have a retro taste for the trunks, lamps and taps, the latter with an unmistakable design. The coverings will consist of small cotto tiles with bright glaze, rectangular and with also rhombus-shaped. navy blue and white are the most suitable colors.

The English bathroom can also be proposed in a more contemporary version, where there will only be details to recall the style.

The “oriental” design, with its wooden screens and furniture decorated with a thousand arabesques, requires brightly colored glazed terracotta tiles. The most requested are red, emerald green or floral decorations, always shiny and brilliant.

For the furnishings it will be necessary to obtain handmade furniture that can be found at collectors or antique shops. Being a much loved style, there are many elements that can best decorate your bathroom.

Also in this case you can opt for a more contemporary variant, focusing on details and colors that recall this style and enamelled terracotta washbasins.

The masonry kitchens are those that are best suited to the use of handmade terracotta: the cotto bricks will be the ideal solution for both walls and hob coverings . Furthermore, it is possible to create decorations on windowsills, shelves, drawers suspended in the air, to draw attention to specific points in the environment.

If you are a lover of rustic and country houses, handmade terracotta with warm colours will be the ideal choice and you can also use it for cotto floors, completing the furnishings with furniture and objects in raw wood.

For a kitchen with a contemporary style, however, we recommend enamelled terracotta: it will then only be your taste and imagination that will find the right coverings in terms of shape, color and decoration.</p >

For a lively and colorful kitchen, you can choose coverings in bright tones, or alternate some decorated tiles to others in plain colours. If you want to add an unusual touch, stone sinks that go perfectly with enamelled terracotta are very fashionable.

In conclusion, we can say that cotto coverings have an uncommon versatility. They can be declined in an infinite number of different styles, but they always manage to make the environments exactly as you imagined them. The handmade terracotta products are customizable for any surface. Being artisanal products, the application of the glaze is never identical: each tile is unique, with different variations in tone.