Terracotta and Handcrafted Tiles

Unique flooring for homes with character.

Terracotta tiles, with their imperfect shapes and their unmistakable red colour, are one of the most current trends in decoration and interior design. Since time immemorial, terracotta has been used to domestic props, sculpture and architectural decoration.

More recently, terracotta floors have been the ultimate representation of the most traditional and authentic Mediterranean style. But there is much to discover beyond the traditional terracotta image we all have in mind.

If you are thinking of renovating your home, come with us to discover the myriad of finishes offered by today’s terracotta tiles: from the most classic pieces to glazed tiles with the most vibrant colours.

Handcrafted terracotta tiles

Handmade by professional ceramists.

After several decades of minimalism, the current trend has taken a much warmer and more organic drift, betting on materials such as natural stone, wood and handmade tiles, both for flooring and for coating bathrooms and kitchens.

**But, what is terracotta?**

Terracotta, literally ‘fired earth’ in Italian, is the ceramic resulting from the process of modelling and baking natural clay in a kiln.

Terracotta tiles are created from a particularly porous and easily modelling clay, with a high iron content that gives the tiles their characteristic reddish or brown colour.

Hand-made terracotta finishes and textures

Alteret, high density handcrafted ceramics

Alteret Ceramics has a strong artisan tradition. Founded in 1964, it has been making terracotta tiles in the traditional way for more than half a century. At Alteret, they pamper the process of creating terracotta products, printing a strong added value to each finished piece.

Designed and manufactured in Spain, Alteret’s high-density natural terracotta tiles are resistant to cracking, resulting in a product that is perfectly suited to flooring in areas of intensive use.

alteret-ceramica-artesanal-alta-densidad

Also, its porosity is lower, so it is still a good option for wet areas or areas prone to stains, such as bathrooms and kitchens.

If you are looking for a nice rustic floor or an exclusive and personal coating, without a doubt the baked clay or terracotta, are the choice that will bring you the charm of craftsmanship and the distinction of a product that is not manufactured in series.

Glazed ceramics

A melting pot of vibrant colours.

For the most weary areas of the home, and therefore more prone to stains, such as bathrooms and kitchens, glazed terracotta ceramic is an absolute trend.

And it is that, by glazing the pieces of terracotta, you get a perfect sealed against stains for everyday use, resulting in a traditional but perfectly adapted product to the demand of our current pace of life.

The range of available colours in this type of terracotta tiles is diverse and striking. Thus, it is possible to choose from natural tones such as creamy, ochres, coppers and browns colours; even the vibrant reds, cobalts or yellows colours; passing through beautiful and serene range of the aquamarines, greys, pinks or greens colours.

Hand-painted tiles

Exclusive, original, unique.

Both the manufacture of flooring as manual terracotta or clay coatings, is done ‘piece by piece’. In addition, each and every one of our terracotta tiles are painted and decorated by hand.

Colourful hydraulic mosaics

Hydraulic mosaics are very colourful and cheerful decorative tiles which have been used for decades in decoration.

The hydraulic terracotta mosaics are the ones that hold most the essence of this type of tile, preserving the authentic vintage aesthetic, without softening its character in the slightest.

Today, it is a ceramic that has resurfaced strongly in interior designs projects with more personality, also having endless options in colours for those who do not dare with colours so vibrant.

If you want to discover the whole range, we recommend you to visit our hydraulic tiles section.

Zellige Tiles

Vestiges of Andalusian tradition.

The Zellige terracotta tiles, that means in Arab ‘little polished stone’, are inspired by the typical Andalusian decoration of small irregular fragments of tiles that form colourful mosaics.

Alteret’s Zellige tiles are very special pieces, hand-made one by one, with ancient modelling techniques. This is the reason why you cannot find two identical tiles and the result will be unique and exclusive in each decoration project.

Among the particularities of Zellige terracotta tiles, the following stand out:

They have differences in tone between pieces, and even within the same piece.

Their surface is irregular, showing the imperfections typical of manual production.

The edges are cut in a bevelled shape, providing a more discreet finish on the joints and covering the wall in a much more uniform way.

The thickness and measurements of each piece are not exactly the same, achieving an imperfectly beautiful finish.

Terracotta for patios floors

Mediterranean freshness and tradition.

Natural terracotta tile is one of our favourite options for outdoor floors, especially when we like rustic styles. They are rude, strong and resistant, therefore, can have simple and durable outdoor floors.

After all, it is not coincidence that the terracotta have been the most commonly used material throughout the Mediterranean coast during the centuries: our humid and warm climate, without cold extreme temperatures is the ideal condition for the maintenance of this kind of natural clay.

In addition, as textures are perfectly combined with natural earthy tones, the rustic terracotta tiles add the necessary warm and timeless touch so longed for the current styles.

Indoor rustic floors

A little piece of nature inside the house.

Rustic floors should not be reserved exclusively for classic decorations. In fact, when a rustic terracotta floor is combined with white walls and eclectic furniture, the clay tiles become fresh and timeless.

In this way, when choosing rustic floors for indoor, we could play with earthy textures and tones, typical of the cooked clay tile, to bring nature inside our home and get a more organic decoration.

Also, the current terracotta floors don’t need to be obligatory rustic, and it’s that variety in forms and colours that can result in modern and avant-garde floors.

Terracotta ceramics in Estepona

Marbella, Sotogrande and Gibraltar.

If you liked this little visual guide about Artisan Terracotta Tiles, we recommend that you come and visit our permanent exhibition in Estepona.

At Mercasur, we have more than 25 years of experience creating customised projects of reforming and decoration.

Our design team will be happy to handle your proposal, thus creating the combination of terracotta coatings and flooring that best fits the style that you desire for your home.

And if you want to keep taking inspiration, from here you can access the rest of our tile collection.

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