Decorative Slate Tiles by the International Slate Company
3 September 2009
“That Lucky Old Tuscan Sun”
Anyone who sees the movies “Under the Tuscan Sun” or “Enchanted April” tends to fall in love, not with the movies so much (although I do confess to liking both of them a great deal even though they were essentially “chick flicks”) or the characters portrayed (although I very much liked Diane Lane’s character), but with the Italian countryside itself. In fact I have written so many blogs about Italian products that I sometimes find myself yearning for an extended stay in that realm, and at my age, I am not about to learn another language! So, really, it’s a pipedream, but there is just something about what is, at least, perceived in movies on that country. I bring that up because the subject of today’s blog is in fact made in Italy by people who just flat out knew what they were doing!
One of the things I’ve learned while writing my hundreds of blogs thus far is that tile, which I once thought of as being fairly static, is, in fact, an incredibly versatile medium. We are still cursed with a kitchen and bathrooms that have the kind of tile I am largely accustomed to—plain, flat, rather boring, ceramic tile, made worse, really because it was installed by the builders of this tract home, people who cut every corner. It’s a backsplash and a countertop, and that’s about it, and plain as it is, it really doesn’t do either of those jobs very well. But if you’ve been staying away from the idea of tile for your remodeling, because of the rather dreary vision I’ve just depicted, man, have I got some news for you!
The International Slate Company makes the most wonderful slate wall tiles and floor tiles and makes them, naturally, in Italy. Truthfully, these tiles do such a wonderful job of evoking Italy that if you asked ten people the country of origin, nine of them would surely guess Italy. Tiles like these would bring a kitchen to life in ways that just cannot be imagined otherwise, and especially this is true of a traditional kitchen, especially one with an Old World look, like the kitchens I wrote about on Monday.
There is something “of the earth” about these naturally textured, multi-colored slate tiles that I don’t think I’ve seen duplicated by any other company. Whether you use them in the kitchen or in the bathroom, or on any floor you may care to imagine, these slate tiles bring a wonderful rustic air to a room. They also have their products available in a smooth-polished finish, thereby providing a style for almost any decorator. The International Slate Company is headquartered in Genova, which makes them a bit north of the region featured in the movie, but these wonderful slate tiles do seem very much like they were made under a Tuscan sun.
Joseph
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