Why a terracotta floor
Terracotta, Italian for baked earth, is clay shaped and fired at a lower temperature than porcelain, which leaves it warm in color, slightly soft and porous. On a floor that gives a surface with natural variation from tile to tile, a matte, earthy face and a feeling of warmth that harder tiles lack. How terracotta is made, handmade and pressed, is covered in terracotta tile.
A terracotta floor changes with use. Its surface softens and darkens slightly where it is walked on, and many owners consider that patina the point of the material. Natural terracotta is porous and is usually sealed, which deepens its color and slows the absorption of spills.
A short history of clay floors
Fired clay floors go back to antiquity, and the terracotta floor as we know it took shape in the Mediterranean. In Tuscany, the town of Impruneta near Florence has been known for its terracotta for centuries, and Italian cotto floors spread through villas and farmhouses across the region. Spain carried its tile traditions to the Americas, where clay tile floors and roofs became part of the Spanish Colonial missions of California and the Southwest.
Terracotta's history is why it reads as both rustic and refined: the same material lines a farmhouse kitchen and the loggia of an Italian villa, and the shapes in use today, hexagons, San Felipe and rectangles, descend directly from those traditions.
Traditional floor shapes
Terracotta has a vocabulary of traditional floor shapes, and most of them appear here in natural clay. The Regenerado line comes as a 6x6 hexagon, a 6x12 rectangle and a 3x12 parquet strip, so one clay can be laid in several patterns. The Forma de Picket is a 5x10 picket with pointed ends, the Santo is a San Felipe tile at 8 3/4x11 3/4; San Felipe tile is an elongated hexagon with angled ends, traditional in Spanish and Mexican floors, and the Hand Made Fan is an 8 inch scalloped fan.
The Sunrise hand pressed tiles come as an 8 inch hexagon and in 3x12 and 3x6 rectangles, Rustic Cotto as a 3x12 plank and Sunset as a 5 7/8x11 13/16 rectangle. Hexagons and San Felipe shapes give the classic Spanish Colonial floor; rectangles and parquet strips give a more Italian, linear floor.
Choosing a shape for the room
The shape of a terracotta tile sets the character of a floor more than its color does. Hexagons and San Felipe tiles give a traditional Spanish or Mexican floor with a strong pattern; squares and rectangles give a calmer, Italian-style floor; picket and fan shapes give a decorative, almost tiled-carpet effect that suits small rooms. Narrow parquet strips laid in herringbone give the most movement and suit long hallways and kitchens.
Mosaics and patterns
Two terracotta mosaics, Cotto Nicht and Cotto Genoa, set small clay pieces into a patterned sheet, suited to a bathroom floor, a hearth or an inset panel within a larger terracotta floor. The parquet strips of Regenerado can be laid in herringbone or basketweave, and hexagons can be combined with small square insets for a traditional pattern.
Mixing two terracotta shapes in the same clay, such as a field of 6x12 rectangles with a border of 6x6 hexagons, is a long-standing way to add pattern to a floor without adding a second color.
Saltillo, cotto and Spanish terracotta
Several names describe regional terracotta traditions. Saltillo tile comes from the area around Saltillo in northern Mexico; it is a handmade clay, traditionally sun-dried and fired at low temperature, soft, thick and very irregular, with variations from orange to pink and sometimes animal prints left from drying outdoors. Italian cotto, the tradition of Tuscany and Florence, is usually denser and more regular, in warm reds and pinks. Spanish terracotta sits between the two, often handmade, in red and amber.
The terracotta floor tiles in this collection are not Saltillo; natural clays such as Regenerado, Sunrise and Hand Made give a similar warm clay look in more regular sizes.
Glazed terracotta floors
Glazed terracotta covers the clay with a fired glaze, which seals its face and adds color: Acorn, Satin Bronze and Charcoal in 6x6 hexagons, Coastal Clay, Indigo Manta and Vintage Linen Manta in 6x6 squares, Bowery and Bourbon in 4x8. A glaze makes terracotta easier to keep clean and less absorbent on its face, and it brings the deep blues, browns and grays of Mediterranean glazed floors.
Glossy glazes are the more decorative choice and can be slippery when wet; satin and matte glazes such as Link Refrain and Bourbon are more practical underfoot.
Rustic and brick-like clays
A group of narrow clay tiles brings the look of old brick to floors and walls: Iron Rustic and Empire Grey in 2 5/8x8 3/8, Industry Natural subway in 2 5/8x9 5/8 and a Red Textured strip. Laid in herringbone or basketweave, they give a reclaimed brick floor, a traditional look for kitchens, entries and sunrooms that connect to a garden.
Kitchen floors
Terracotta is a classic kitchen floor in Mediterranean, Spanish and farmhouse kitchens. Its warm color hides crumbs and footprints, and its matte surface suits wood cabinets, tiled backsplashes and stone counters. Over the years a terracotta kitchen floor develops a deeper, polished look where people stand and walk.
Terracotta pairs especially well with white or cream cabinets, open wood shelving, copper and brass.
Bathroom floors
In a bathroom, terracotta brings warmth that white tile lacks, and hexagons and San Felipe shapes give a Spanish or Moroccan character. Glazed terracotta in a satin or matte finish is an easier-care alternative to natural clay in a bathroom, and terracotta pairs naturally with zellige and handmade wall tiles.
Entries, sunrooms and living areas
Terracotta is at its best in rooms that open toward a garden or a courtyard: an entry, a sunroom, a covered porch or a family room with doors to a patio. Its earthy color bridges indoors and out, and its matte surface hides the dust and grit that come in from outside. In a living room, a terracotta floor with rugs and wood furniture gives a relaxed, lived-in warmth.
Large open rooms suit the bigger rectangles and San Felipe shapes, which keep the pattern calm across a wide floor; smaller rooms and hallways suit hexagons and picket shapes, whose pattern reads at closer range.
Grout and joints
Handmade and hand-pressed terracotta varies slightly in size and edge, so it is traditionally laid with wider joints than machine-made tile, often a quarter inch or more, which absorb the variation and become part of the look. The grout is usually a warm sand, beige or soft gray that sits close to the clay, so the joints frame each tile without competing with it.
Because unsealed clay can absorb grout pigment, natural terracotta is often sealed before it is grouted. Machine-pressed and glazed terracotta, with straighter edges, can take narrower joints.
Terracotta with blue and white tile
One of the oldest pairings in tile is a red terracotta floor with blue and white glazed tile on the walls, the combination of Spanish, Portuguese, Mexican and Provencal kitchens. The warm orange of the clay and the cool blue of the glaze sit on opposite sides of the color wheel, so each makes the other look richer. A blue glazed backsplash, a band of patterned tile or a blue tiled stair riser above a terracotta floor recreates it.
Edges, stairs and trim
Terracotta floors meet walls, steps and other floors at a few typical points. A cove end piece, such as the Navy glazed cove end in this collection, finishes the edge of a glazed run with a curved profile. At doorways, a threshold in stone or wood covers the change between terracotta and the next floor. On steps, terracotta treads with a rounded nose and a decorative tile riser are a classic of Spanish and Mexican homes.
Tile thickness
Terracotta floor tiles here are either about 3/8 inch or about 3/4 inch thick. The thicker 3/4 inch tiles, such as Regenerado and Rectangulo, have the weight and presence of a traditional clay floor, while the thinner 3/8 inch tiles suit renovations where the floor height matters, such as next to existing wood floors. The thickness difference is planned for at doorways and thresholds.
Color variation from tile to tile
Natural terracotta varies from tile to tile, from orange and red to amber and pale pink, because clay fires differently across a kiln. That variation is part of the material, and a terracotta floor is usually laid from several boxes at once so the tones spread evenly across the room. Glazed terracotta varies too, with glazes pooling and breaking over the edges of each tile.
Interior styles
Terracotta belongs naturally to Mediterranean, Spanish Colonial, Mission and Tuscan interiors, but it also works in modern rooms: a plain red terracotta floor with white walls and minimal furniture gives a warm, contemporary look, and a charcoal or gray glazed terracotta suits industrial and Scandinavian interiors. Plants, linen, rattan and wood all sit well on terracotta.
