slate, elevated

at clé, we venerate all stone. afterall, every piece of stone is the result of many thousands of years of natural forces compressing minerals — in the case of slate: clay. materials just don’t come a whole lot more natural than this.

slate is also one of our most popular stones — and that’s not a surprise. it’s organic, textural, and handsome, of course, but more than that, it’s supremely practical. it doesn’t absorb water (we wouldn’t have slate roofs if it did) making it ideal for showers, bathrooms, kitchens, and the outdoors. it’s durable, requiring little maintenance. it’s also fire resistant and considered energy efficient and sustainable. for all this, it’s surprisingly affordable.

but how do you turn this relatively unassuming material into a design statement? clé’s modernist mosaic bundle.

we were struck by this installation by designer dee murphy, who made a splash when she posted images of her renovated kitchen. it was her slate floor arranged in a patternless pattern that got the most attention.

it got us thinking about how we could do more with slate. as always, we turned to one of our favorite inspirations: art.

we were particularly inspired by the work of dutch modernist artist piet mondrian. while mondrian’s work involved color, we were intrigued by the way slate took the emphasis off of color and put the focus back on the rhythm and structure of the design (and the character and personality of the material). the different “colors” come from the variation (tonal, textural) in the stone itself.

our modernist bundle includes different-sized slate: 6” x 24”; 24” x 24”; 12” x 12”; 12” x 24”. lay out in any way that works for you…or you can follow this guide to create your own large mondrianesque mosaic covering an area 6′ in width, 10′ in length.