Curating an Eco-Chic lifestyle with Italtile.

Whether you visit one of our showrooms in South Africa, or cross the border to our Gaborone showroom, or hang out online with us in our great big beautiful webstore, you’re standing on the corner of Sustainability and Beauty. The co-ordinates for Eco- Chic Style. Which is to say, Italtile Style. It’s our signature blend of eco-friendliness, luxury, craftsmanship and timeless elegance. Designed to elevate spaces with an atmosphere of joy, comfort and well-being. And, of course, to reflect your deep-down-to-the-bone respect for the planet.

Eco-chic interior design creates beautiful, impressive and elegant home interiors that marry amazing craftsmanship, refined elegance, an innate sense of fashion and style, natural materials from regenerative sources, with sustainable design solutions and unique details inspired by nature.

An ultra-modern home featuring glass, steel and concrete can be as eco-chic as a Japandi-style homestead with its wood and bamboo interiors; it’s all about interrogating the provenance and sustainable journey of the finishes you select. (And in fact, as much as it brings home those biophilic vibes, raw wood many not be the best solution for eco-chic living, but more of that later on!)

Many people have long believed that a sustainable home is one filled with rustic, “homespun” items. Not necessarily so. Being eco-chic at heart doesn’t necessarily mean dashing off into the countryside to grow your own shoes (but if that’s your bag, we hear mushroom leather is taking off big-time); but it does mean selecting sustainable products based on your research into their brand ethos. The eco-chic stylista journey is, ultimately, about long-lasting, sustainable beauty, supported by guarantees and nationwide service, on the road to consequence-free consumption. And it’s a road we’re committed to, through our LiveGreen ethos: auditing, adjusting and improving the green pathways from the factory floor to your door.

When you see our LiveGreen logo on our local and imported taps, tiles, sanware and bathroom furniture, it means those items are created in sustainable factories. When you select one of those LiveGreen items, you’re treading the same green path right into your home. That’s all it takes for you to do one small thing for the planet. (Although, we hope, in time, that you’ll select more and more eco-chic Italtile style every time you decide to facelift a corner of your home!)

Let’s take a walk through a small selection of our fave pieces of eco-chic style  – all exclusive to Italtile – that proudly carry the LiveGreen logo.

The Affirmations Easel Glow Dresser LED Mirror. Who’d have thought a mirror could be green? You’d better believe it, with the Affirmations Easel Glow Dresser LED Mirror. An up-to-the-minute riff on the centuries old standing mirror invented for arguably the world’s most conspicuous consumer, Queen Marie Antoinette. Nothing green or mindful about her décor choices. However, you can channel your inner eco-queen with this elegant contemporary mirror, with energy-efficient LED lights and durable, crystal clear Pilkington Optimirror. Pilkington glass is created with less waste during manufacture and it is also manufactured with the end of its life in mind ... for onward recycling. Eco? For sure. Chic? You bet.

Wallpaper Print Porcelain Tiles by Sant’Agostino. Wallpaper is one of the hottest trends currently. And Sant’Agostino’s Jardin Wallpaper Print Porcelain Tiles are an outstanding eco-chic translation of the hugely popular look. It’s a unique collection of biophilic (nature-inspired) designs, from lush foliage to romantic florals, to create the feature wall of your dreams; one that not only speaks volumes about your sense of style, but is also testament to your mindfulness. As with all Sant’Agostino tiles, Jardin 01, Jardin 02 and Jardin 03 are beautiful examples of Sant’Agostino’s high-end sustainability – the company’s signature EcoQuality.

Take a Walk Through Our Eco-Chic Woods. A little earlier on in this blogpost we mentioned the questionable sustainability of much of today’s hardwood flooring. Unless you can be assured that the hardwood flooring you’re considering is from 100% sustainable forests, processed in 100% sustainable mills, we’d red flag it.

But. Wood looks are key to achieving that eco-chic look. So what to do? Choose an Italtile wood look tile, that’s what. All the LiveGreen porcelain tiles in our wood look collection, both imported and local, are created in ultra-sustainable factories with proven green credentials. Scratch the surface of any LiveGreen Italtile wood look tile and you’ll find low to no emissions, zero to minimal water waste, lower energy consumption and less clay used in tile bodies.

The Torino 74. Our Water-Saving Wonder. Top of the eco-chic list is an item concealed from sight, in-wall. The Torino 74. Quietly getting on with the job of saving water. It’s a flush system that’s designed to fit the full range of flush plates. Green cred includes easy flush volume adjustment, ‘A’ class for energy efficiency, and a delayed filling mechanism that saves half a litre per flush.

 Italtile’s Exclusive Range of Flush Plates by OLI. Neat, nifty and eco-chic beyond.

The good people over at OLI believe in a comfortable, chic, water-efficient bathroom that offers safety and accessibility for all. Since 1954, they have promoted social and environmental citizenship among their staff, and in their work processes, in every country in which they operate.

Master+Craft. Italtile’s Exclusive, High-End Laufen Sanware. Quite apart from their impeccable ‘Swissness’, their association with award-winning designers, and the staggering beauty of their products, Laufen has built their reputation on sustainability at every step, throughout the crafting, moulding, firing and hand-finishing processes. Incorrectly cast pieces (even those with minor imperfections) are returned to the processing cycle. Glazed and fired items that don’t meet the required standard of excellence are ground down to ceramic powder and reused. Chamber dryers are heated using waste heat from the kilns. And surplus water is collected, purified and reused. Our exclusive, limited edition Laufen Kartell and Laufen Palomba are stunning examples of Laufen Master+Craft.

Tap Into Tivoli’s Waterwise Ethos. A tap is a tap is a tap, right? Well, if it’s a Tivoli Tap from Italtile, it’s so much more. A Tivoli tap speaks of Italian craftsmanship, high design backed by a 10-year guarantee (whether you select a classic style or a more avant-garde aesthetic), but more importantly, in a water-scarce world, Tivoli taps are born water-savers, delivering a controlled, reduced flow rate of 6 litres per minute. Your Tivoli taps have been finished in a plating plant that boasts zero discharge and recycles all water used.

But wait. There’s one more beautiful fact to consider. When you purchase a Tivoli tap from Italtile, we donate R2 to the SharkWise Project  to support the wonderful work of marine biologist Dr Sara Andreotti. She and her teams work tirelessly to monitor our endangered shark population, promote better understanding about these apex predators, and create greater harmony between man and shark with their SharkSafe Barrier concept. Get the inside track with Dr Andreotti’s SharkNotes.

But back to the eco-chic Tivoli Tap Collection...

Cast your lustful eyes over Cavallino, in both matt gold and dark mirror: our newest Tivoli Tap Collection, all set to become icons of eco-chic style.

Cotto. From the land that made eco and friendliness its watchwords. Cotto’s Thai-style designer bathroomware is created with deep respect for the environment and Thailand’s traditional design excellence. Little known but crucial eco-chic fact: Cotto was the first to receive the Carbon Reduction Label in the sanitaryware product division for all products: with their reduced carbon emissions during the manufacturing process. Sustainability is also built into the functionality of their beautiful products. Take the Simply Modish toilet with its Triplex Flush System, for example. While many South African WCs drain up to 40% of household water, the Simply Modish uses between 3 – 4.5 litres per flush, instead of between 6 – 12 litres.

Eco-Chic Endnote. As we said, this is just a small selection of the eco-chic awesomeness awaiting your adoring eco-eyes, both in our showrooms and online in our webstore. There’s so much more in store for you. Browse at leisure, speak to our design-certified sales consultants for any information or further details you need before making a decision. (Remember, you’re investing in high-end luxury, designed to last for years and years.) We’re interior design-certified, we have a deep understanding of our LiveGreen roadmap, and we know the provenance of our LiveGreen and eco-chic products inside out. We can’t wait to help you curate an eco-chic lifestyle.

Live beautifully.

Ciao.