Grazzie Wilson – Ca Pietra

We have had the privilege of working with lots of talented women during our renovations and we like to use our Rest and Read section to highlight some of these. Grazzie has been one of the instrumental women behind the changing face of Ca Pietra, their rebrand has been monumental and the focus on the social content has been key. The new approach gives the audience insights in to the products designs and functionality and also give plenty of inspiration. We touched base with Grazzie to talk a bit more about her journey and the brand.

Tell us a bit about how you ended up in this job?

I started my career in fashion, running an online designer resale platform. After six years in the industry I moved to interiors, heading up the marketing for a national bathroom retailer and following that, in 2018 joined Ca’ Pietra. My role has evolved, and I now look after the marketing strategy for the brand, as well as heading up the creative and working across all the product side of things too. It’s a family-run and founded business, that’s incredibly forward-thinking and agile, so it’s a fast-moving and exciting company to work for. Plus, I absolutely adore the products. I feel incredibly proud of what we’ve created and how the brand has transformed over the last six years.

With your guidance we went for the Maroc tiles in all our bathrooms, what do you love  about these tiles?

What do I not love? Your brief about wanting a tile that wasn’t “perfect and uniform” in its appearance, plus the warming tones of your mood-board immediately made me think of Maroc. It’s a porcelain tile, so works across walls and floors and it has all the appeal of a zellige tile but is really low maintenance. When it’s laid, you can really appreciate the imperfect nature and colour variance of the tiles. Plus, it’s a great collection to mix and match with, allowing you to create a chequerboard, which again, was something you loved. It worked perfectly and the results are nothing short of amazing. 

We chose natural Terracotta for the barn, what tips would you give to anyone wanting to use these tiles? 

I think firstly, if you absolutely love the look of terracotta, then you do have to accept that it will age (beautifully) and there will be imperfections. Terracotta builds a patina over time, so the older it is, the more characterful it gets. Firstly, I think you need to ask yourself whether that suits your lifestyle. If it does, then it’s perfect. If you prefer something that looks the same no matter the age, our porcelain version is likely more suited.

Some other quick tips I’d recommend, firstly reading this blog feature HERE, where we answer heaps of questions, make sure you seal terracotta, opt for a light-ish grout colour, we lean towards our Limestone grout colour when it comes to terracotta. Lay it internally only and if it’s in wet areas then we recommend using it with underfloor heating. 

When you start the process of designing a room why is the choice of flooring so important? 

You can never start thinking about the hard finishes in a project early enough, and I group stone/tiles for walls and floors, indoors and out, as part of that. You want to think about these surface choices right at the start of your renovation so that you can make decisions about the other design choices in a room, with these in mind. Floor preparation is also vital, the thickness of your chosen stone or tiles will impact how builders’ prep for your flooring, especially as you move from room to room. You don’t want to be walking in and out of rooms that have different flooring heights for example. 

Ca Pietra are known for being bold with designs and pairing of tiles, what advice would you give to someone wanting to be a bit braver with their choices? 

Go for it. Your home reflects you, so pick something you absolutely adore. I use a rule of three as a guiding hand in mixing designs and pairing tiles, don’t overload a room with too many types of tiles, or they’ll all be fighting for attention, I generally suggest sticking with three (maximum). Also, get samples, lay the tiles out and when you’re deciding ask yourself whether the tiles have something in common, so that the scheme will flow nicely. And finally, use social media (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest), magazines and tile brand’s own websites as inspiration. 

If you could give one piece of interiors advice, what would it be? 

Go with your gut.  think it’s important to be inspired by trends but if a trend isn’t for you, then leave it alone. You’re the person that will live with your design choices day in, day in. So, opt for something that sparks joy when you open the front door after a day at work. And (am I allowed another?) invest in quality materials and don’t scrimp on installation. 

You are seeing trends before they hit the stores, what should we be looking out for when we renovate our next building? 

Warm terracotta shades are going nowhere, tiles produced using waste materials continue to be big news and for us in particular, hand-made designs produced in the UK in limited production runs will be taking centre stage.