Back in the 1960s, innovative American designer Adrian Pearsall was creating some of the most exuberant American furniture. A slate slab placed on a walnut frame is all that took him to realize a simple yet modernist coffee table.

Today almost every furniture and design shop, from high-street to high-end shops, lists a few items in slate in its catalogue. Is this material the latest trend in interior design?

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“This type of tile is becoming extremely popular among our clients for interiors,” says Ronan White, creative director at Tile Devil, a tiles supplier to the UK. Slate is also an eco-friendly material, being extremely hard wearing and easy to maintain. And as the rock forms naturally in layers, it is relatively easy to split and remove from quarries.

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“Having slate inside your home is like making a statement of permanence, of anti-disposal, anti-plastic, anti-mass production,” adds Ronan. “You are saying ‘not made in China’.” According to the National Stone Council, slate deposits can be found in various parts of the world. But the UK produces one of the finest and most original types.

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“What we like about using slate for interior spaces is that it's a real material, raw and solid with a timeless feel,” says Glenn Rushbrooke. With Samantha Robb, he founded pachadesign, a design firm based in Devon, on the Cornwall border.  “It has a beautiful deep blue, almost black colour with occasional lines of quartz and tiny dots of iron pyrites.”

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But Cornwall is not the only place in the UK for the production of slate. Its extraction is also steeped in the history of Wales, where its industry dominated the economy of the north-west of the region in the 19th century.

And there’s no end to the possibilities slate offers.

 

On Pinterest there are plenty of ideas on how to decorate your home. An oak desk with a slate worktop will give your room a rustic touch, but if paired with polished black or white ceramic it looks very modern and sophisticated.

“As they say in the trade,” says Ronan, “self-assembled furniture is for your first marriage, slate is for life.”