This year, in Italy, summer has arrived rather late: until just a few weeks ago we were enduring cold weather and continual rain, putting us behind-hand with preparing our balconies, terraces and gardens for use in the coming months.

Even a small outdoor space, in close continuity with the lounge or another indoor room, is a resource we should appreciate and use to the full. In spring and summer, this space can become a real outdoor extension of the home, which should be designed, organised and furnished with care.

One good starting point is to use attractive solutions with the right technological properties for the pavings which, in outdoor spaces, have to fulfil at least two very important functions:

  • They provide a firm, solid base for furniture and equipment
  • They define the design of the outdoor area, by separating sitting areas and paths and/or driveways from lawns and flowerbeds

Ragno offers several extra thick tile solutions (XT20, 20 mm) in collections which are very often the outdoor version of the indoor equivalent, in styles that are part vintage and part contemporary, thanks to three main lines of inspiration: stone effect, the delicate grain of concrete, and the warm vein patterns of wood.

XT20 tiles can be installed with glue or dry, simply resting on grass, gravel or sand, or in raised systems, also suitable for indoor locations with particularity heavy stresses (offices or other places open to the public).

But let's get back to our main topic: it's now time to examine the qualities of each outdoor collection, starting with Concept XT20, which has a look resembling concrete and comes in four colours, Beige, Greige, Grigio and Nero.

The rectified 60x60 cm size provides versatile installation potential, as it is suitable for various paving patterns, also created by mixing different contrasting or graduated shades.

Lovers of stone, on the other hand, will find their ideal outdoor tiles by looking through the catalogues of two collections. The first is Realstone Rain XT20, inspired by English limestone (a sedimentary rock) with a surface with subtle variations in shade, in three colours, Almond, Greige and Taupe.

The second is the Rock Ground collection. This material comes in a small size (20x20 cm and 20x40 cm) in thickness of 14 mm, suitable for conventional installation using glue on a screed. The soft, delicate shades of Avorio, Beige and Grigio form vein patterns inspired by Quartzite and French Roanne river stones.

Last but not least, the 40x120 cm plank tiles of the Woodmania XT20 collection bring visual and tactile warmth and comfort to outdoor pavings using the three versions of the same wood effect: Caramel, Honey and Musk.