Decorate With Stones

Natural or engineered stone adds a sophisticated beauty to any home. Stone can be used for counter, vanity, island, bar or peninsula tops, floor or wall tiles, fireplace surrounds, shower enclosures or fire pits. The beauty comes with durability, for the stone has already been in the ground for millions of years. Stone is found in so many colors and patterns from pure black to pure white and nearly every color in between. They can show swirls and clouds of violet, brown, gold, green, blue mized with white and gray. Because of this, there’s a perfect stone piece to complement the decor of any room.

Granite

Granite is a tough rock formed in the depths of volcanoes. Besides the familiar salt and pepper coloring, granite can come in many colors and color combinations, including green, blue, violet, marble and solid black.

Marble

Marble is prized for its beauty, its coolness and its seeming ability to absorb and refract light. It is much softer than granite and is often an insert in a granite countertop. The marble insert is used by cooks to make and roll out pastry because of its coolness.

Limestone

Limestone is a lovely, porous white or beige stone made of the calcium in the skeletons of prehistoric marine animals such as coral. Travertine is a type of limestone that’s deposited by mineral springs. 

Mother of Pearl

Mother of pearl isn’t a stone, but the lining of the shell of a marine animal called an abalone. It has a breathtakingly beautiful luster that reminds people of a pearl. Mother of Pearl can be part of mosaic tiles or added to engineered stone.

Quartzite

Like marble, quartzite is a metamorphic rock, which means it was changed over eons from one type of rock to another. Quartzite countertops are often not slabs of the actual stone but powdered stone mixed with pigment and a resin and formed into a slab. This allows the slab to be extremely strong and nearly perfectly reproducible in case it is badly damaged, for it was made according to a formula. Some countertops are a mix of ground quartzite and granite. Click here.

Mosaic Tiles

These tiles are tiny squares of stone or another material arranged on a mesh. Because of this, they are easy for a layperson to install.

Stone and mother of pearl are wonderful ways to brighten and beautify a home. With proper care, stone can last a century or longer.