Natural stone has been incorporated into home design for centuries and shows no sign of ever going out of style. An extremely versatile material, it can be used to cover unwanted interior brick or masonry, or to decorate any room or space in the house. Many furnishings and adornments also incorporate stone; be creative and bring the unique beauty of natural stone into your home.
Use stone on the walls within an entrance for a grand look, particularly if the entranceis welllit. Consider a chandelier or a bunch of sunflowers in an earthen vase. Incorporaterandom flagstones or a slate floor for a truly charming look. Similarly, a striking effectcan be achieved by using stone on the walls as a backdrop for an open staircase. Team stone up with natural wood for a sublime back-to-nature feel, and complement with natural rope, driftwood, seashells, or modern art.
If using stone in the entrance area or sitting room, accent the space with warmermaterials like cashmere, fur, fleecy rugs, and cushions. Add house plants, real or fake, to a room with a stone wall to enliven the space. A stone wall cancomplement an exposed fireplace or can be used as a contrast toan ultra modern fireplace. Stone can give a room a raw, earthy, back-to-nature feel, or it can add texture andreal character to a room.
The dining room is a great place to use natural stone, which has excellent sound absorption qualities, and it is simple to maintain and extremely durable. Marble dining tables will look stunning when paired withnatural stone. In the kitchen, stone walls work well with exposed beams for a country-cottage feel. Slate bricksare non-porous and would make an excellent back-splash material for a cooker. Be daring and use stone in the bathroom – match with a contemporary, whitebathroom suite or an extravagant roll-top bath.
There are many other ways of using stone in your home, aside from walls and floors. You can use stone in your worktops, counters,fireplaces, interior columns, archways or coves, and for sinks, bathtubs, vanity units and shower trays. Try a pebble river rock floor in the shower or a large slab of rough stone as a countertop, inset with a sink or basin. For the very daring, it is even possible to get a bathtub carved out of stone. An onyx slab on the shower wall looks dynamic; onyx is softer than most stones and can be used for walls, furniture and bars. In the garden, use slabs of broken stone for steps, create a waterfall from large boulders, or a garden bench from large slabs of stone.
Types of stone used in interior design include limestone, sandstone, brick, slate and coral stone. You could choose to decorate part of a wall or the whole of the wall with natural stone. Another possibility is concentrating on one part of a room or using stone far more widely throughout your home.
Be confident, dare to be unique, and look to nature for inspiration. Incorporating stonework into the home can create countless effects and is sure to draw compliments.