Stone Remains Popular For Home Decorating
In home decorating, some materials and motifs have unusual staying power. Stone is one of them - it continues to enjoy great popularity.
Since it’s a natural material, no two pieces of stone are alike - which appeals to those who covet unique decor. Stone also has an unparalleled reputation for durability and longevity, associated as it is with quality construction, from ancient Greek temples to modern millionaires’ mansions.
“Real stone is so popular for countertops, walls, floors, patios and even furniture that other materials are being used to imitate it,” color and product stylist Barbara Schirmeister of New York says.
“You see wonderful stone patterns for countertops, tub surrounds and showers in laminates and solid surfacing materials. And there is wallpaper with stonelike textures, porcelain tile that looks like stone, and even stone patterns in vinyl.”
Reflecting the appeal of both faux and natural stone, Interior Design magazine recently selected as two of its top 20 new products of 1997 floor tiles with a photographic pattern of polished river or beach stones, and furniture drawer pulls made of real stone.
The ceramic tiles with photographic images of beach stones are for floors and countertops.
Providence Artworks of Tempe, Ariz., makes the stone furniture pulls as well as stone door knobs and an outdoor faucet handle of stone.
Each knob and handle is unique, “the antithesis of a mass-produced product,” Brad Gavigan, president of Providence Artworks, says.
“At hardware trade shows, 80 percent walk right by us, 20 percent stop and are intrigued, and 5 percent think it’s something they cannot live without.”
Granite and marble from Italy are believed to have started the renaissance of stone for use in the home in the early 1980s. While these ageless materials remain extremely popular, there are ever-expanding choices today, Jeff Green, a partner in Design Supply/Stone Source in New York, says. The company markets hundreds of different types of stone for use as surfacing in home and commercial spaces.
Green traces the rise of stone in home decor to new equipment developed in Italy by the 1980s that cuts stone into thin slabs or tiles, reducing the cost and making the material much easier to handle and install. The cutting equipment is now widely available.
In Manhattan, where many people want to be ahead of trend curves, matte finishes and rustic looks are more popular than polished granite and marble.
Green may offer them pietra cardosa, a grayish schist from Tuscany, or Burlington Stone, a volcanic rock from England’s Lake District, similar to slate but with a smoother surface.
Another hot item in New York is aged stone paving in color variations that range from almost white to beige, pink-toned or orange. The most expensive variation is genuinely old and comes from Jerusalem. The same look is available in less expensive, artificially aged stones from nearby areas.
“Limestone is the fast-growing part of our business,” Green says. Although porous, many varieties are suitable for uses other than kitchen countertops when treated with newer impregnators that protect better than just a surface coating.
Stone can be polished or honed for a shiny or matte finish. It can also be distressed through exposure to fire or chiseling, or by being hammered for an unfamiliar look.
There’s still the possibility of something altogether different. “There are 4,000 natural stones in the world, and only 300 to 500 are being marketed at present,” Green says.
xxxx For information Imagine Tile (800) 680-8453. Providence Artworks (602) 921-3001