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by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for The House Designers
Stone accents get noticed whether you have them around a fireplace or highlighting parts of the house’s exterior. Many homes come designed with stone called out specifically in the plans, so owners don’t even have to think about it to reap the benefits. But what if you want to enhance your house’s interior or curb appeal beyond what its architect gave you to work with? There are so many possibilities that you could recreate your home’s entire image!
Choosing to incorporate stone in your design is just the beginning. This highly diverse medium can produce amazing ambiances ranging from absolutely rustic to chic and contemporary. You can just as easily decide to go for a comfortable and homey look as a striking work of art. The texture and color variation that stone provides are what make it so universally appealing; it adds beautiful contrast to the surfaces of the home to keep designs from falling flat. If you need a little inspiration, here are some ideas that will make you excited to install stone accents to really set your house apart.
The Surprising Versatility of Stone
After seeing an assortment of great designs that use stone, people accept and love that it can be used in all kinds of settings with success, but that is just the beginning. What color are you looking for? What shape should the stones have? Is a smooth or rough appearance better for your architecture? Do you want a totally natural profile, or something with sharp, clean lines that look like they’ve been made by a precise water jet cutting machine at a quarry? Answering these questions will help to narrow your options and ultimately transform your design. Changing just one variable can result in a completely different vibe.
There are also different ways to go about your stone accenting project. The market is filled with both natural and convincing manufactured products, which can be installed using everything from mortar to power tools. Many insist on absolutely genuine stone, but the fact is that man-made products are just as attractive and offer benefits like a more reproducible appearance and reduced shipping weight and cost. Don’t be afraid to ask a professional for help finding the perfect stone, because it can be overwhelming.
Choosing Stone for a Home’s Façade
Stone places emphasis wherever it’s laid, and how much it stands out or supports the overall scheme is up to you. When you want to dress up your home's exterior, consider the architectural style that you’re building on first and foremost. Would it look good with a few touches or does it call for a complete coating of rock? Should it be neat and tidy or rough and irregular? It’s best to match the style of the house—an eclectic exterior isn’t something the average home can pull off.
A few key types of architecture really shine with stone accents. For example, Craftsman houses look great with a moderate application of stone used in tandem with other natural details like shingles, textured plank siding, and millwork to create a gorgeous, balanced façade. Traditional and colonial homes should use materials that were available at the time of their prevalence, and there are great examples that rely heavily on natural stone. Styles that are constructed with earthen exteriors like adobe and stucco look amazing with stones in a similar palette. If you have a modern home designed with organic architecture, by all means, use stone to define its underlying principles. Study up on your home’s style to see what has been done before and use that as a jumping-off point.
Where Stone Is Typically Used Inside
Stone accents are usually used to draw attention to key points of interest or to create them where focus is lacking. Around the fireplace is the most obvious location; stones have a long history of being utilized there because they don’t burn, so we expect their presence intuitively even if we now focus on their design merits. A gorgeous surround does a huge favor to the entire room even if it’s limited to the space immediately bordering the hearth—and this is why people have chosen to place stone frames around cased entries and lay entire accent walls where there isn’t anything specific to highlight. Doing so gives a room visual interest and personality, and the effect can be truly transformative. If your home's interior feels bland, a good stone accent will make you see it in a whole new way.
Expanding the Use of Stone Accents in Your Home
Why limit your stone design to the regular applications? Any place that could use a little definition is fair game. You only have so much wall space and you don’t want to make it seem overly busy, so think in moderation and find new areas to focus on. Kitchens and bathrooms are fantastic rooms to consider, because they have counters and cabinets. Varied surfaces make for a dynamic design, and it is easier to pull off successfully.
To get a taste for what you can do, check out Eldorado Stone and their Inspiration Gallery. Not only can you see a wide variety of common applications, but you might even get an idea for your home that you’ve never thought of before. They also have a Product Selector to help you zero in on the stones that will work best with your home. Eldorado’s products are cast using molds of real stones and then finished by hand to produce an authentic appearance. The results are stunning, and with over 1,400 distributor and dealer locations across the United States, it couldn’t be easier to get in contact with an expert to help give your house an amazing stone design.