Marble Quarry

In one of my classes right now we are to design a worship space (not necessarily religious worship). Mine just HAPPENS to be in a marble quarry (my idea). The entire room is dug out of a black and gold marble quarry (which may or may not exist) right outside of New York City. The idea is that the marble is cool, calming, smooth, and light bounces off it creating a beautiful effect with the gold. Marble is used in a lot of bathrooms and kitchens; take a look how it's used when you're not in a fictional quarry.

Sara Story uses this amazing orangey marble on this intimate fireplace scene.

In a break from the typical clean white marble, this marble has gorgeous dark veins running through it creating a great contrast. By incredible designer, Nancy Boszhardt.

Marble is often times seen as traditional or "old" but in this space it makes it feel more contemporary. By Matsouka Wang Architects.

In contrast to above, this DEFINITELY is a more traditional feel. Designer Juan Montoya uses slabs of creamy marble on the walls, as columns, and on the floor.

This marble fireplace that I found in Domino blends right in with the rest of the busy patterns in the living room. I feel like it's rare to see marble with lots of contrasting veins in it; people are usually using it to create a cleaner look.

In this Christopher Peacock kitchen, he uses a marble top on this island which is a very beautiful and traditional look but...see below...

He then uses little marble bits to make up the backsplash in the rest of the kitchen. So much you can do with stone!

This was the darkest marble I had seen used and it was only a small part! It def creates a dramatic effect though in this deco style bathroom. I super love those monogrammed pink guest towels too!

How do you feel about marble? Too traditional? Not traditional enough? Want to live in a marble quarry?

Alicia B.

Kitchens Galore.

Designing a kitchen can sometimes be the most challenging room to design. They are so personal to the individual that every one is different. I think we might have moved on from the avocado appliances (although I've been seeing a lot of soft greens) by now but what are the trends in kitchens? In my research I found a LOT of things--and like I said, I think that kitchens are SUPER personal and individual. See below some of my favorite picks.....

From Living etc, this kitchen has an industrial feel with metal cabinets and a sleek shiny subway tiled wall. Not really my favorite.

In this tiny Stephanie Stokes kitchen, customization of cabinets are very important. No space is wasted. She customized the floor too, which is beautiful. Also, she used green marble for the counter tops here.

Here is the ever popular farmhouse style kitchen with white marble, white wainscoting, and industrial holophane pendant designed by R. Roman Hudson. Personally I love this look--the pitchers on the open shelves are just adorable.

If you don't have a farmhouse style house, this house in the south shows you can still have a calming, simple kitchen (by Ken Pursley). Wood paneling can sometimes be intimidating, but this looks so soft and has a gorgeous contrast with the white marble countertops and backsplash of the stove.

I grew up in a house in which everything was behind a cabinet door, so the trend of open shelves was a new one to me. I have taken a liking to it though and it's nice to display your nice dishes etc. Ken Pursley again.

From House Beautiful, this designer used Jurassic Green Granite. Go green?

This reminds me of what a french farmhouse kitchen might look like. Hillary Hayne uses this wire in place of glass in the rustic cabinets. LOVE THIS.

A fun color like this blue and a fun chandelier is nice for a small kitchen to take the focus off the fact that it's such a small space. From Domino.

I really love this idea of adding this custom copper grill inside the frame of the cabinets. There is a physical barrier but not a visual one. WOW. By Sandra Bird.

Custom storage spaces created by kitchen genius Christopher Peacock.

Christopher Peacock is pretty much the authority on kitchens. This one is crisp and bright and clearly made for someone who likes to cook. How many stoves are there--four??

In my adoration for farmhouse kitchens, I love the farmhouse style sink which is deep and clean white! From House Beautiful.

Again, I am really leaning towards a french farmhouse sort of look if I had my choice. It looks easy to work in, and if you make a mess it is easy to clean up. What is your favorite new kitchen trend OR lasting style!?

Alicia B.