Which Stone Do I Choose? The Real Question Is: What Design Style?

The question that my clients struggle with the most has to be which stone to  choose. Should it be granite? Soapstone? Marble? Limestone? Concrete? Quartzite? Slate? I guess you get the point. 

If you ask a dealer, they are going to most likely push you towards granite. Why not, it’s their bread and butter. I have had some admit to me that they can’t stand the call backs from customers complaining that their marble or soapstone scratched or stained. 

Here is a little secret that I will share with you. Most designers hate granite. Now why would that be? Everyone has granite. Everyone loves granite. That I believe is the problem. Granite, which used to be the expensive luxury that most folks chose not to indulge in, is now the second cheapest next to laminate. Added to that, most granite is just ugly or not appropriate. 

Why are they ugly or inappropriate? This is what I usually tell my clients: "The counter is meant to serve a function, it is not a decorative element.”

Can it be beautiful?  Absolutely - as long as its purpose is not to be decorative first. This is an issue that comes up in all aspects of the design process. I often warn my clients not to look at each detail of their design as if they are looking through a microscope. In other words, don't focus on each decision without considering the whole.

When we look at a great work of art do we walk up real close and look at the brush strokes and try to figure out what colors the artist blended to make the colors we see? No, we stand at an appropriate distance and take the entire work in. When we go to the symphony, do we run up on the stage and look at the sheet of music the violinist has on her stand? No, we sit at an appropriate distance and listen to the entire orchestra, not the individual components that make up the piece of music. I think this is why my favorite style of art is Impressionism. If you get too close to the work you clearly lose the intent. That being said, I love to walk up close and see the design it took to get there. It’s just that I understand that the beauty is on display at the appropriate distance. 

If we take each element of your design and separate and focus on them without considering them with the entire design in mind, we end up with a melting pot of junk. This is where the designer comes in: the ability to look at something individual and then, in their mind only, stand back and see it in its overall context.  I also find this true in architectural plans. My clients see something on paper but cannot see it in reality. 

Now back to "Which stone do I choose?" First of all, which design style are you in?  Contemporary? Traditional? Eclectic? By the way I hate that word. To me it just means that I don’t know what I’m doing but I need to call it something. All of the choices you make in your design must follow the design approach you are using.  Traditional stones like marble and soapstone do not look good in contemporary design, which likes to see solids and color like quartz and concrete. Does this mean that we can never choose that way?  No, but be mindful of what you are doing. 

One last point on something I just mentioned and blew right past. There is a whole blog post on exactly which stone to choose but that is for another day. I made a point that the choices you make must follow the design approach.

Well, what design approach am I in? Here is one of the biggest mistakes people make and it should be dealt with correctly right smack at the beginning. Stop putting contemporary kitchens and baths in a Victorian house, or French Country in an Art Deco home or adobe in a New England-style. Doesn’t this make sense?

And this is often why people hire me to design for them. They hate the look of their homes and don’t always know why. Invariably I walk in and the first thing I see is inappropriate choices in the previous design approach. How did it happen?  Focusing on the design elements individually without standing back and visualizing the entire design.

As in, “Oh, I was using the Eclectic design approach.”