Slab Marble - Coldstone minus the Ice Cream



The carved marble wall panels bring the eye up and add architectural oomph (bathroom by Mary Spalding as featured in Veranda, June 2009). 

Marble can instantly elevate a kitchen or bathroom from ordinary to luxurious.  There are countless ways to cut and install marble, but my favorite is to keep it in the slab form.  Slab marble shows off the irregular lines and natural beauty of the stone.  Slabs can add scale and drama to a large room or make a smaller space seem bigger with less interruption from grout lines.  Be careful when installing slabs on bathroom floors and buy some pretty mats so you don't slip!  


The natural color variation of marble is beautiful.  Here, the natural whites and blacks on the wall are repeated in the window shade and floor stones (bathroom by Steven Volpe as featured in Elle Decor, Nov/Dec 2010).



Using one stone on the floors, walls and counter makes a simple, bold statement (bathroom in this photo and below by Betty Burgess as featured in Veranda, April 2009). 





This shower door of unfinished stone has a rustic and organic quality (bathroom by Bobby McAlpine from his book The Home Within Us).

On a large island, a thick marble top is the best choice.  A flat polished edge offers a clean, timeless look (kitchen by Ilse Crawford as featured in Domino: The Book of Decorating).

Stone cabinetry is very unusual; this one is an antique ice cream freezer (kitchen featured in House Beautiful's book The Finishing Touch: Details That Make A Room Beautiful).