When it comes to making a statement, a unique stone slab is a timeless choice. Today’s designers and DIY’ers are going beyond the kitchen countertop to incorporate stone slabs into unexpected places. The results are stunning—and worth the wait for that perfect piece of stone.
“No risk, no reward when it comes to design,” says Leah Alexander, founder of Atlanta-based interior design firm Beauty Is Abundant, who used three quartz slabs from Cambria to create bespoke shower walls for a special project in Dallas. “The payout was major for us.”
Whether you’re repurposing leftover marble or on the hunt for your dream quartz, here are seven smart ideas for turning a slab of stone into a statement.
1. A staircase base
You know the saying: It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. A stone slab is a genius way to elevate your journey—up or downstairs. Consider starting at the base. That’s was New York–based J.L. Ramirez’s approach for one client’s home. The architect opted for Artistic Tile’s Montclair Striato for the staircase base and steps. The vein-cut direction of the stone slab enhances the angularity of the wooden staircase in a natural way, yet it also creates a sophisticated, modern aesthetic, says Lauren Cherkas, president and chief sales officer at Artistic Tile.
2. Cutout shower walls
When Alexander set out to remodel one of the bathrooms of the Dallas 2022 Kips Bay Decorator Show House, she wanted it to be the most unique thing she’d ever designed. Customized stone shower walls fit the bill.
“Quartz is such a durable, versatile material—and a beautiful one too,” Alexander says. She went with three styles from Cambria: Black, Cherrybrook, and Inverness Bronze. “I also wanted a nod to the current curve craze without being too literal,” she says. With that in mind, her team asked the fabricator to inlay horseshoe shapes into the black quartz background. The curves, in turn, played nicely with the oblong showerhead shape.
“With an intergalactic, out-of-this-world vibe in this bathroom, it was only right to have stars on the shower floor individually cut and inset, reflecting the starry wallpaper that leads into the shower on the ceiling.” The final starry product merits some serious gazing.
3. Furniture insert
Stone insets can add visual interest to custom bedroom pieces. When designing a bedroom bench for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach, Oakland-based Joy Street Design incorporated Artistic Tile’s Velluto polished onyx, and the result was bold and bespoke. “Velluto evokes the finest of silk velvets,” Cherkas says. “The soft, river flow of veins perfectly complements the rich tones Joy Street selected for much of the room.” The same insets were used for the nightstands and the makeup vanity top.
4. Custom vanity backsplash
Lately, Katie Labourdette-Martinez and Olivia Wahler of Hearth Homes Interiors have been using stone slabs to give bathrooms major upgrades. “It just makes such a statement and gives the space a more polished feel,” Wahler says.
In one project, a marble floating vanity was a small but impactful design element. In a client’s Santa Barbara home, where the designers wanted to cultivate a modern French country aesthetic, a customized stone backsplash added just the right je ne sais quoi. “Both design elements felt unexpected,” Labourdette-Martinez adds. “They went a long way in the overall design.”
5. Television backdrop
Once inconspicuous dens, television rooms have become stylish lounge areas. Just ask House of One creative director and designer Brittany Farinas, who turned a Miami home entertainment wall into an elegant focal point using a marble slab.
Farinas says she wanted a natural marble that would contrast with the dark wood tones within the rest of the millwork. “I chose this particular stone because of its unique bronze crystalized details within the veining,” she says. “This beautiful and neutral stone grounds the rest of the living room with its texture and tonality, making the living space one of a kind.”
6. Dining room table
When Avery Cox of the eponymous design studio was planning the dining room for a home in the Clarksville Historic District of Austin, her client had a very specific vision of the marble he wanted for the pièce de résistance table—one that resembled blue cheese. “I probably sent him twenty amazing options of different stones that had elements of the ‘blue cheese look,’ but nothing was quite right,” Cox says.
Finally, they found the perfect slab of Estremoz Gold at the Aria Stone Gallery in Dallas. “The pink tone was so unique, and it had the dramatic veining that he was hoping for,” Cox says. It wasn’t long before designer and client fell in love with it. The striking, customized table definitely gives blue cheese vibes. It’s almost too pretty to dine on—almost.
7. Wet bar and a floating shelf
While visiting Cambria’s factory, Kyla Herbes, the blogger behind House of Hipsters, found herself drooling over a particular piece of quartz, with warm grey veins streaming against a white backdrop. A couple of years later, when remodeling her wet bar, Herbes knew exactly which material she wanted to use.
She drew inspiration from Pinterest and was inspired by a similar wet bar by Handelsmann + Khaw. When it came to fabricating the stone, she was concerned about the weight of the floating shelf—creating a stone shelf that was at once thin and sturdy. Herbes and her team were up for the challenge.
They started by drilling steel brackets into studs. The shelf is actually five pieces of stone, explained Herbes, perfectly mitered to give the impression of one solid piece. The shelf was designed to slide onto the brackets. “The fabricator nailed it because the pattern of the stone lines up perfectly. There is no seam to be seen.”
The backsplash, on the other hand, is one solid piece with two holes cut to slide over the steel brackets. Herbes says that during installation, the backsplash had to be hung on the wall before the countertop (normally it’s the other way around). The team had to install the slab at an angle so that it would be flush with the soffit. “It was a tight squeeze, and the entire process was a nail-biter,” Herbes adds.
