Using Natural Stone in Unique Space

While most homeowners consider natural stone for large projects, such as countertops or fireplace surrounds, small spaces throughout the home can also benefit from natural stone applications.

From shower curbs and shelving to adding natural stone in laundry rooms and closets, designers and homeowners are finding more ways to bring Mother Nature indoors in unique and interesting ways.

Whether it’s marble, travertine, granite, or limestone, natural stone has elevated small spaces into focal points. In some cases, the natural stone application in small spaces has even provided a solution when presented with a unique design challenge, says Laura Grandlienard of ROCKin’teriors in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Often-Overlooked Spaces to Incorporate Natural Stone
At first blush, it may not be obvious where a homeowner might be able to use smaller pieces of natural stone. Taking the time to consider where those details can be easily added can make a strong statement in a small space.

The shower curb, the space that serves as a border between the floor of the shower pan and the bathroom floor, usually doesn’t come to mind as an area to use natural stone but it’s one spot Grandlienard often recommends to clients. Not only does the curb serves an important function, it makes the space look richer. Another often-overlooked space to use natural stone is as a wall cap of a shower wall or as a seat in the shower.

Not every application needs to be visible in a main room to brighten up one’s day. Even small laundry rooms and closets can get a natural stone treatment. A child’s closet might have five drawers and could use a small piece on top to add some smaller pieces or toys, for example. A small laundry room could benefit from a natural stone top for folding laundry. Or, you might have a space where your perfume is located or you place your watch at the end of a day. All of these small areas can be made more visually interesting through the use of natural stone.

In other cases, the use of natural stone in a small space is more about function than aesthetic but it ends of doing double-duty. Sometimes a stunning piece of natural stone in the small space will work. In other cases, incorporating natural stone is an easy and beautiful way to add an interesting detail to a space or put to use extra stone from another project.