It Is So Nice To Fall In Love

For years I have been reluctanat to use marble or granite for the kitchen counter---it felt like it was everywhere, in fact it was. Every kitchen advertisement and every HGTV show. I really like the idea that as soon as "everybody" is doing it, it is time for me to stop. There are so many wonderful options and I they are all worth exploring.

Recently, we were working on a home for a client to live in while we raze his current place and rebuild. The home needed a lot of work but since our client did not want to invest a lot, we put in a kitchen from Ikea. They really represent great value, for people on a budget, and they have enough styles to suit almost any taste. In order to jazz it up we installed Verde Fire Granite--the sample was so small but it looked really lovely. In application it looks Amazing, Astounding, Brilliant, Beautiful, Comely, Capricious---I could go through the alphabet with compliments! What I discovered is that really I hated the generic marble & granite which was so readily available but completely overused. A bit of exploration at your local stone yard will yield many wonderful options. It required that you be inventive and imaginative but trust me, it is definitely worth it. Here in LA, Marbles Unlimited and Walker Zanger are well stocked suppliers.

Resource Day: Exquisite Surfaces

Every week I find myself flipping through my Rolodex to try and decide which of the people I use on a regular basis to highlight as the Resource Day vendor. Sometimes it's someone I have just discovered and sometimes it's someone that has been a go to source for what seems like forever, and they almost get lost in the shuffle. Well today's resource is one of the latter. It is Exquisite Surfaces and it has taken me a while to feature them, because we use them so often, they almost feel like part of the office.

When they thought up the name for this place it must have been tough, since the stuff certainly is exquisite, but surfaces? Well they do do floors, whether its stone, terra cotta, wood, or ceramic, but they also do ceilings in reclaimed wood, fireplaces, fountains, and almost anything else you can imagine, its almost hard to know where to start.

Their specialty is rustic materials for the home, and they have an incredible collection both reclaimed and new floors. I especially like the old tiles that have been taken from old Villa's and Chateau's in Europe, the patina is authentic, but they do come at a premium. For others there are reproductions of these that are faithful to the point of looking dusty. This pattern is repeated throughout their store, Antique Fireplaces, or faithful reproductions, or reclaimed old floors or pre-finished new floors that have the feel of older floors.

With Locations in New York, Greenwich, San Francisco and Los Angeles they are a great place for almost anyone to visit. So go in, the staff is always friendly and enthusiastic to tell you about their inventory, or just browse the great web site. Say Hi for me!

Painted Floors: Stone

Last month I did a post on Painted Floors, which concentrated exclusively on painted wood floors. These are pretty common, and while they leave a lot of room for the imagination, today I wanted to post about something that most people don't even consider and that is painted Stone Floors. Several years ago I was face with a design conundrum, I was working on a new house and I designed this beautiful bathroom that was like a quiet oasis. It had very little pattern anywhere, but I felt like I needed a soft pattern on the floor. Mt immediate thought was to go with a mosaic, but after selecting a pattern and some stones, the price turned out to be a lot more than we could afford. As they say necessity is the mother of invention, I suggested a painted floor and here is the result, a soft palette that feels like an old fresco, even prettier than the mosaic would have been. Here are some thoughts about doing one of your own:

• Start with a very porous stone, usually a soft limestone, and be sure it hasn't been sealed
• We painted this floor with a variety of wood stains, but you could use almost an permanent stain.
• We did this in a studio, but you could do it in place after the floor had been laid, but that would make me very nervous, in case you make a mistake (we made several).
• Pick a pattern from almost anywhere, this pattern came from an old book on Turkish mosaics, but I have recreated patterns by William Morris, or in one case recreated a wall paper on the floor that I used on the wall of the same room.
• You can use a projector on a wall to blow up the pattern, or some patience and a photocopier can do the same trick.
• Trace on the pattern, and then just paint away, this time it really is important to stay within the lines!
• After you are done and the painting is dry, be sure to use several coats of a clear penetrating, stone sealer, and voila, your creation is there for posterity!
• I think repeating patterns are probably better, since it ties into the modular nature of the stone tile.
• Using patterns that don't require shading is also better, since it can be tricky trying to control how much stain goes where, its like painting on chalk, so take it slow, and practice on a spare piece first.

Good Luck and Happy Painting!