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When you use natural stone in the interior or exterior of your home, you are creating an elegant appearance that adds value. You can enhance an entryway or provide a focal point to a room by using stone on the façade or walls. In a garden, it gives structure when you use it to construct a wall or path. It’s the perfect fit for kitchens, bathrooms, fireplaces, outdoor patios, and gardens when you want to display an elegant style.

5 Ways Natural Stone Creates Elegance for Your Home

Classic and timeless

Have you ever driven around homes in a stately neighborhood and had your eyes drawn to the stone facades? Stone adds a touch of class that weathers beautifully with time. It is extremely durable and low maintenance, providing lasting beauty. It’s appearance even on newer homes takes us back to the magical days of the Old World and all its elegant beauty.

Unrivaled for beauty

Natural stone provides an exceptional and special beauty that other materials cannot compare to. There is something about the finished, polished look of stone that even the most experienced craftsman cannot achieve using other elements. Synthetic materials just cannot rival the appearance and feel that it offers.

Rich, distinct tones

The earthiness of the stone is appealing no matter where you place it. The very thought of using bluestone, limestone and slate in your home conjures up visions of richness and distinctiveness in neutral tones that can match any décor. Depending on the type of stone you choose, you can seamlessly integrate it with all the color schemes of your home and show off your sense of style.

Variations to be enjoyed

Stone has its own natural characteristics such as color, texture, pattern, as well as hardness and porosity. With the various types of stone, you can find the perfect type for your own, unique style! Use it to create your own space whether for a rustic flair for the fireplace, with warm, welcoming arches at the front, or with a neat, sophisticated entertainment area outside.

Versatile flexibility

A great advantage of stone is that it can be used in a myriad of construction applications that show you’ve paid attention to the details. This helps to add to its unique beauty when you can apply it to columns and arches to create an eye-catching entrance. When used in multiple rooms so it flows through the house or within the garden, it can create a grand impression!

Natural stone can create an ambiance and bring an elegant style to your home. Fieldstone Center has a wide selection of stone for the right fit that matches your style. Come visit our showroom or contact us for more details at (770) 385-7708.

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4 Ideas for Using Stone to Transform Your Home

Revamp your backyard space.

Relaxing and entertaining outside is better with a stone patio and luxuries such as an outdoor kitchen and fireplace. It helps you to extend your living space on chilly, spring nights. And the beauty of stone can blend well with your outdoor landscaping to create the atmosphere you desire. Flagstone comes in a variety of colors and patterns for installing a patio and it can be matched with thin stone veneer to build an outdoor kitchen, bar, fireplace or fire pit.

Upgrade your garden paradise.

Use natural flagstone or gravel to create a walkway through your garden. Add in the soft sounds of a waterfall surrounded by the visual appeal of riverrocks or drystack stones. Or incorporate a stone wall to separate elevation changes along with some gorgeous bluestone steps. A surprise diversion provides the ultimate peacefulness from the busy life when you create a side path to a quiet, paved sitting area.

Add curb appeal.

It’s amazing how different your exterior can look with beautiful, thin stone veneer features on the façade. Use stone veneer in columns, as a short decorative wall, as a trim, or on the foundation. Installing it at the front entrance is a great way to upgrade your home’s look while acting as a focal point for the rest of your homes exterior. Stone veneer will give a sophisticated appearance that would be perfect for a first impression when visitors arrive.

Create indoor luxury.

Natural stone continues to be a favorite interior decorating material. One way to use it is as an accent wall. You can change the whole look of a family room, kitchen, or bedroom when you add stone to one wall. It will give an earthy feature that is a great conversation piece. Or if you don’t want to use a whole kitchen wall for a stone accent, add it as a backsplash. Thin stone veneer is easy to apply on walls and even easier to clean. Just wipe down the surface.

When you are ready to choose the perfect stone to transform your home, let Fieldstone Center assist you. We have a large variety of stone products for all your interior and exterior decorating needs. Call us at (770) 385-7708 and tell us about your project.

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Manufactured stone, also known as Creative Stone, is a manmade, mass produced decorative stone made with cement, natural iron oxide pigments, and lightweight aggregates. The concrete mix is molded and colored to simulate the look and feel of natural stone. The use of lightweight aggregates makes it much lighter than natural stone. Because it is lightweight, it is easy to handle and install.

The Development of Manufactured Stone

Stone has been used in construction for centuries. If you were to tour the castles of Europe, you might see some of the stone structures from the 1200s still standing. Stone construction is durable.

If you were to look at many of the buildings constructed prior to the 1900s, you’ll see foundations, fireplaces, chimneys, and exterior accent features built with natural stone. By the mid-1900s, building methods improved and natural stone became more of a luxury. It was heavy, expensive, and time consuming to use.

As the market became more adaptable to other construction materials, manufactured stone became popular as an alternative building material. Today it provides a remarkably realistic rock look that it is widely used in interior and exterior applications.

How It Differs from Natural Stone

Manufactured stone, faux stone, architectural stone, cultured stone – the list continues but they all are the same. They are derived from a mold and made to look like real stone. So how does it differ from natural stone?

Manufactured stone is a decorative alternative to natural stone. Besides being lightweight, color is a great advantage because it comes in a variety of designs and colors not available in natural stone. The lightweight characteristics are also advantageous. It can be used in places where a building’s structure can’t handle the weight of natural stone.

There are disadvantages, however. For example, manufactured stone is not as durable as natural stone. Therefore, if a section breaks or is removed, it is very noticeable. It’s also a porous product. For this reason, we do not recommend using manufactured stone with water applications such as fountains and pools. The concrete will also react with chemicals, causing it to deteriorate. Early applications of manufactured stone have often disintegrated. To avoid this, when used outdoors you should take the additional step of applying a weather resistant barrier to the surface.

Today there is not much difference between the two in materials cost. Contractors know when and how to use manufactured stone to their best advantage versus natural stone. The contractor’s experience with using different materials is key to providing your project with a beautiful, quality construction.

Fieldstone Center has a wide selection of both natural and manufactured stone. Find out more when you contact us at (770) 385-7708.

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If you have new construction or are doing a home improvement project, you will love the many advantages of using thin stone veneer. It can add beauty and increase the value of your property. Thin stone veneer is a popular choice for many good reasons.

4 Advantages for Using Thin Stone Veneer

Versatility

Its versatile in its use and application. Easy to use in a variety of projects, you can use it as a standalone product for new construction or apply it to existing surfaces to accent interior and exterior features. Plus, it’s lightweight so there is no need for a footing or anchoring with a support ledge. Thin stone veneer adheres to a surface. Use it as inlaying in your landscaping, for the construction of an outside kitchen, for siding and cladding of your home, to reface or resurface your fireplace, and any number of other projects.

Beauty

It captures the texture and color of the natural stone that it is cut from to create a gorgeous focal point in your landscape and an elegant touch inside your home. With the many types of stone available in veneer, you can find a style to fit your taste. Decorators love it because of the variety of beautiful stones that provide an abundance of colors, textures, and shapes to choose from. And the beauty lasts. Because it is natural stone, the color doesn’t face or discolor with time.

Low Maintenance

The natural stone qualities of thin stone veneer provide a timeless beauty that requires minimal care. The thin layers are cut from real stone that resists weather and ultraviolet damage if used in exterior projects. All that is needed for an exterior surface is periodic pressure cleaning. When used for interior projects, the product is usually sealed so you will only have to reseal it periodically. That’s it!

Durability and Hardness

Besides providing timeless beauty to your exterior and interior home, thin stone veneer has the hardness and durability of the stone that it is cut from. Natural thin stone veneer continuously outperforms other material alternatives because of its compressive strength and freeze/thaw durability. Depending on the natural stone, it will not easily chip or break. And if it does chip, you might not even notice since it will keep the consistency of the stone.

Another great advantage is that it is economical! Fieldstone Center provides quality thin stone veneer in a variety of styles and colors. Talk to us about your project and we can help you find the right product to fit your needs. Call us for more information at (770) 385-7708.

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When you bring natural stone into your home, you bring a luxury of unmatched beauty. It can increase the value of your home and give a powerful statement. Beautiful, reliable and practical, there are various ways to incorporate stone into your interior. Versatile to use, it fits in perfectly with almost any setting. You can bring it into multiple rooms so it flows through the house or create a focal point that makes a strong impression.

Ways to transform your living space with natural stone

Fireplace

Nothing warms the home like the distinct, rich tones of natural stone. A stone fireplace prevents a living space from feeling cold and dismal. Whether used for a section or to build a fireplace from floor to ceiling, thin stone veneer is a common choice because of its versatility and ease to install. Fieldstone Center also specializes in fabrication of custom cut limestone, bluestone, and sandstone for a fireplace surround that is one of a kind.

Architectural Features

Working with stone is an art form that can enhance your home’s architectural features and add in new features to soften the appearance. Use it to bring attention to columns and archways. Blend the unique characteristics of stone on walls to give an inviting accent to any room. From the elegance of a rubble design pattern to the rustic beauty of a web wall, you can define your space to your own personal tastes.

Entertainment Area

The earthiness of stone appeals to the senses. It lends a sense of calmness and peace to the ambiance, creating a sanctuary for you to invite guests to relax and unwind. Incorporating it into your entertainment area makes sense. Adding stone gives uniqueness, texture and color to a room. You can use it for the backsplash or build a wet bar. With options such as drystack, riverrock or veneer, you can create a cozy atmosphere with a welcoming feel.

Natural Stone Flooring

People have recognized the one of a kind look of natural stone flooring for a long time. There are numerous choices in colors and patterns when using flagstone indoors. You have amazing options to choose from, such as bluestone, limestone and slate. Any of these will bring an elegance into your home. And you’ll have the benefit of low maintenance on a floor that will give lasting beauty!

Make living in your home a little more enjoyable by bringing the beauty of nature inside. Fieldstone Center has a wide selection of stone for your interior design project. Come visit our showroom or contact us for more details at (770) 385-7708.

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When you add a fireplace or cover an existing one with stone, you get a timeless structure that fits in perfectly with almost any setting. This is because stone mixes and matches well with many different materials and with any taste in decorating that you have in your home. It will enhance the beauty of a room whether it is rustic or elegant, traditional or modern, or of European or Asian influence.

If you are building a stone fireplace, you will reap the benefit of having upgrades when you put your house on the market. Depending on the design, you will need to determine whether you want to go with a natural or manufactured product. A home with natural stone accents is valued for its unique attributes and recognized for its customization, which you cannot find in most products today. Manufactured stone mimics the beauty of natural stone and is less expensive.

Choose from a Variety of Stone Options

Whether you choose a natural or manufactured product, there are many choices. Common choices include veneer, limestone, marble, slate, and granite. Each of these has their distinct properties and will provide a different look to your fireplace. While stone is incredibly durable, some options are more durable than others. And you can get it cut with a beautiful shine or showing its natural texture. Depending on the type you select, you will have a variety of styles, patterns, colors, and sizes available that will make your home look truly amazing!

Many people consider marble to be the best option for the fireplace, but it is also the most expensive. Limestone and granite are two of the most popular choices and they offer prices that are affordable for the level of quality provided. All of these have color options that are gorgeous. But sometimes it can be difficult getting the right blend of colors and shapes. Thin stone veneer is another good option to create that right blend and turn your fireplace into a piece of art!

By working with one of our customer service associates or our outside sales associates at Fieldstone Center, we can help you with the design and type of stone that is just what you want. If it is a softer appearance you are looking for, we have selections of natural limestone with curved patterns. Or if you want to make a strong impact, we can design a fireplace with rectangle and square patterns, drystack stone, or freeform, irregularly-shaped wall stone patterns. We also can provide custom cut limestone, bluestone, and sandstone for fireplace surrounds.

What is the statement you want to make when your family and guests come into your home? Let that statement be strong, natural, and beautiful. Contact Fieldstone Center and get the perfect design and stone for your fireplace.

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