Stone features can enhance your enjoyment spent outdoors. With the late-summer season comes the urge to find time by the pool and grilling on the patio with friends and family. Your pool and patio areas can be more exciting with added luxuries that don’t have to be found only at resorts. In fact, more people are learning to incorporate resort luxuries into their own outdoor spaces.

Here are some ideas for adding stone features that can make your outdoor space more enjoyable.

Expand your patio for more entertainment

Get ready for entertaining outside. If you have a small concrete patio space, you have limitations and your area might not be that appealing. You’ll be hip when you replace the concrete pad with a new surface of flagstone. This is the perfect surface material to bring beauty and function to your space. The various colors and patterns provide options that are appealing. Our Sequatchie Gray and Smokey Mountain flagstones are two popular varieties we offer. The luxury of a flagstone patio area can give you renewed energy to decorate with tables and chairs that are perfect for entertaining.

Build a beautiful waterfall

There is something exotic about having a waterfall in your backyard! You can incorporate a gorgeous stone veneer feature with your existing pool or design a pond with a waterfall in your garden. There are an amazing number of stone veneer products to choose from that will make your waterfall unique. Some of our favorite stone veneers for waterfalls are Thick Veneer Fieldstone or Riverrock.

Create a walkway to your patio

Sometimes you might prefer that your guests use a side entrance compared to going through your home when you entertain in the backyard. Entice your guests toward the side entrance with a beautiful walkway of flagstone or stepping stones. Mix in some gravel between the flagstone or create an edging with stacked drystone to add more detail. If you have a slope, think of the beauty that our Bluestone Cut Pattern would look with bluestone steppers for an elegant entrance. Your walkway doesn’t have to be a straight route. Planting shrubs and flowers along an indirect route provides interest that helps guests enjoy the walk.

Add in a cozy fireplace or fire pit

Imagine your family and friends hanging out together by a warm fireplace or fire pit in your backyard. At Fieldstone Center, we have premade fire pit kits that are easy to install. If you prefer, choose from our variety of stone veneer products to build a unique fire pit or fireplace that will soon be a favorite area for entertaining. Some stone veneer products that would look great in a fireplace are Ashlar Square Fieldstone and Elberton Granite Rubble.

Finding time to use your outdoor space is easier when you have luxuries that create a paradise in your backyard. Fieldstone Center is available to assist you with selecting the best stone products for your new project. Contact us at 770-385-7708 for more information and assistance.

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If you are thinking of using manufactured stone and are stuck on the type, a good place to start is deciding on the shape. There are three main popular types that are based on the general stone’s shape:

• Ledgestones are broken, symmetrical, and tight-fitting stones with a wide range of sizes and colors. The stones are stacked together using a mortar, cement, and sand mixture. They are generally short and wide with flat-cut sides and a jagged front for a rustic appearance. When selecting ledgestones in your architecture, they are mostly used on residential home facades or interior fireplaces, and can also be used in landscaping wall applications.
• Fieldstone is a gathered material and this stone material is typically left in its natural state. They are random-sized stones that have the appearance of being unearthed and stacked. The irregular shapes provide a much different rustic beauty compared to ledgestones. They work well in a variety of settings from interior fireplaces to home facades to landscaping.
• Riverrock are shaped using smoother, oblong river rocks, or cobblestones. They can show depth when used in architecture. The stones are suited for rough borders, pond and stream beds, or wall construction.

The shape of the rock has a lot to do with creating the appearance you are aiming for. If you are looking for a chiseled and stacked look, ledgestones are a good choice. If you want more random stacking with a smoother look, fieldstones are a good choice. Riverrocks work well when you want a slight uniformity in size, depth, and a smooth surface.

When considering the shape of manufactured stone, think about how it will match with your style. Native American Indians used the ledgestone style for construction of buildings and walls along cliff edges and ledges where the stones were sourced. The fieldstone style has historically been popular in agricultural areas because it is associated with the rocks found when plowing the fields in preparation for planting crops. And as you might guess, riverrocks are popular along rivers where the rocks have been tumbled over hundreds of years to become smooth and rounded.

Once you determine your overall shape, your next step is deciding on color and size. Fieldstones come in a multitude of color choices while riverrocks have colorful rocks. Ledgestones are usually in various neutral hues. When decorating, adding in lighter colors can help brighten and open up your space. Darker colors can make your space look smaller and more intimate.

As for the size of the stone, smaller stones and pebble textures look better when you are working in a small area. Whereas, you have more flexibility when using larger or random-sized stones in a larger area. And while ledgestone has softer colors with pinks, beige and grays, its blocky size works best in larger spaces so that it is not overwhelming.

Fieldstone Center has a wide selection of manufactured stone and natural stone for your home project. We can help you find the shape, size, and color that work best in your home. For more information or to see our products, contact us at 770.385.7708.

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