The kitchen is, historically, the central gathering place of the home. It’s where families come together to share meals, conversation, and entertainment. What makes the kitchen such a great place to design within? Simply put, it is a challenge to cohesively intertwine the many components that make up this space.
Consider the integration between the various trades and technologies. There are the mechanical and electrical aspects to consider. After all, the form of your natural stone hood must blend holistically with the function it is required to facilitate. When completed properly, this stone “sculpture” is a visual and functional symphony for all to enjoy.
A Materials Marketing stone range hood will help create a perfectly blended room and reinforce a punctuated focal point within the space.
Let’s get down to a few details. A typical opening question from a potential client might be: “how much is the stone hood in your catalog?” This is certainly a valid question. However, it is very much like asking a builder how much would a custom home cost. In order to avoid a frustrated customer, the home builder might follow up with questions such as:
•Where would you like to build?
•What size home do you desire?
•What style of home are you looking for?

We also require more information to properly budget your natural stone hood. Here are four questions that you should initially expect:
•What size range (cook top) are you working with?
•What is your ceiling height?
•What stone are you interested in using?
•Have you preliminarily selected a design you prefer?

These answers will help us to determine the overall design and sizing of the hood and in turn project a reasonable budget number. Of course, there are a great number of details that would also need to be understood to bring this element of your project together. Using the house analogy, this will help us decide if you’re looking for a cottage or a mansion and which will fit on your lot!
Selecting your Design

Many customers seem to feel that design options are limited. My response to this comment is to look at our fireplace designs. Remember that your stone hood will be cut from a block of natural stone. Any of our fireplace designs can be transformed into a kitchen hood application!
Within the design of your range hood, it must be understood that there are 3 main elements to the product:

The Corbel
•Corbels are decorative stone brackets that hang beneath the shelf adjacent to the range. These may be intricately carved or simply designed to add fullness to the unit. The corbel element may “hang” from the shelf, or it may be incorporated with a plinth that carries the design down to the counter top. Corbels and plinths are a great idea when you’re trying to encapsulate a mosaic backsplash on the wall behind the cook top.

The Shelf
•The shelf portion of the range hood is the stone that wraps the mechanical unit that evacuates fumes from the cook top. The shelf may be designed as straight, arched (radial, eyebrow, or gothic), thick or thin with a variety of projections and details. The limitations to the shelf is the space allowed between the cabinets.

The Stack
•This is the material that runs from above the shelf to the ceiling and typically conceals the ventilation systems plumbing. Stack designs vary from straight, tapered, concave or convex and may include decorative niches and crown moldings that transition the stone to the ceiling.
It is important to note that each of these elements are independent from the others and are not necessary for your application. Many hood designs will include corbels and a shelf, while the stack is plastered. Or you may elect to have a shelf without corbels and a stack. A reclaimed wood shelf with a stone stack is yet another option.
Understanding the Technical Basics

As mentioned earlier, each element of your hood is completely independent from the other components. The biggest concern clients have is the sheer weight of the stone in a working space. The correct installation method of a stone hood is tying the unit to the wall in which it rests. With a combination of proper substrate blocking and installation methods, your stone range hood will be secure forever.

As you work through the process of selecting and designing a stone range hood, you can be assured that Materials Marketing has the experience and expertise to assist with both the design and technical knowledge to create a focal masterpiece in your kitchen. And as always, we challenge you to dare to be different. Let us help you make a unique masterpiece for your kitchen!
Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around the USA. Visit with the design professionals there.

Steve Schutt

We are all familiar, in present day, with the chevron on the sleeve of militaries around the world. Above right are the “stripes” worn by a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.
The chevron pattern has also thrown itself fashion forward in couture recently. This is easily observed on dresses, tops, purses, shoes, and bathing suits, just for example. For a bold look you can use the chevron pattern with bright colors like yellow, pink and orange. Or you can tone the pattern down with the use of neutral colors like black, white, gray, and tan.

Recently, renowned “trend spotter”, Mark Leevan discussed the chevron in residential interior design in the examiner.com. Mark wrote that “The time for bold, yet neutral chevron has come! This pattern is showing up everywhere: on kitchen walls, backsplashes, floors, throw rugs, pillows and shower curtains. Most Chevron patterns alternate black then white then black, but by playing around with alternative colors, you can lessen the impact of the design and achieve a more serene look”.

European blogger, Temenouzhka Zaharieva, echoed these sentiments in clippings.com when she wrote, “patterns, and especially graphic patterns are making a steady comeback in interior design- from chevrons to stripes, and in every combination in between. They are an easy way to make a whimsical, bold statement and transform an ordinary interior into a space special and sophisticated.”
Since we here at Materials Marketing are in the stone and tile business, we have imparted our own spin on the chevron. As you can see below, we have taken a wonderful white marble from Vermont that we call Montclair and created a simple but defining chevron like pattern using this luxurious white stone. ip.

As always, we pride ourselves on our “hands on” service. With that said, we realize that to incorporate a chevron into a project you are working on may be a new experience for you. Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around the USA. Stop in and visit with the design professionals there. They can help you have a “chevron enhanced” 2013.

Natural Stone Wall
While practicing Sun Salutation and posing in Vrksasana, or tree pose, a yogi needs engagement in privacy. Installing a natural stone wall creates seclusion for peace of mind and self-awareness. Not only will exterior stone walls provide privacy, the structures also define your landscape with elegance and allure. While selecting your veneer stones, remember that antique stones have an organic feel. And for the most indigenous feel, build walls with fieldstone because of its natural, uncut form, according to Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series from the University of Minnesota. Integrate a flowing waterfall to create calming natural sensories that enhance a meditative state, stimulate the senses and help you achieve deeper awareness. Maintain a spacious landscape that welcomes sunlight, the natural movement of energies and intangible possibilities.

Pocket of Sanctuary
Reserve a small space for your actual yoga practice and meditation. This will be a space to where you retreat to feel calm and experience serenity. Equip your space with healing stones, an essential oil candle vaporiser and a yoga mattress. Although you may think of yoga mattresses as bed mattresses from Macys.com, they’re actually still yoga mats that are cushiony and weigh more, which provides a more comfortable experience if you’re practicing on stone concrete. If you’re investing in an empowering and meditative yogi’s landscape, invest in a superior-quality, slide-resistant yoga mat from Jade Yoga or Manduka too.

Zen Garden
Whether you meditate regularly or during savasana, the conscious act of letting go and focusing on the awareness of the breath enhances your well being, especially among natural elements.
Topher Delaney, an award-winning landscape designer, tells YogaJournal.com that “creating a garden is a profound and deeply personal process of discovery” and a spiritual journey. Jivamukti Yoga instructor adds that one of the primary relationships yoga focuses on is “between the body and the environment.”
Yoga outdoors becomes an interactive experience that awakens the senses and opens the conscious to deeper understandings.

Create a green and lush yoga-scape that enhances the body-environment relationship by turning your stone walls into vertical gardens with trailing foliage and creeping vines. Adorn your living walls with layers of ivy that cascade throughout the stones and place ornamental, flowering trees for a small Zen garden. Enhance the peacefulness and tranquility of your alfresco yoga studio by incorporating potted bonsai, Japanese maples, evergreen shrubbery and a variety of colorful perennials.

Stopping by any one of the Materials Marketing showrooms across the country will get you the professional help you need to use natural fieldstone to enhance your quality of life.

by Candice Matthews

As those family aspirations became reality, the husband and wife reengaged Mr. Luce to build them a second and larger home that would more accommodate a lifestyle rich with a growing household. This next home was the completion of the trilogy. If the first residence indicated expectation and the second represented fulfillment this one was seemingly being built for contentment.

As Mr. Luce explained, from a simple size of the home perspective, the couple no longer needed the sheer volume of space they once did. Consequently, there was to be a very concerted focus on the finishes. This is where the Materials Marketing team of Theresa Brustkern and Nikki Taylor entered the scene. Mr. Luce noted that the local Materials Marketing showroom was very well known for being a fashion forward location featuring stone and tile at its finest, with a very knowledgeable design staff.

Theresa and Nikki helped the homeowners through the stone and tile finish materials selection process with an eye towards elegance, subtlety and cohesion. The primary floor finish in the living space became Dourdan marble. A great example of creative cohesion was the homeowners and the entire team deciding that the same stone could be used on the floor both inside and out by the simple change of finish. So, the interior space would have nicely honed finish and the exterior would change to what we at Materials Marketing call our Antico finish. This would allow for greater non slip characteristics in the more challenging outside environment.

Leveraging their ability to deliver customized but timely products, Theresa and Nikki worked with the client to help them realize two areas in one of a kind custom tile and stone patterns. The kitchen backsplash features a unique ceramic tile pattern from a long time Materials Marketing vendor, Pratt and Larson. Next, a special stone mosaic pattern, from our own factory in Mexico, was created to add energy and interest on the walls in one of the bathroom areas.

In conclusion, this Dick Clark designed and Jon Luce built masterpiece was completed in an orderly fashion and with the beautiful results that you see here in photographic splendor.

So if the question is, “how do I build a luxury custom home”, perhaps part of the answer is to stop by one of the eleven Materials Marketing showrooms across America. The design teams there will provide many of the answers that you need!
by John Valentine

Therefore, a logical assumption for interior design and flooring design in particular, can and should be that shape also follows function. While somewhat less lyrical a phrase, I believe you get my point. A standard shape in stone and tile flooring has always been the rectangle. In the United States, we have long associated the 4”x 8” rectangle as the “paver” shape. As you can see in the image below , this shape is used in a fairly utilitarian fashion in a commercial setting. Similarly, the 3”x6” rectangle has morphed into “subway tile”. The term has risen from the shapes historical usage as shown below in the NYC subway system. In post war Europe, it was very common to see 5” x 10” tiles as clinker tile in commercial flooring. The common ground the three shapes share is the symmetry of the 2:1 ratio between the longer leg and the shorter leg of the piece. These basic forms also follow very well the utilitarian function they perform.

We were hoping to get the best possible feel for how the shape that is the rectangle is currently being used by today’s design community. In order to do so, we were able to get some time with Paige DeLany in the Materials Marketing location in Atlanta. Paige holds a BFA degree from the University of Georgia and spends her professional time on the frontlines of design in a fashion forward, to the trade showroom. As such, her daily experience can help us understand the rectangle as a flooring shape in today’s market place.

Paige discussed the fact that the elongated rectangle, where the longer leg was greater than twice the shorter leg, is very popular. Her clients are using these visually interesting forms to change how spaces may be perceived. For example, a hallway area can be made to have a very directional connotation when an elongated stone tile is used on the floor. Also, as you can observe in the image below , a change of plane from floor to wall or wall to ceiling can have additional interest imparted when this unique shape is brought into play by the designer.

So, in conclusion, we have seen that when the “function” is to change how a floor, wall or ceiling is perceived, then the “form” of an elongated stone tile helps facilitate that function. Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around the USA. Visit with the design professionals there. Ask them about how form can follow function in stone tile usage!

by John Valentine

That tradition continues today with Historical Brick from Materials Marketing. This product is a glazed thin brick that captures the functional durability and rugged look of traditional brick and infuses it with the versatility and design intent of art tile. Add twenty two modern soothing colors and fourteen shapes and Historical Brick lifts the humble brick to an even higher level. Both sleek urban looks and warm craftsmen interiors invite the use of Historical Brick.

Made with real brick clay, Historical Brick has the toughness to last. It has passed ASTM C1088 and earned an Exterior Grade rating, so can be used outside even in northern climates. It is also the right choice for the environment. With 70% recycled content and 75% less mass than traditional brick, Historical Brick takes less energy to manufacture and ship.

Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around the USA. Visit with the design professionals there. Ask them about Historical Brick. They can guide you back to the future with glazed thin brick.
by John Valentine

Landscape Balance
When deciding to incorporate hardscaping onto your property, ensure that the elements complement your landscape. You don’t want conspicuous boulders protruding from the lawn or clashing shapes and lines. Your aim is to organically blend the unique appearance of your landscape with the architecture of the hardscape. The shape of cut stone or tile, pathways or patio should naturally transition into the surroundings. Furthermore, these designs should extend to harmonize with your home’s exterior architecture. Textural balance is also crucial to the overall appearance of your property makeover. Adhere to a textural theme of stone or wood and limit the textures to two, advises HGTV.com.
Greenery
Don’t allow your hardscaping project to get out of hand and overrun your lawn. Keep some vegetation and greenery to frame your yard installations. For example, you can plant blue fescue and your favorite flowers to border stone steps. Or plant shady moss under and around a fieldstone path. Keep a swath of grassy lawn for the kids, suggests HGTV. To easily maneuver around the hardscape obstacles, a zero turn lawn mower will help you to maintain well-manicured lawns.
Pathways
That old dirt pathway in your backyard could probably use a visual makeover. For Southwestern homes, fine desert gravel surrounded by a coarser slate gravel mulch and cacti or agave makes for an appealing pathway, opines Sunset.com. Set small rocks or pebbles flat-side up in concrete for a smooth path or simplistic flagstone set in multicolored gravel. Your eye should travel toward a destination, but have pleasant visual pauses along the way, according to landscape designer Susan Murphy on to HGTV.com. Use an Oriental lantern or weeping evergreen to subtlety build up to the main attraction. Consider installing a stone fountain or statue to act as a focal point at the end of a path.
In addition to foot traffic pathways, think about the pathway for your car. Entertain the idea of renovating your driveway with a material other than asphalt. Stone pavers set in a consistent pattern will give your driveway an idiosyncratic quality in comparison to your neighbors.

Patio & Stone Walls
Low stone walls add rustic allure to any landscape. Choose a regionally appropriate variety of stone, one that matches the distant mountains, desert sandstone or granite. Not only do walls add charm, but they serve a utilitarian function as well by holding back slopes when integrated into the hilly turf. Homeowners can also erect a wall to encompass a patio. Setting up a semicircular stone wall enclosing a gravel patio and central sycamore tree is one nontraditional patio option. Another is the soft patio — a “best of both worlds” solution to a lawn and patio. This irregular combination intertwines paving stones and surrounding grass turf.
As always, we pride ourselves on our “hands on” service. Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around the USA. Visit with the design professionals there. Ask them about the limestone from our A.J. Brauer quarry. They can help you realize your hardscape dreams.

Let’s now review a few points about natural stone that might be considered advantageous. It is relatively strong, stable, timeless and durable as witnessed by monuments and works of art that are centuries old and have aged wonderfully. Natural stone will appreciate in value when used properly, is very eco-friendly, will resist natural elements, requires minimal maintenance and offers almost limitless design options.

Natural stone comes in various shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and patterns. There is a stone that is perfect for almost every application out there. It can be considered a one of a kind building material and in fact hand carved natural stone is a true work of art!

It is impossible to find exactly matching tiles, slabs or architectural elements. It is similar to finger prints, in that no one has the same finger print and that is something that makes us one of a kind. There are many natural causes that affect the graining and coloration of stone over time. They include mineral deposits, underground springs, temperature and seismic shifts. These occurrences are impossible to re-create and can only be done by Mother Nature herself. All of the “imperfections”, what I like to think of as character, are unique reflections of the stones “life”.

On the other hand, here are some perceived and real disadvantages of natural stone. It can be expensive, depending on the type of stone used. Many times the final product received doesn’t look exactly like the sample. There are generally requirements in maximum sizing and length and the material cannot always be seamless.

In terms of cast stone, there are some clear positives. Quite often, it is considerably lighter and can be easier and quicker to manufacture and install. In many cases it is less expensive but by no means is that always the case.

There are a few draw backs when considering cast stone. For example, cast stone struggles to achieve the same level of detail as carved natural stone. There is only so much you can capture with the molds that produce the product. However, the possibilities are endless when you have a sculptor carving natural stone. The hardness and density of the stone and the artistic expression of the artisan doing the work add immeasurable value. It can also be quite challenging for a cast stone producer to achieve a genuine visual interpretation of veining and overall stone “movement”.

So consider this. Materials Marketing has eleven showrooms around America. The designers that work in them can assist you in creating your own natural stone floor, fireplace, mosaic or whatever else you may dream up. Stop in and visit!