Stacking stone and stone in general has been extremely popular with home makers and home interior design in general across Bangalore. Till a few years back almost two thirds of customers I met wanted some kind of a stone structure in their home – be it a highlight wall or a water body.
Installing stone involved a fair amount of work and needed specialist skills. Over time there are easier alternatives that have been introduced, I myself was introduced to some of these interesting new options by an OEM manufacturer some days back and thought of penning them down in a blog post as this topic will be of interest to most readers.
Option 1: Stacking Stone: Though installation of stacking stone is not inherently difficult, it definitely is messy and needs specialized skills. The good part of stacking stone is that the finish is exactly the same as the real thing (stone itself). In addition, managing and installation on wall edges is easy as edges and corners come ready made.
Option 2: Stone Veneers: While stone veneers have been around for some time, it is only now that the variety has really flourished making it a viable alternative to natural stone. The best part of stone veneers is that they can be installed on a wall base as well as a wooden base by a carpenter – that takes out the constraint of specialist skills. Managing edges and corners is however difficult , hence the designs may need optimization to minimize edges.
Option 3: Stone finish tiles: Tile finishes are in a constant state of churn and improvement, innovation is something that has come naturally to tile makers and that maybe because of the extreme competition in the business. This constant innovation earlier led to introduction of wooden finish tiles, marble finish tiles, stone tiles etc. Lately, stone finishes have been improving and tiles exactly matching stone and concrete are now easy to find. Tile laying however is equally messy as stacking stone, the price point of tiles may however justify taking the pain of the mess for some home makers.
Option 4: Concrete tiles: Innovation has not left the world of concrete manufacturers untouched either. From being a construction product concrete first moved in as an alternative to exterior finishes, wall cladding etc. It is not entering the world of interiors in the form of concrete tiles, interior wall finishes/ cladding, vases and pots and even lighting fixtures – (yes there are manufacturers making lighting fixtures in concrete). Internal cladding in concrete resembles grey stone and hence can be used as a stone alternative. It especially looks good on large walls and facades.
Choosing the right stone …be it a diamond for the better half, a gem for better luck or stone to make your home look better, is something that has always been difficult, hope the above will help you bring the right one for your new home
Happy Home making
Nandita
