| Unlike metal and glass, bricks and stone provide a | | | | stone, granite is also both hard wearing and long lasting |
| textural foil to soft furnishings and wood that carries | | | | meaning you are not choosing style over substance |
| no danger of making your home appear harsh or cold. | | | | but instead are getting a glorious blend of the two. |
| Available in so many variations and styles they can | | | | Old barn conversions look stunning when the original |
| help create so many looks in your home and are one | | | | stone work is left exposed on main walls.The walls |
| of the few materials that are just as usable in the | | | | may need extensive cleaning and re-pointing, |
| bathroom as they are in the living room. Unusually for | | | | nevertheless the end result is well worth the extra |
| such hard materials, both can be surprisingly effective | | | | effort. The natural variations in the colours and hues of |
| in bringing warmth to a room. | | | | the stone can provide a great way to coordinate soft |
| The most obvious reason you would use stone in your | | | | furnishings with. |
| home is to add an air of understated class and | | | | Since the New York loft or warehouse style |
| expense. Stone comes with an unspoken guarantee | | | | apartment started to greatly influence interior design |
| of making any space look expensive. Marble for | | | | almost twenty years ago, bare brick walls have been |
| example brings with it its own connotations of stately | | | | a long sought after feature in modern homes or |
| homes or even Greek temples. Slate is a definite | | | | apartments. A bare brick wall oozes quality, solidness |
| favourite amongst interior designers at the minute. The | | | | and style and like slate, contrasts unbelievably well with |
| reason for this is it has a little something of everything, | | | | soft furnishings or other natural elements such as |
| it is naturally hard wearing, it's very chic and modern, it | | | | wood. To make the most of a bare brick wall, |
| adds an element of the natural world to a room and it | | | | spotlights should be positioned above and angled down |
| is timeless. When used to replace bathroom tiles or as | | | | onto the wall in order to really show of its texture. the |
| a kitchen floor, its dark, mysterious grey tones instantly | | | | beauty of a brick wall is that the red tinge of the bricks |
| add glamour and seductive appeal. The beauty of | | | | actually add warmth to a space and really sit well next |
| each unevenly cut block practically jumps of the wall | | | | to delicately patterned curtains or settees. |
| when contrasted with some extra soft bathroom | | | | Short of tearing back the plaster in the hope of finding |
| towels or other fabrics in a bright colour such as pink, | | | | a perfect brick wall in our living room, half brick can |
| orange or red. | | | | now be purchased in most DIY stores which basically |
| Granite can be used in a similar fashion to replace | | | | allow us to create a brick veneer over an existing wall |
| wood or Formica as a kitchen work-top. An ultra sleek | | | | and enjoy the same effect for a fraction of the cost. |