Slab Sunday: Durango Travertine

 Durango Travertine is quarried near Torreon, Mexico.

From Arizona Tile's website...
"Durango travertine is a sedimentary stone formed in hot springs which is comprised of calcite calcium carbonate.
All travertines have cavities that were created when the carbon dioxide bubbles were trapped as the stone was being formed. When you are shopping for travertine you will see "filled" and "unfilled" travertine. If the stone is "unfilled" they just left those small cavities open at the quarry. When you have the tile or slab installed most people have those cavities filled with grout or cement.
If they stone is "filled" this means that the cavities were filled at the quarry with cement. Depending on the time of year and how much moisture is in the air the tone of the fill can vary and will affect the color of the stone."

Contemporary Bathroom design by Austin Interior Designer BRY design

Photo: Glass Tile Gallery.

  Since travertine is a calcium based stone anything acidic will etch the surface. You will generally see Durango travertine with a honed (matte) surface instead of polished. When the material is honed you won't notice the etching as much. Due to the etching though, you won't see travertine as kitchen countertops too often. Though it is probably one of the most popular choices for a kitchen backsplash. Generally people stick to using it as countertops in bathrooms, laundry rooms and on furniture pieces.

Traditional Kitchen design by San Francisco Kitchen And Bath Kitchens of Diablo

Mediterranean Bathroom design by San Diego Interior Designer James Patrick Walters

Other names for Durango travertine are: Torreon Stone, Paredon and Sombreretillo.

Contemporary Living Room design by Austin Interior Designer Allison Jaffe Interior Design

You will also find quite a few different styles of sinks made from Durango travertine. Durango travertine is available in 2 cm and 3 cm slabs and almost any size of tile you can think of. It is also commonly used in listelles and mosaics.

Slab Sunday: Vein Cut Silver Travertine

Silver Travertine is quarried in Italy.

 

Photo: Counter Culture

 In this post we will be focusing on Vein Cut Silver Travertine.  The Vein Cut slabs are really popular right now.
Vein cut is the linear pattern.  To read the difference between Vein Cut vs Cross cut go here.

Photo: Walker Zanger

Designed by Steven Gambrel.  Photo: Elle Decor.

 Silver Travertine is a beautiful warm and grey stone.  There are quarries Turkey and Iran that produce a silver travertine as well, but what we mainly use here is the Italian Silver Travertine.

Photo: Kitchen Clarity

Beautiful conference room, they made the floor and table base the focal point instead of the actual table.  It's a great look.

Photo: Marble of the World

Other names for Silver Travertine include: Siena Silver, Silver Screen, Ocean Silver and Amorium Silver.

Photo: By Design Builders via Houzz.

Here's a picture of the block of travertine before it's been cut and processed. 

Photo: Alibaba

Incredible sink and bathtub from Stone Forest that are made from blocks of Silver Travertine.

Photo: Stone Forest

Photo: Artistic Stoneworks

Usually we see Silver Travertine used in pretty contemporary spaces.  As you can see in the photo below, it doesn't have to be the case.  This stone looks great with the Ogee edge detail and with the more southwest looking tile.

Photo: Pacific Stoneworks

Photo: Italy Stone Marble

Silver Travertine is available in 2 cm and 3 cm slabs as well as tile.

FAQ Friday: What is the Difference Between Vein Cut and Cross Cut Travertine?

There are two common ways to cut travertine.  "Vein Cut" and "Cross Cut".  Both are the same stone, they just cut the block differently.
With Vein Cut stone they cut against the bedding so the plane is revealed.  This gives the stone the amazing linear pattern. 
Cross Cut (also called Fleuri Cut) is cut along the bedding plane.  This cut reveals a "flowery", sometimes circular pattern.  Most travertines on the market, especially in tile, are Cross Cut.

Here are some examples of Vein Cut Travertine...

Vein Cut Silver Travertine.  Photo: Counter Culture.

Photo: Alaturca Natural Stones

Photo: Kitchen Clarity

 Below are some pictures of Cross Cut Travertine so you can see the difference.

Photo: Andean Stone Company

Mediterranean Bathroom design by San Francisco General Contractor RJ Dailey Construction Co.

Mexican Noce travertine.  Photo: MGS by Design.

5 Striped Bathrooms

I love a good stripe.  I think it's a unique and clean look that is beautiful in a bath.
Here are 5 baths that have used stripes in a creative way...

These first two photos are from the same home.  It's an apartment in Paris owned by Interior Designer Jean-Louis Denoit.  See the entire home on Elle Decor.  The Kitchen and the Living Room Fireplace are just stunning.
The picture below is the Guest Bath.  The striped wall and ceiling are actually strips of French Limestone and Lagos Azul Limestone.  Isn't it amazing?!  The tub deck is a slab of the Lagos Azul limestone.  

Photo: Elle Decor

Below is the Master Bath.   The cabinetry is painted to mimic the plaster-fluted walls.

Photo: Elle Decor

This next bath was designed by S.R. Gambrel. The Vein Cut Travertine provides stripes in the shower and on the vanity countertop.

Photo: S.R. Gambrel

One of my all-time favorite stones is the Equator Marmara marble.  I love how they used it as slab on the countertop and tile on the wall and floor in the bathroom below designed by James Michael Howard.  There are lots of stripes but I think they designed it in a way that they don't fight and it's not overwhelming.

Photo: James Michael Howard

  Last we have this gorgeous Powder Bath.  The vertical tile almost looks like a waterfall. 

Spaces design by San Francisco Interior Designer Artistic Designs for Living, Tineke Triggs

What do you think of all the stripes?  Would you use stripes in your bath?

Vein Cut Silver Travertine Master Bathroom from MGS by Design

I've been posting pictures of this beautiful Parade Home we did in the Utah Valley Parade of Homes this past summer.
The home was built by Millhaven Homes and the Interior Designer was Lindy at Four Chairs Furniture.
Today I have the beautiful Master Bathroom...

Photography by hiya papaya.

The countertop is polished Vein Cut Silver Travertine.  I LOVE this travertine, it's one of my favorites! 
The edge detail is a 1 1/2" Miter.

Photography by hiya papaya.

If you need to catch up on this gorgeous home here are the links...

• Kashmire White Granite & Misty Carrera CaesarStone in the Kitchen.
• Quartz Reflections CaesarStone in the Project Room.

Silver Travertine Vanity in a Master Bath from MGS by Design

We did a beautiful home this year that was in the Northern Wasatch Parade of Homes this summer.  There was a lot of stone in this house so I'll feature the rooms separately over several days.
Today is the amazing Master Bathroom.
I LOVE the sliding barn door that separates the bath from the Master Bedroom.  (Notice the brick on the right...I'll show you that in a minute.)

Clayton Thompson* was the Interior Designer of this home.  He is a fantastic designer and one of my very favorite people to work with.  He's ridiculously good at finding antique pieces and having them refinished & repurposed into beautiful vanities, end tables, etc.  I could never walk into a second hand store and be able to find the pieces he does.  He has such a great eye.  Every piece I've seen him do has been great, but the furniture piece that he had refinished and used as the vanity & linen closets in this Master Bathroom just blew it all out of the water.
This isn't even particularly my style and I'm in love with it.  The beautiful stained glass doors are what put it over the top for me.

We fabricated the countertop to match the design and bump outs of the furniture piece.  When you see the close up in the photo below it looks kind of weird, but when you look at the piece as a whole you can see why that detail is so important.
The countertop is a cream colored slab of vein cut Silver Travertine that we purchased from our local supplier Adamas Stone. 
The edge detail is a 3/4" Ogee.

I don't generally post pictures of areas that we weren't a part of, but I just had to share this Master Bedroom with you!  The brick wall about kills me. 
The chairs are facing a window with spectacular views of Eden, UT.

Okay, back to the bath.  :)

And because no detail was spared in this home, the Master Closet was also beautiful!  We put in a small top out of Oak Bamboo quartzite from our local supplier Italia Granite.  This stone will show up in another post in a very unique application.  Stay tuned!
The edge detail on this piece is a 3/4" Ogee.

*Interior Designer, Clayton Thompson, doesn't have a website.  If you are in Utah and looking to hire an amazing designer, email me & I'll get you his info.

5 Fireplaces That Make Me Melt

I am sort of dying over how much I love these fireplaces. Amazing design + amazing stone= Stephanie's heart melting.
I realize how sad it is that these are the things that excite me.  :)

This first fireplace was done by Artistic Stoneworks.  They are a stone fabricator in Pacific, Washington.  They have quite the awesome portfolio, check it out if you have some time.  Bianco Antico granite with a mosaic tile inset. 

Photo: Artistic Stoneworks

Photo: The Zhush

Photo:  Architeria.

This is Alicia Key's old home, you can see more pictures of it here.   The white marble slabs are bookmatched. 

Photo: Hooked on Houses

Photo: Decoratti

FAQ Friday: Two Toned Kitchen Countertops

What colors of granite go together?  Can I use a different stone on my island than what's on the perimeter countertops?  My island cabinetry is different from my other cabinets, so can the granite colors be different too?

For some reason this has been a hot topic lately from customer's in our showroom and via email from our readers.  So I thought it would be a good subject to tackle today!
I like how Better Homes and Garden's put it...
"A cabinet or island in a color or wood that's different from the rest of the kitchen works much like a patterned scarf with a solid-black suit. More than a finishing touch, by breaking up the monotony, it becomes a pivotal design piece. Today's most popular example is a colored island surrounded by wood-tone or white cabinets. But it's also not uncommon to see a hutch or one section of cabinetry treated in the same manner."
They were talking about cabinets, but that also relates to the countertops.  Especially when you are considering what stone(s) to use on your two toned cabinets.

The key to mixing stones is to make sure they don't fight each other.
Natural stone is usually pretty strong, so it can be hard to find another granite that doesn't clash in pattern. I really like mixing quartz countertops with natural stone. You'll notice quartz is in most of the kitchens posted here.
I  also like using Absolute Black granite (honed and polished) as well as Soapstone with the more dramatic stones. 

I've found 10 beautiful kitchens that have used different colored countertops, I think all ten are really well done...

Emperador Dark marble on the island.  White marble on the perimeter.

traditional kitchen design by minneapolis general contractor John Kraemer & Sons

Quartz island with a Waterfall edge.  Perimeter countertops are granite.

contemporary kitchen design by seattle interior designer Garret Cord Werner

White marble on the island.  Absolute Black polished granite on the perimeter.

Photo: Decor Pad

 Quartz countertop on the island.  I can't tell for sure, but I think it may be stainless steel on the perimeter.

contemporary kitchen design by san francisco interior designer Steven Miller Design Studio, Inc.

Calacatta Gold marble on the island.  Quartz on the perimeter.

contemporary kitchen design by san francisco interior designer Artistic Designs for Living, Tineke Triggs

Sienna Silver vein cut travertine on the island.  Samsung Radianz quartz in Everest White on the sink run.

traditional kitchen design by atlanta general contractor Renewal Design-Build

Calacatta Gold marble on the island. Wood countertops on the perimeter. 

Photo: Better Homes & Gardens

Absolute Black granite on the island.  White perimeter countertops.

Photo: Houzz

White quartz on the island with grey quartz on the perimeter.

Photo: Decor Pad

A kitchen from our portfolio.  Soapstone on the island with Carrara marble on the perimeter.

Photo: MGS by Design