Something a Bit Different: Unusual Stones That You Should Check Out!

So you know you want a stone worktop in your redesigned and refitted kitchen. You’ve chosen stone because you want to exhibit this feature in your new room design. Or perhaps you want your kitchen to reflect your artistic flair and your choice of stone worktop is the ideal part of the room to show this. You may have a very specific concept in mind, or perhaps you want something completely different. When granite, marble and quartz are increasing in popularity, how do you find a worktop that is unique to you?

1. Pebble

Natural stone materials are made up of tiny pieces of rock condensed by time, or in the case of quartz, assisted by engineered resin. So if you want your kitchen worktop to be that bit different, it’s time to go large. So, granites that are made up of larger pieces of stone, resembling a pebbled beach. A classic look can be found in either Black and Gold Marinace or Black and White Marinace. Or if you’re after a splash of colour, check out Marinace granite in either Verde or Rosso.

2. Contrast

Use your stone worktop to create a sense of contrast in your kitchen. You could achieve this either by setting blocks of colour against each other – for example with a dark engineered stone, like Sirius Dekton set against white gloss cabinets. Engineered stone is a great surface to choose if you want to achieve uninterrupted and uniform blocks of colour. Look at the blue Silestone tones of ALTAIR for ultra modern contrast. 

3. Sparkle

If the position of your kitchen grabs the sunlight, then what better way to maximise this than with a natural granite worktop. A glittering finish brings an element of glamour into your kitchen. Star Galaxy is daintily sparking, or for larger chunks of shimmer, Labrador Blue Pearl is perfect. If you prefer a reliable and constant look, why not take a look at Glitter Noir quartz. The engineered elements of these surfaces make patterning more constant than the more natural distribution of reflectivity in natural granites.

4. Texture

When preparing and serving food, you need a sturdy and smooth worktop, which is why stone is such a functional material. However, texture is aesthetically appealing so how do you get the best of both worlds? A marbled stone can offer the appearance of depth and texture within the smooth worktop itself. Look at pink tones of marble such as Norweigan Rose for a distinctive 3D aesthetic.

5. Colour

If your kitchen design concept is hung around coloured tones rather than monochrome, why not look at stones which are in keeping with that colour scheme? Green hues draw in the natural world and make the room bathed in serenity. So go for a granite-like Verde Tropical which combines tones of green to feel organic. Achieve a modern look with blue, traditionally great for focus. The eye-catching granite Azul Macaubas will bring elegance through colour to your work surface.

6. Antiquarian

Search out unusual stones to achieve an antique look that will be equally at home within both modern and traditional schemes. A granite such as Marron Guaiba or a marble-like Giallo Siena brings almost metallic tones to the stone surface. With striking graining and marbling, these natural stones combine the aged story of the rock itself with a timeless elegance that will make your kitchen enduring in its style.

Naturally mined stone is always unique. Each slab is entirely individual as it has developed geologically over millennia. Sometimes, a design demands something that bit more distinctive, so for a huge range of different stones take a look at our range at Zenstone to find the perfect unusual stone for your new room.