Used for thousands of years for building, sandstone is one of the most durable and elegant building materials in existence. For outdoor pathways and living areas, sandstone pavers bring natural yet rich colours to any space. Class and fresh, this versatile material can be used in a number of ways to enhance your outdoor spaces. Try these five practical ways to make use of sandstone in you home.

1. Outdoor Paving

Sandstone is a preferred material for outdoor paving not only because it has strong aesthetic appeal, but also because it’s highly durable. It can withstand extreme exposure to the elements and last a lifetime. Sandstone paving can look the same as it did on the day of installation even after 20 years. Sandstone needs little maintenance to retain its original condition, especially since the advent of high pressure water cleaners that can freshen the surface quickly and easily.

For outdoor living areas, the warm colours of sandstone harmonises with natural and modern colours. They also go very well with greenery, blending into the background and providing a good base for classic or modern garden designs and colour themes.

As they retain their colour so well, sandstone outdoor pavers can be used to line courtyards, patios, or balconies, and it can be used to build pathways and garden walkways.

2. Garden Features

Sandstone pavers can be used to create attractive garden features. Some ideas include:

• Capped and raised garden beds. Raised garden beds with low shrubs help bring extra dimension to the garden. Sandstone pavers can be used to line and support raised garden beds so they harmonise with the overall design of the garden.
• Steps. For courtyard gardens, pergolas, patios, balconies, and other outdoor spaces, steps can create extra dimension and texture to the space. They also serve a very practical purpose relating to access. Given the durability of sandstone, it’s a very suitable material for building steps.
• Water walls. Water walls are very popular in gardens incorporating an ultra-modern design. Sandstone wall fountains or water walls make a great feature for the garden, and the use of sandstone can bring a rustic and classic look to the wall feature.
• Barbeque. Sandstone can even be used to build a barbeque that blends into the rest of the garden.

3. Pool

Sandstone is excellent for pool coping and surrounding areas, particularly traditionally chlorinated pools. They hold up very well against water and have the added safety feature of being ‘non-slip’ when wet, which means they are very child-friendly.

The fresh warm colours of sandstone set off swimming pools very well, giving any water feature a touch of warmth and elegance.

4. Cladded Ponds

As they can withstand exposure to water, sandstone is also suitable for use around ponds or water features. The stone is often used to incorporate a luxurious and stylish appeal to gardens and outdoor features such as ponds.

5. Wall Cladding

Sandstone is a great material for wall cladding in any outdoor area. From walls to fencing and even columns, this material will hold up to extended exposure to the elements. For harmonious and matching paving on pathways and wall cladding, sandstone is a durable option that requires little maintenance or cleaning.

5 Ways to Use Sandstone in Your Home is a post from: Bellstone

Stackstone is comprised of small resin-bonded pieces of stone in lateral patterns. It’s the epitome of a natural stone look. This is a particularly popular form of cladding, providing a rock facing with the extreme durability and elegant tones of quartzite and slate. Stackstone is rapidly becoming a favorite for designers and homeowners because of its high ornamental values and excellent design flexibility.

Stackstone protection and design

Stackstone may be ornamental, but it’s also an excellent form of cladding, and it uses tough stone like quartzite. It’s a practical building approach to cladding issues with a real permanent solution to any requirement for tough materials, as well as a great look.

This isn’t a “building blocks” approach as a design feature, either. Stackstone produces a vast range of texture options, and as a design feature it’s a definite statement of style. As well as cladding, it can be used for privacy screens, feature areas in gardens, you name it.

The stone look- Working with Stackstone

The “stone look” is also the top of the market look, and is very much in demand. If you like the stackstone idea, you’ll be pleased to hear that your range of choices is practically unlimited. This basic design principle includes everything from the most modern stone look to almost ancient stone styles, and the quintessential Australian look using colored stone, and lots of it. Stackstone is great for running water features, so have a good long think about what you want and what you like.

Note: Keep stackstone in mind if you have any stone projects which are looking a bit difficult or too pricey. You may find it’s a better and simpler building option, as well as a cheaper solution.

Color and Stackstone features for top design

The really big deal about color and stackstone is that it lets your design ideas off the leash, in no uncertain terms. Stackstone allows you to do what a conventional stone masonry project often won’t: Survive paying for it.

Stone is back in real world design, thanks to stackstone, and it’s back to stay. You can design in real stone, to your heart’s content, and without your wallet trying to escape. The added beauty of stackstone design is that you can literally cost it down to the square metre.

If you see large numbers of architects, landscapers and designers in a stone supplier showroom, (and you will), that’s why. These people work with the top upmarket home designs, and they go looking for realistic materials at sane prices. That’s where they find them.

A “No Worries” option- Stackstone at work in the home

If you want to spend entire weekends cleaning or repairing things, stackstone may be a problem. It sometimes needs cleaning once every so many Blue Moons, and rarely needs any work done. Even an earthquake wouldn’t necessarily do much damage. It’s no wonder stackstone is so popular in Australia, because it’s a real No Worries option.

Stackstone Wall Cladding Natural Beauty And Versatility is a post from: Bellstone

Sandstone has been popular as a building material for thousands of years. Its reliability and easiness to work made it a favorite of ancient stonemasons. In the modern era, sandstone’s range of colors and textures has made it extremely popular in upmarket housing design. It’s loved by designers for its endless variety and reliability as a design medium. Sandstone is also the classic Australian building stone, since colonial times.

Sandstone in home design

Sandstone is perhaps the most versatile of all top level home design stones, because of its extraordinary range of textures, colors, and tones. This is a real artisan’s stone, with an astonishing range of uses. As flooring, it’s the Australian stone par excellence. You’ll find sandstone tiles in multi million dollar mansions, old Federation houses, fibro-zone houses and even beach bungalows, where its durability has replaced lino and hardwood floors.

Anywhere, any role, sandstone will do the job

This stone works as an all-purpose type of flooring, anywhere. The design features are the big bonus to go with the basic fact that sandstone is guaranteed to survive any home environment. High density sandstone really is tough as stone, which has made it the most popular Australian stone in home design. It’s also a good choice for the Australian climate, able to take the heat and the cold equally well.

Shopping for sandstone- Prepare to be dazzled

If you’re interested in color, art, and décor, forget the Louvre and Expressionist Art. Pick up a sandstone catalogue, or shop for sandstone tiles and sandstone pavers online, and you’ll find you’ve found real, affordable art for your own home. Even the most basic sandstone is a stunning mix of surface tones and textures. Sandstone, local and imported, comes with a huge range of possibilities, and what can only be called luxury in terms of choices.

Art may imitate life, but living stone sets its own standards for both. This is a stone you can live with, a true expression of personal style. It’s also unique. Sandstone allows you to work with color schemes, explore designs, and basically have as much fun as you like with your home colors.

Another name for good taste is sandstone

Stone is traditionally very highly regarded as both a design and building material by professional architects, builders, engineers, and artisans around the world. There are good reasons for this high level of respect, and sandstone epitomizes all of them. Sandstone is naturally elegant. As a building or design material, nothing comes near it. It works with light very efficiently, and its colors produce brilliant environmental effects. Sandstone is the absolute essence of the highest values of building design.

When good taste and design values are mentioned, you’ll find that professionals never have any qualms about recommending sandstone to clients. They know it’s reliable, and they know their clients will love it. This is one of the stones that built civilization, and there have been no complaints yet.

Sandstone Tiles Upmarket Designer Stone For All Areas is a post from: Bellstone

Bluestone is one of the most valued stones in architecture. This is a stone which is extremely tough, unaffected by weather, chemicals or sunlight. It’s extremely versatile, and can be used for a huge range of roles in home design. Bluestone is a volcanic rock which can be used in the most demanding situations in building, indoors and outdoors.

Bluestone for everything- a tile for all uses

The extreme strength of bluestone makes it a unique option for a very wide range of uses. Some types of stone tile are too brittle to take very hard usage, which is where bluestone really comes into its own as a design element. Top quality stone is used for cladding and salt water pools because of its high salt tolerance.

If you’re looking at design options for stone, bluestone is the safe, no worries bet every time. Bluestone tiles and pavers are tougher than their environments. They can survive anything and everything, whether it’s a party or an earthquake. You really can’t go wrong with bluestone.

Bluestone for elegance and color schemes

Bluestone is so famous for its toughness that people often forget what an elegant stone it really is. The color and style range in bluestone is excellent. Colors range from deep, almost black blues to fine blue greys. Those perfect smooth finishes on a quiet toned stone floor that you see everywhere are almost always bluestone.

You really don’t have to make any design compromises with bluestone. It goes with everything, every color scheme and every taste. Bluestone is used in both the ultra modern designer homes and the super conservative mansions. It’s often used as a design feature in its own right.

Bluestone for safety- non slip surfaces

Flamed bluestone is also a high traction safety material around the home, some built-in insurance against accidents. One of the most common uses of bluestone is as a non-slip surface, in the home and in shopping areas and around pools. Flamed and natural cut surfaces are the preferred choices for this use, and they’re used on internal surfaces where strollers and wheelchairs access is involved.

Bluestone forever- durability

Some bluestones have already outlasted the dinosaurs, so they’re well prepared to deal with a family home full of young kids, too. One of the reasons for the high popularity of bluestone is that it’s as close to a no-maintenance material as you can get. People who’ve suffered from damaged areas in the past usually pick bluestone to permanently solve their problems in those areas.

Bluestone paving is another very useful option, particularly if you’re matching other bluestone design features. It’s the classic driveway stone, able to take big loads without any risk of stress. It looks good, it needs no maintenance at all, and it’s utterly reliable in this role.

Talk to a builder, architect or designer about hard wearing stone anywhere in a building, and the answer will be bluestone, every time.

Tough And Elegant Bluestone Tiles Can Do Any Job is a post from: Bellstone

The next time our highly plasticized world starts getting you down and you feel an urge to commune with nature, slip off your shoes and walk barefoot on a floor made from natural stone.

Chances are, no matter what type or quality of stone tiles you have used for flooring, it will feel wonderfully cool during the hot summer months and retain warmth during the colder winter months.

Apart from its natural beauty, natural stone also contains no toxins or chemicals which can cause allergies.

But like all natural products, the qualities and features of various stones differ dramatically, so if you want to choose natural stone tiles for your flooring you need to consult an expert to find out which stones work most effectively where.

Let’s have a look at how you can incorporate natural stone indoors as a feature.

Slate Tiles

The beauty of slate is in the rich diversity of colours and its durability.

Each piece of slate tiling is like an individual work of art with its variations in tone and texture, ranging from pale greys and pinks to intense greens and blacks. When laid properly in a large space, these variations give a feeling of continuity and tonal flow – much like a painting.

Alternatively, individual slate tiles or small groups can be used to offset or complement a plain stone tile like sandstone on the walls or floors. For example, a cream coloured sandstone with overtones of pink can be highlighted with a small grouping of slate tiles with deeper splashes of pinks and blues, placed on the diagonal .

Like most natural stone products, a sealant improves the quality and durability of slate so it is easy to maintain, easy to keep clean, resistant to chemical spills, won’t fade and is impermeable to water.

Sandstone Tiles

Sandstone is a generic name given to a type of natural stone that contains quartzite – the inclusion of quartzite is the only characteristic the various types of sandstone share. Sandstone is obtained from quarries all over the world, so the qualities of sandstone are unique to the region where they are sourced.

Although most designers and homeowners use sandstone for outdoor paving and around traditional chlorinated pool areas, it blends beautifully indoors, particularly in bathrooms and kitchens. Sandstone is slip resistant and impervious to water (although poor quality sandstone doesn’t possess these important qualities).

Sandstone is an incredibly versatile product and is used extensively by architects and designers because of its durability, fire resistance and thermal qualities. Sandstone is generally pale in colour, so it effectively enhances the feeling of light and space when used indoors, particularly in large open plan rooms.

Designers often use a darker natural stone tile like bluestone or quartzite to break up large sections of sandstone or to define a particular area. This effect can look stunning with a little creativity and imagination.

Bluestone

Nothing beats bluestone for its incredible strength and versatility. Not only that, bluestone is an aesthetically beautiful natural stone that is grey in colour but with subtle variation in tone. Surface treatment options make it versatile for both indoor and outdoor applications.

Bluestone with a polished surface has a refined luster under any lighting. Honed bluestone is a softer, low sheen option popular for both indoor floors and walls. Bluestone with a flamed finish is a natural outdoor paving stone.

The best quality bluestone is being used extensively indoors in kitchens, living areas and hallways because it is virtually impervious to water and has a stain resistance. The dark grey tones of bluestone effectively hide dirt, making it a busy homeowner’s dream natural stone surface.

Cutting edge designers are now incorporating bluestone into high traffic areas because of its durability and toughness and also because it is so easy to maintain. Nowadays you will see bluestone in honed and polished form used extensively in wine bars, restaurants, hotel lobbies and up-market retail outlets.

Outdoors the natural stone tile of choice is flamed bluestone because of its non-slip characteristics, to say nothing of its luxurious appeal. Garden designers are increasingly using the grey/black tones of bluestone to offset water features and pool surrounds.

The Appeal of Natural Stone

From the sleek lines of steel and glass used in contemporary architecture to the soft decorative features of a federation style home, the inclusion of natural stone complements any environment.

Imagine a stacked stone water feature made with blue-grey slate inside a glass covered portico at the entrance to an architectural masterpiece, or the soft colours of sandstone laid in the entry of an old inner city terrace, or an expansive family room floor tiled in the earthy, ambient tones of limestone.

Natural stone is…well…natural and it glows with life, no matter how or where it’s used. In a world burdened by the effects of toxic chemicals and products, doesn’t it feel good to experience the look and feel of something that you know has been created by nature? Natural stone was here long before we were and will still be around long after we’re gone.

Natural Stone – Classy Ways To Go All Natural is a post from: Bellstone