In Home Stone Featured Project

Elements of a Good Design

Design: Kitchen Elements
Cabinetry: Showplace Cabinetry
Construction and Carpentry: Karel Nafal
Stone and Tile: In Home Stone

In Home Stone is very proud of the strong professional and creative relationship we have with Kitchen Elements and Jan Goldman, with whom we have created many beautiful projects. 

A dog loving family in Olney, Maryland was looking for an elegant updated kitchen with more space and better flow. They also hoped to find a wood floor to withstand an ever-present parade of dogs and the scratches that they leave behind. 

A wall dividing the kitchen from the dining room was removed to expand and open up space. A large double glass door leading to the deck was removed and replaced by a smaller exterior door equipped with a doggy door. The sink window was enlarged to let in the natural light lost when the double door was removed. The enlarged window also enhances the view of the beautiful garden. 

The homeowners selected Hand Scraped Hickory floors to be installed throughout the entire main floor of the home. The tile inlay was added to the kitchen, foyer, and hallway. In Home Stone supplied the Elios Calce tile in two sizes. This tile was patterned in a modified Versailles and framed by the wood lattice flooring. The inlay maintains the sophistication of the space while ensuring the floors will not be damaged by the owners’ pets. The floor is durable and striking and the same is true for the countertops, used on the two islands as well as the perimeter. They are a leathered Fantasy Brown, also sourced by In Home Stone Marble and Granite, which are the perfect tie to the stone and wood floor and the custom colored backsplash. 

The backsplash, originally designed by Stone Impressions, achieved this final look after several iterations tweaking the color and design until it was the perfect combination of color and movement to match the green pendant lights and the beautiful counters. As the sole carrier of Stone Impressions in the Annapolis area, In Home Stone is excited to offer our clients exclusive access to their beautiful custom designed tiles as well as their creative design experience. 

Inspiration for the color scheme and selected Master bathroom materials to refresh the couple’s twenty-year-old bathroom came from the bold and cheerful floral porcelain tile. The six by six tiles created a fun repetitive pattern to be carried throughout the space. They look especially charming installed right below the mirror above the vanities. The large format tiles on the shower wall, with their calming watercolor-like finish, create an overall soothing experience. The penny tile on the shower floor perfectly ties together the blue shower wall tiles and the brown from the bathroom floor tiles. As a result, the space looks bigger, brighter and a much more inviting place to start and end the day. 

In Home Stone and Kitchen Elements is a match made in heaven. Jan knows the nuts and bolts of designing spaces that combine functionality with beautiful design and has fantastic working relationships with our onsite designers resulting in stunning collaborations. 

In Home Stone Featured Project

Design is in the Details

Builder: Lang and Co.
Architect: Patrick Jarosinski
Interior Design: Anita Stapleton
Cabinetry: Kitchen Concepts, Joe Wilde
Stone and Tile: In Home Stone

This Featured Project is all about the details. The elements of this remodeled home are beautiful on their own- the coffered ceilings, the finish carpentry, and the richness of the materials- each selection comes together seamlessly to create an overall sense of elegance and refinement, truly capturing the homeowner’s aesthetic. This home has been recognized with both the “2017 MBIA Remodelers & Custom Builder Award of Excellence for Whole House Renovation” as well as the “2018 Annapolis Home Magazine Builder and Fine Design Award for Kitchen Design.”

The clients of Lang and Co. were looking to enhance the appearance and performance of their waterfront home. Originally built in 1920, a previous renovation had afforded them 15 years of great memories with their children. It was time to rework the home for the next phase of their life. Architect Patrick Jarosinski and interior designer Anita Stapleton were brought in to give the home an entirely new personality. The combined vision was to abandon the contemporary plan and institute a formal and more sophisticated design. The warm palette is rich and elegant and plays off the colors of the water views throughout the home.

Originally, one hall bath served three bedrooms. Now, identical bedrooms are conjoined with a buddy bath, sharing only the glass enclosed shower. In keeping with the vision of a more sophisticated space, a combination of porcelain, glass, and stone creates a rich dynamic in the shower. The interplay of tiles – the vertical placement, rather than the more conventional horizontal application — creates an elegant statement in a small space. The glass mosaic, which centers the design, is best described as stained glass with a clear reference to the movement of the water that surrounds the home. The pebbles on the shower floor ground the design.

The lower split level received an updated full guest bath, wine closet and gym space resulting from the conversion of a former bedroom. The guest bath has a quartz vanity countertop that plays off the colors of the field tile, which has a handmade quality and is paired with an opulent glass mosaic, framed in a jewel-toned glass border.

On the entry level, the open floor plan was replaced with distinct spaces defined by wide formal archways and unique ceiling details. The dining room is situated to take full advantage of the waterfront view and proximity to the kitchen. The kitchen is a spectacular tribute to the innovation and design of the architect and interior designer and the execution and craftsmanship of Lang & Co. Those combined efforts are evident in the details of the space. For example, the focal point in the backsplash, a Carrara and Thassos water-jet mosaic, mirrors the curvature in the muntins of the glass-fronted cabinets. There are two islands, one for the “business” side of the kitchen, the other for café-style eating. They share the same countertop finish — a beautiful Fantasy Brown quartzite. Both the island and the dining area countertops are embellished with an ogee edge, one more among many details that raise the bar in this stunning home.
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Benefits of Marble Countertops

Reliability

Marble is a natural stone, perfect for natural stone countertops, meaning it's more resistant than many of the other available countertop materials to scratching, shattering, and splitting. In terms of its toughness, marble is smoother than granite, so appealing architectural features can be integrated.

Excellence

Every piece is distinctive in appearance since marble was developed by a natural process. The region of origin and the relative combination of minerals in the original stone define the diverse variety of textures and colors used in marble.

Resistance to Heat

Marble countertops are also thermally resistant. Marble does not catch fire or flame, so by not putting a hot pan or pot on the surface without cover, it is prudent to maintain the polish.

Lifespan

For a very long period of time, marble has been used as a construction material, so its ability to stand harsh weather conditions is well known. You should continue to appreciate the elegance of marble for a lifetime as it is expertly built and well sealed and preserved.

Naturally, Marble remains cold

Making it the ideal surface for bakery products, since it usually stays below room temperature. This is why marble countertops are favored by bakers above many natural stones.

Luxurious look

What distinguishes it from the other natural stones is the timeless, elegant look of marble countertops.