If you’re thinking of remodeling an area of your home (including kitchen or bath projects), consider this: where you choose to purchase your surfacing materials might be just as important as what you choose. No matter if you’re looking for materials for countertops, islands, backsplashes, fireplace surrounds, shower walls or other installations, you always have choices about where—and what– you can purchase.
In this article, we’ll look at the differences between shopping at a big box store versus a specialty boutique.
Cookie Cutter or Custom: The Choice is Yours
Because big box chains can negotiate pricing based on volume, they’re able to offer lower cost to you, the end consumer. That might not be a bad thing if you don’t mind having pretty much what everyone else has. But if you are considering natural stone for your remodel or custom-built home, cost shouldn’t be your #1 driving factor.
How important is it to you– for your style choices and overall home look and feel—for your surface selection to be:
Unique?
Traditional?
Contemporary?
Rare or safely generic?
Then consider which stone surface store(s) can offer the price, quality, detail, and look that you want and your house deserves.
Boutique stores like IRG can offer you many beautiful and unique high-quality stones because for decades they have searched the world over for those specifications.
Natural Stone: Seeing is Believing
For a purchase as important as natural stone, you’ll want to see and select your stone from actual available sizes, not from small paint chip-sized swatches–big box stores rarely carry full-sized stone slabs. But at IRG, and other specialty surface retailers, you can walk up to a full-sized slab and more easily envision your final stone selection in your space – whether kitchen, bath, wall placement or other design feature.
Another important consideration is in-stock selection. Should you need more than one slab for your project (as with a wall covering or large counter), at IRG help is readily available and your choices can often be forklifted into an open area for better viewing. It’s difficult, if not impossible, for a big box employee to take time to work with you and your selections so directly, much less move 400-lb stone slabs for you to review.
Best of all, in an intimate showroom warehouse, you can reach out and touch the surface itself to see if your stone selection truly speaks to you and fills your senses with satisfaction.
The Shopping Experience
Crowded lines, long checkouts, packed parking lots sound familiar? Choosing a big-ticket item for your home is difficult enough without adding pressure and stress to the decision-making process.
Many big box stores can’t offer personalized customer service or a pleasant environment. Think about the experience you’d like to have and answer these questions:
Once you’re inside the store, is it a relaxing and inviting space where you’re personally greeted and asked about your needs?
Are the store personnel experts in stone and surfacing?
Have the buyers in the store traveled the globe sourcing stone?
Are you willing to wait? Volume may be available in a big box environment—but only if you don’t mind ordering and waiting for delivery.
Big box store employees may be tasked with stocking shelves, moving product through, or making sales so they’re focus is not on building a reputation or a relationship with a customer.
That’s why you’ll want to visit IRG.
Family Matters
Most natural stone shoppers prefer the personal attention and expert assistance that specialty stone shops offer. And, when your name is on the line, the customer is king.
IRG’s Owner Dilmohan Chadha has always had a passion for delivering excellent products with customer service to match. In 1986, my parents Dilmohan and Ameeta Chadha, began selling natural stone products and quickly became known across the Bay Area for remarkably high-quality natural stone. At the heart our Chadha Family business is the ethos of delivering the highest quality material, providing service to others, and maintaining a friendly atmosphere welcoming to all types of clients. I’m happy to be playing a role in continuing to grow our company legacy.
At the heart our Chadha Family business is the ethos of delivering the highest quality material, providing service to others, and maintaining a friendly atmosphere welcoming to all types of clients. I’m happy to be playing a role in continuing to grow our company legacy.
You’ve decided that this is the year to get rid of the avocado green bathtub and cracked tile and bring your bathroom to the 21st century. More importantly you want to renovate your bathroom not just to a point where it doesn’t make you groan, but to the point where you feel content in your surroundings.
OK, but where do you start? IRG has put together a list to help you get inspired to move your bathroom renovation to the next level.
Where to start?
1. Take Note.
One suggestion is to sit down with a notepad or iPad and think about how you want to feel when you’re in your newly remodeled bathroom. Think about logistics like:
Is this the one place in your home where you want total privacy, peace, and calm? Or is it OK for your children to have access while you dress and prep for the day?
Do you want a fast, easy dressing area to quickly get ready for work?
Would you like a lounge chair and/or a private dressing table area in an extended master suite to prepare for date-night soirees?
What other features will make this renovated room the bathroom of your dreams?
Now that you know how you want to feel (literally), about your bath space, determine which tactile qualities can make this happen for you.
Do you like soft surfaces?
rounded corners
fabric treatments
hardware that you just want to touch?
Or
clean, straight edgings,
utilitarian cabinetry
minimalist touches.
These are important qualities so take the time to jot down what comes into your mind and take notice—you’ll be living with these details for a long time.
2. Search Your Style.
Whether on the internet or by leafing through books and magazines, search for those images that match the specifics you’ve outlined. A few of our favorite interior design websites are:
Find an interior designer that you feel drawn to and become a follower. You’ll see posts of their latest projects that will inspire your bathroom remodel project and keep your motivational momentum going (See how IRG worked with interior designer Sarah Hoover here). We’ve listed other San Francisco/Bay Area designers who visit IRG in search of the latest surfaces including: marble, granite, onyx, pental quartz, quartzite, and soapstone. And trust IRG’s expertise to help complete their remodel projects:
Did you know movie set design can set the tone for interior design for decades? Think Diane Keaton’s kitchen in Something’s Got to Give or whole house interiors in The Holiday. Depending upon the style you’ve chosen for your bathroom remodel, try looking at historical dramas and period pieces. In-person strolls through art museums never fail to inspire, as does even a shopping trip to the mall where fashion can be your muse. The point is not necessarily to be literally looking for bathrooms that you like but rather to see what gets your attention and speaks to you in any way pleasurable.
5. Come to the Source.
When all is said and done, you’ll most likely want to start with your bathroom surface selections. This is where IRG’s vast in-stock inventory really shines. Nothing helps you visualize your bathroom better than seeing and touching the surface in person. Whether you want marble, porcelain tiles, engineered stone, (or even Onyx!), IRG’s staff of surface experts can tell you which surfaces will work best in bathrooms, help match a slab to your bathroom remodel budget, and guide you through your decisions. Schedule an appointment with IRG today.
Q: Why is this stone so unique? A: The deep blues and blacks take you away to the depths of mystery and peacefulness…
Q: Where can this stone be used? A: …which is why IRG’s Midnight Quartzite is so perfect when used as a backdrop for a luxurious bedroom wall or bathroom tub or shower surround.
Q: How do I care for this stone? A: Quartzite is heat- and stain-resistant, making it a very durable and practical material. That’s why you can use it on a spectacular waterfall kitchen counter or backsplash as well. Nevertheless, proper sealing will keep out the moisture and bacteria while retaining its magnificent appearance.
Q: Where can I find Midnight Quartzite? A: No one has a better selection of in-stock Quartzite slabs that IRG. Visit an IRG showroom near you (conveniently located in Brisbane, Dublin, and Sacramento) and IRG’s staff of surface experts can guide you through your selection. Schedule an appointment today.
Browse IRG’s full inventory of neutral and colorful quartzites here.
Paonazzo is a stylish marble extracted from the same Italian quarries producing popular varieties of traditional Calacatta Oro. Known as Paonazzo, Calacatta Paonazzo or Paonazzetto, this marble gets its name from the Italian word for purple and can feature deep violet veining upon an ivory background. However, the marble’s dark and bold veining often carries black, brown, or even unique blue-green tones.
A Taste of Honey
Paonazzo Marble features a lovely touch of warm coloration which has become one of its most admired and sought-after properties. Rich, honey-tinged veining gives the material a fashionable vintage-feel. And its rust, antique look emanates an old-world nostalgia that feels classically elegant as opposed to outdated.
Charming Choice for A Modern Kitchen
Paonazzo’s unique coloration and gold accents have become a designer’s dream for making captivating statements in chic, modern kitchens:
Chris Miniello of Birch & Tailor used IRG’s Paonazzetto Marble in an otherwise sleek, earth-toned kitchen in San Francisco’s Cole Valley.
Famed SF designer Geoffrey De Sousa created a work of art with IRG’s Calacatta Paonazzo. This elegant kitchen would be any culinary artist’s dream!
Homeowner and blogger Kelly Huibregste visited IRG during her search for the perfect marble and fell in love with Paonazzetto. She paired her marble selection with modern blue cabinets, along with brass and wood elements that complement gold tones within the countertop and backsplash.
IRG carries a vast in-stock collection of Calacatta Paonazzo Marble, further enhanced by sister varieties like Macchia Vecchia marbles. These vintage-yet-vogue stone choices can showcase wispier, feathered veining and stronger grey and honey tones with rust colorations.
Contact us to schedule an appointment to find the stone that matches your dreams.
Calacatta marble has been a favorite of artists and designers around the globe for centuries. Even today, the classic Italian white marble enjoys vast popularity for its elegant, understated design in all forms.
The Borghini Quarry
Specifically, Calacatta Borghini Marble embodies the look and feel of traditional luxury. Sourced from one of the oldest and most famed quarries in the Carrara region of Italy – the Borghini Quarry – it is thought to be one of the most classic white marbles in existence. The pattern of prominent grey and honey-accented veining on a white background is extremely popular for creating a classically refined style in kitchens and baths. Because production and quarrying of this statement-making marble has become very limited in recent years, Calacatta Borghini has garnered a reputation as an especially rare and luxurious choice for personal residences.
A Classic with Color
The magnificent veining that Calacatta Borghini Marble exhibits aptly lends itself to past and present looks of luxury. The eye-catching range of movement in Borghini slabs assures a kind of sophistication, richness and charm to almost any room in the house.
While some slabs showcase a bold, dramatic look with a striking spotlight on rust coloration, other varieties offer more wispy movement that accentuates the grey veining with a highlighting warmth. Varieties of Calacatta quarried from the Borghini Quarry can differ, but no matter which block or bundle they come from, these slabs undoubtedly afford an elegance and grace to high-end spaces.
Traditional Marble Speaks to Modern Spaces
With an established history of quarrying dating back to the Romans and its long-standing admiration for usage in homes, Calacatta Borghini is considered as classic as can be. But this in no way makes it a conventional choice for today’s homes.
Desire for white marble bathrooms and kitchen countertops made of Calacatta has endured centuries. And this marble is revered for having a crisp, elegant look that fits with a variety of interior styles and applications.
More contemporary kitchens, for example, will benefit from bold-on-bright movement that handsomely plays off elements like black or brass fixtures.
Calacatta Borghini’s tinges of honey or taupe coloration add a beautiful warmth that balances white modern features and complements earth-tones.
Create your own Italian Masterpiece
Like most products from Italy, Borghini Marble is a true Italian work of art. The colorations in this spectacular stone set the stage for the masterpiece you call home. Click here to view our current inventory of Calacatta Borghini, then call to visit an IRG showroom nearest you and see our vast selection in-person.
Skyfarm Ranch, the latest new build by Prodigy Real Estate, sits on a Santa Rosa hilltop and offers expansive wine country views. Inside, the brand-new property’s views are matched with stunning white marble from IRG, used throughout the home’s sprawling interior landscape.
Italian white marble remains a go-to stone choice for designers and architects looking to create luxurious, upscale spaces. When Nicole Matheny of Prodigy Real Estate started on this project, she visited IRG to choose a variety of fine white marble for the modern retreat.
The massive marble-filled rooms below showcase the exceptional slab selections she made for the property on that visit.
Fantasy Island
Upon entering this home’s Great Room, your eye will travel to an open kitchen wrapped in IRG Calacatta Caldia Marble. The material covers the backsplash and cascades down an enormous waterfall island with ample room for seating and entertaining guests.
A highly-sought-after marble quarried in limited supply, Calacatta Caldia presents subtle grey and even green undertones on a milky white background – the perfect pairing to white oak cabinetry for a luminous kitchen.
Hearth and Home
Home is where the hearth is in this stately property. Across the kitchen, a show-stopping gas fireplace juxtaposes rich walnut with a light hearth enveloped in luscious Calacatta Cremo Marble. The Calacatta’s soft, creamy background and warm veining stand up to the heat of this dramatic dimension!
Sudsy Sophistication
Every room is important enough for marble in this Skyfarm haven…including the laundry room! Statuario Cervaiole Marble extends corner-to-corner, adding importance and presence to a space often met with indifference during design.
The room is filled with natural light during the day, allowing sunrays to emphasize the marble countertop’s unique pattern. With its bright white background and striking movement that complements dark cabinetry below it, Statuario Cervaiole Marble manages to effortlessly bring the space together to create a broad, open look.
A Master Suite Fit For a King or Queen
In the master bathroom suite, Paonazzo Marble descends a large walk-in shower and bathtub wall, onto the counter of a double vanity. The bathroom’s unique Italian marble, clean lines and lengthy vistas allude to an elegant European style with added drama.
Bring the Beauty of Marble into your own Home
You can bring the beauty of white marble into your own home in ways large or small. Whether it’s to create a dramatic statement or peaceful escape, the Associates at IRG can help you navigate our vast selection to incorporate this luxurious, sought-after material into your life.
Contact us to make an appointment at an IRG showroom today!
The IRG Blog is your resource for stone product information, ideas and inspiration. Use our informational articles, project features, and product spotlights to help create your vision, then come into one of our showrooms to bring your ideas to life!
