Highly textured marble gives your bathroom design a rich and striking focal point.
Marble is a classic material for the bathroom that exudes elegance, whether paired with minimalist lines or opulent details. Depending on your budget and your tastes, you can incorporate as much or as little marble into your bathroom as you like, since practically any element of the room is available in the material, from countertops and washbasins, to floor and wall tiles. And if real marble is out of your price range, alternatives like cultured marble can give you a similar look.
Highly Decorative Marble
For marble that immediately catches the eye, select stone that has an intense color or pattern. Look for marble with high-contrast streaks and whorls. Carrara marble lends lots of drama with large and wispy black-on-white streaks. It's very commonly used in the saddle or threshold piece at a bathroom's entrance. If you're looking for vibrant accent pieces of marble, you can also use it as a sink basin, a countertop or even flooring. The black-and-white gradation work well for contemporary designs or for more classical looks. A few spare accents of color will pack extra punch against a ground of understated yet elegant marble. It pairs exceptionally well with pastel or icy blues, giving your bathroom a cool and fresh feeling.
Sleek Solutions
While marble is a classic standby for Old World interiors, synonymous with elegance, it can also dress up a contemporary interior. If your aesthetics tend toward the minimalist, keep your marble pieces to a minimum, balancing them with other materials. Take advantage of the clean lines of stone, avoiding too many curves or ornamentation. For a sleek bathroom sink, opt for a single sheet of marble with a depression for the sink. Using the same material for both the countertop and the sink basin itself complements the clean lines and restrained sensibility of a more contemporary look. For an unmistakably contemporary touch, add a single shelf just deep enough to accommodate a bud vase and perhaps a couple essential toiletries. Keep the edges neatly squared and don't use any visible supportive hardware; to preserve the minimalist look, opt for a shelf that "floats" out from the wall.
Marble Variations
If regular marble exceeds your budget, there are still a few ways to incorporate the stone into your bathroom without breaking the bank. Cultured marble has the look of the real stuff, as it's made from the dust of real marble mixed with plastic resins. As a result, it weighs less than marble, making it much easier to work with. For a broader selection of color choices, you can use marble and Venetian glass aggregate. Somewhat like with cultured marble, Venetian glass aggregate uses fine pieces of and melds them with glass and resin.
Tags: your bathroom, real marble, clean lines, glass aggregate, into your