Love the look of granite or marble kitchen countertops? Why not take it the next step and use natural stone in a bathroom design?
When most people think about remodeling the bathroom and want durable, easy-to-clean surfaces, their minds move immediately to tile. After all, tiles are everywhere. Consult with your natural stone expert, an interior designer, and you’ll find several choices to select from.
You can find ceramic, porcelain, or even natural stone tiles. You can find mosaic-sized stone tiles perfect for intricate details or larger tiles one to two feet in length. Colors and patterns are in abundance—they seem to be the resource of choice.
But not everyone prefers a massive natural stone floor or wall of tile and grout. And if you make the wrong selection, you’ll see the grout stand out above the tile and regret your bathroom design for a very long time.
But there’s another option that more homeowners are turning to. Instead of selecting tiles, they are choosing natural stone slabs for the bathroom.
Years ago, it was difficult to use natural stone in bathrooms. Unlike kitchens, bathroom tiles need to withstand a lot more moisture and standing water. But now that effective sealants are available, you can introduce stone into your bathroom without fear of water damage or staining.
Due to logistics, such as slipperiness, you do have to be a bit more selective when it comes to the type of stone you want and where you want to put it. But with some inspiration, research, and the help of our experts, you can soon enjoy the luxurious bathroom of your dreams.
Natural stone can turn your bathroom into the ultimate place to relax. It will not simply be functional, but also enjoyable. Stone is a unique addition to a home and is a positive investment. It can add a lot to the home’s resale value.
And it can work for any bathroom. Do a bit of research, and you’ll probably come across a lot of master bath ideas. But even your smallest bathroom can be made more elegant through the addition of natural stone in a bathroom design.
Here are five ways that you can use natural stone in your bathroom.
1. Natural Stone Flooring
Stone makes the perfect flooring for your bathroom. It is durable and makes an elegant addition, giving you a smooth, clean look. Compared to ceramic tile flooring, you’ll see less grout and experience less unevenness.
Stone floors work well with any bathroom and can complement any other stone you may have in your bathroom.
Already planning on incorporating stone into your shower walls? Complete the luxury look by adding natural stone as flooring too. You do have to be more considerate of how slippery the stone you’re interested in is. As well as water, it will also be exposed to shampoo, conditioner, and soap, which can build up over time and make surfaces slick.
And while your regular flooring will never get too wet, your shower floor is a different matter. Make sure that the material you’re choosing will hold up under frequent water use when properly sealed.
If making the right choice seems overwhelming, don’t worry your local interior decorator can help you with both the selection and education of stone. If you have any doubt, be sure to consult with an expert who can tell you what an effective choice for your shower will be. They can help advise and direct you toward stone that is the best fit for your project.
2. Natural Stone Walls
Slabs of natural stone can make the perfect addition to your bathroom’s walls. They’re smooth, flat, and you have many options when deciding what percentage of your wall you want to be covered in stone.
Use natural stone as a decorative accent to visually break up your bathroom, such as using it as a half wall or go floor to ceiling on one wall.
Or make it more functional than decorative by using stone as the wall of your shower stall. Compared with shower flooring, you have more options when it comes to your shower’s walls since you don’t have to worry as much about whether the stone will become slippery when wet.
But there are still some logistic things to consider. If you wish to use stone as a wall in your shower, smoother slabs are going to be easier to clean than roughly textured ones. And you’ll need to keep your stone properly sealed.
Overall, though, natural stone slabs make great additions to showers. While ceramic tiles have lots of grout that can grow dirty over time, stone slabs are one solid piece of material, making it easy to clean. By choosing materials that combine style and purpose, you’ll be able to keep your shower looking like new for years to come.
3. Stone Bench Seats
There’s no doubt about it, showers are the coolest thing in bathroom design right now. Who wants a standard, boring showerhead connected in a prefab bathtub?
Instead, modern design is all about being as creative as you can with the space you have. And if you’re not a tub person, or you separate the two and want a luxury shower experience, you can’t ignore putting in a bench seat or two.
Bench seats are perfect additions for tasks like shaving your legs. But if you’ve ever watched water (or worse, soap scum) puddle up on tile and grout, you know it can be a disaster to clean up. Natural stone slabs give you a smooth, clean look that’s easy to clean and provides you with a luxurious look.
Choose the same natural stone slab as your vanity type for continuity. Or change up the color to add a little pizzazz. Whatever you choose to do, you’ll know your design is uniquely your own.
4. Natural Stone Vanity Countertops
When you think of marble countertops, you probably first think of kitchens. But marble, quartz, granite, and other types of stone can also work well as bathroom vanities. Even if you’re not ready to redo your whole shower with natural stone, a vanity is a great place to start and can instantly make even the smallest bathroom in your home look special. Plus, natural stone comes in so many different colors and looks that you’re sure to find something that suits your bathroom.
Go a step further and integrate a stone sink basin. Rather than putting a hole through the slab to fit a porcelain sink in, you can customize a basin made out of the stone itself, giving a cohesive, artistic look to your bathroom vanity.
5. Natural Stone Backsplashes In A Bathroom Design
Ever had a mirror for a backsplash behind your bathroom vanity? It doesn’t work, does it? Every time you wash your hands, shave, or brush your teeth, water splashes up and leaves a residual mess. And if you don’t clean it for a few days, it can look like you’ve ignored cleaning altogether.
That’s what makes stone backsplashes the perfect solution. You love how easy they make kitchen cleaning. Why not bring that same ease into your bathroom? And with natural stone slabs, you have a lot of design room.
You can use a portion of the same natural stone slab you used to design your vanity top—continue the look up the wall.
Or how about choosing a complementary color? You can mix and match natural stone throughout your bathroom for a warm and thoughtful look.
Play with size and cut—round the slab so you have more coverage above the sink while playing with the slope as you move away.
The design possibilities are truly endless. If you can’t decide where to start, create a Pinterest board filled with ideas to help you pick your favorite.
Inspired to start creating your dream bathroom design with natural stone?
This post is a collaboration and may contain resourceful affiliate links. All opinions are our own and for informational purposes only.