Slab Sunday: Seagrass Limestone

Happy Halloween!
I was going to do a Halloween looking stone for Slab Sunday today, but I didn't want you all to always associate that stone with Halloween so I decided against it.
So instead, today I'm talking about one of my very favorite limestones.....

Seagrass Limestone.

Seagrass limestone comes from a bedrock quarry in Turkey.

 It is a sedimentary stone formed on shallow sea beds from monsoonal rains washing minerals, plants and animals into the sea.

The above picture from Arizona Tile's website is a Tumbled Seagrass Limestone backsplash on granite countertops.

Structurally, Seagrass is a very hard limestone. Some common characteristics that are visible in this limestone are quartz veins, grey portions and many fossilized shells in each piece.  Some slabs have a lot more fossils than others.  It's fun to pick out your exact slabs and see all the fossils.

Photo source.

I have to admit, I'm a bit partial to Seagrass Limestone because it's in my own house.  I have it on my Powder Vanity and in my Laundry Room.  I'll show pictures here someday.  I've loved it though, I've had it in for a few years now and no complaints!  It's probably my favorite stone that we have in our house.

Photo source.

Photo source.

Seagrass limestone is available in 2 cm and 3 cm slabs as well as tile.

Soapbox Saturday: We are a stone company---not a bank.

We have not done this in awhile because we like to positive but sometime you have to just go against what your mother tells you. I am typing this with white knuckles because I know that it may put some of you off but I think it is important to point out what is right here and stand up to what has become the norm and should not be.

Let me share a story. We have a great contractor here who is a lot of fun. He has a business card that reads the following....
I SPECIALIZE IN QUALITY, PRICE AND SPEED. (But you can only choose 2 of the 3 for your job.)
I hope you are laughing, I am too but only for a minute because there is truth to this funny little saying. Rarely do people get the best of 2 worlds let alone 3 worlds.


Let me tell you how it relates to a stone company like us and it may relate to you as well. If it does then chime in! Can I get an AMEN or something?? Nearly every job we do, whether it be with a contractor, architect or a homeowner direct they ask for a QUALITY JOB, for the BEST PRICE, and as FAST AS POSSIBLE! We have just become accustom to that request so it does not phase us anymore. For the most part it works out and we meet all three requirements. In the years past we assessed a rush fee to the jobs that we moved through quicker than normal. We have backed off that now and only ask in return that a client pay their bill immediately after the work is complete. I believe it is a good compromise. It is a fair trade and easy to accomplish.


Well guess what? Time and time again it is not. When the job is complete and the client is happy with the work, all of the sudden they forget how to answer phones, reply to emails and to keep promises. Sometime I worry if I should file a missing persons report on some clients because they are completely MIA. Now, I know things happen, loans are tight, draws are restrictive and other bills may restrict payments. There are situation where it can’t be done. But for the most part people in TRUE extenuation circumstances will often call or tell you what has happened that is limiting their paying the balance. It is the people who tell you one thing and do another.


It has got to stop. It is not the American way of doing business but some of us think it is just the norm. If I buy shoes, or dinner, or groceries, or a TV or almost anything else I must pay for the item up front or when I leave. Can you imagine if I walk into Nordstrom’s and buy a bunch of items and then say, I need you to tailor those pants and that shirt by tomorrow and I will bring you a check when feel like I it. It just does not work like that, so why it that what the norm is in our industry? People, please be honest, courteous and above all put personal integrity first.


It is the key to being happy in business and your personal life.

Kitchen with Lapidus granite countertops

Good morning!
Today I'm showing more pictures from our portfolio. The countertops are Lapidus granite with a 2 1/4" Mitered edge detail.  The backsplash is a tumbled travertine.

All images from MGS by Design.

Tropic Brown Kitchen---Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER!

The countertops are 3 cm Tropic Brown with a 1 1/4" Classic Bullnose edge detail.

All images from MGS by Design.

Orange & Black Kitchens

In the spirit of Halloween I thought I'd post a picture of an orange & black kitchen.

Photo source.

Would you use orange and black in your kitchen? 

Giallo Ornamental...Before and After

Last week I showed a Before and After of a Giallo Ornamental kitchen we did.  You can see it here.
Anyway, today I thought I'd show another Before and After. 
This kitchen is beautiful, the cabinets and flooring are gorgeous.  The old counterops were just a little.....boring.

Here's the Before...

And here's the After!

Isn't is amazing what new countertops and backsplash can do for a kitchen? 
The granite is 2 cm Giallo Ornamental with a Mitered edge detail.  The backsplash is a travertine tile.

All images from MGS by Design.

Kozmus. Yes, it's a difficult stone.

Some stones are much more difficult to work with than others.  Kozmus granite is definitely one of those stones.  I have been hearing about more and more fabricators here in Utah that just refuse to work with it.  I can't blame them either, you have to have a lot of experience and talent to work with the more difficult stones.
We are currently doing a fireplace out of Kozmus with a leather finish and it's looking AMAZING!
Here are some pictures BJ took with his iPhone out in our shop.

The Miter on these is flawless.  Our fabricators did a great job.

BJ has a couple of analogies about stone and how it's not all the same.
1-He says stone is like children. They look all cute and cuddly but depending on what block they come from may influence their manageability.
And
2- He says kids are like slabs. Some days they are great and other days if you don’t prepare yourself and adjust to their behavior they will suck the life right out of you.
He's the expert with four kids, I can't really say since I don't have kids.  :)

We are installing this fireplace next week, we'll take pictures of it all installed and put them up here on the blog.

Kozmus is also called:  Cosmic Black, Kozmos and Cosmos.

FAQ Friday: We're talking photography.

So this is pretty off the topic of stone and countertops, but I get a lot of questions about what camera and lenses I use when taking photos of jobs we do.  So I thought I'd address it all here.
I'm not a pro, but I do enjoy photography.
I shoot with a Nikon D60, and yes, I really do like it.  I ride on my husband's research though, so I don't have all the details of why this is the camera I own.  He likes the Nikon brand so that's what we have.  We have always had the Nikon brand since we've started using DSLR cameras, so I can't say how I feel about any other brand.  It's been a great camera though, we haven't had any problems with it and it's fairly simple to use.....especially considering I am not a technology guru, I'm only a granite guru.  :)

 I think the reason why I get asked about my photography though is due to the lens I use.  When shooting most kitchens and pretty much every bath, I use my Sigma 10mm-20mm lens.  It's a wide angle lens and it's amazing because you can easily get the whole kitchen or vanity in the picture, even if you are in a small room.  It's a pretty pricey lens considering I only ever use it for job photos, but really it was worth it in my opinion.  We bought the Sigma brand instead of the Nikon though, I don't think I could justify the price of the 14mm Nikon lens! 

Here's a picture that I took using this lens.  This was a big kitchen,  if I would have used even an 18mm-55mm lens I don't know if I would have been able to get the entire kitchen in the shot.

Photo from MGS by Design.

The downsides of a 10mm-20mm is that it can cause distortion, so I wouldn't suggest using it for portraits.  With architecture and landscapes you can generally avoid the distorted look and if it does happen it's usually fixable in Photoshop. 
 For edge details and really close up shots of stone I use a 105 mm macro lens, this lens is probably my favorite lens in general, it's pretty awesome.  I also have a 35mm f/1.8 that I love and the price is killer.  It's great for the indoor shots because I don't have to use a flash. 
Also in my bag, if you are interested, is an 18mm-200mm, which is what I keep on my camera most of the time because it's so versatile.  And then I also have a  70mm-300mm.
So that's it.  Let me know if I missed anything!          

Cambria's new 2011 Color Collection

I'm really excited for Cambria's new 2011 Color Collection. 

They have 21 new colors in three new collections which are the Jewel, Marble and Cambrian collections. 
They are really going after the look of marble and granite and I have to say I'm pretty impressed, they have some really beautiful new colors.

Let's talk about stone colors...

I'm geeking out here on le blog today, so if you come for pretty pictures and not geeky mineral talk come back tomorrow and I promise to have pretty pictures again!

Have you ever wondered how stone gets it's beautiful color?
Stone was formed from different types of natural minerals.  Marble's main consistency is calcium.  Calcium carbonate is the natural source that bonds the stone.  Certain additive minerals blended in to the calcium during formation to customize these brilliant colors.  The additive minerals are also color developers present in granite and other natural stones. 

Stone Color----Mineral

• Black---Biotite, Hornblende, Carbon
• Brown---Limonite
• Gray---Variety of minerals
• Green----Mica, Chloride, Silicate
• Red---Hematite
• White---Feldspar, Calcite, Dolomite
• Yellow---Limonite

Mineral-----Mineral Color

• Augite---Brown, Green, Black, Purple
• Biotite---Black, Brown, Green
• Calcite---Pearlescent and Pale Colors
• Dolomite---Colorless, Pink Pale Brown
• Feldspar---Yellow, White, Pink, Grey, Green
• Hematite---Metallic Grey or Black
• Hornblende---Green, Yellow, Brown, Black
• Limonite---Black, Brown or Yellow
• Sulphur---Pale Gold

 Minerals have a variety of crystalline properties.  A different property has a different color.  For instance, Augite (listed above) has different crystalline properties.  Each property has it's own color.  Stone's brilliant colors and carious crystal formations developed when different mineral properties blended together along with the integration of temperature and pressure.

The veins and color grains of marble were liquid minerals that flowed through the stone when the Earth heated up.  The intense heat softened the limestone to allow the liquids to flow through it.  When the Earth cooled, the mineral flow stopped and gradually hardened to it's current state.

The delicate colors of stone can often be altered by improper use of cleaning chemicals, mopping with dirty solutions, using chemicals that are not designed for stone care, and sunlight can fade other color of natural minerals. 

Giallo Ornamental Kitchen...Before and After

Here is a really great Before and After of a kitchen we did about a year ago. 
It's a beautiful home.  Beautiful cabinets and beautiful floors but it definitely needed some beautiful granite!

Here is the BEFORE.

BEFORE

Aaaaand....here's the AFTER!

Big change right?  It just looks so much warmer.
The countertops are Giallo Ornamental granite with a 2 1/4" Mitered edge detail. 
The backsplash is travertine and if you look closely you can see we did the granite on the windowsill as well.  I really like the added detail of putting granite on windowsills.

All images from MGS by Design.

Nougat CaesarStone Kitchen

We just finished this beautiful kitchen. 

Image from MGS by Design.

The countertops are 3 cm Nougat Caesartone (below) with a 1 1/4" Square Polished edge detail.

Slab Sunday: Vitoria Regia granite

Vitoria Regia is an amazing green granite that comes from a boulder quarry in Espirito Santo, Brazil.

The unique structure in this granite was formed while the minerals were in a liquid state. Slowly being cooled and with intense pressure, the minerals formed the circular lily pad design visible in the slabs. Due to its qualities, the slabs are book-matched, in which slab one and slab two will be cut and polished to create a mirror image of each other. These are then kept in sequence, which allows for a consistent flow in pattern.

Photo source.

Photo source.

Vitoria Regia is available in 2 cm and 3 cm slabs.

FAQ Friday: Can I put a slab on my tub deck?

This question comes from Kristy in California.  She was wondering if she could put a slab of marble on her tub deck instead of tile.
Of course you can!
It's such a beautiful look, and the best part?  No grout lines!

I love the shape of this tub deck and the edge is gorgeous.  The edge detail is really the highlight of a tub deck, you notice it more because there is so much of it.  The marble is Celeste Blue.

Photo source.

You don't necessarily need to match the stone of the tub deck to the stone on the vanities.  This bathroom below coordinates the two different stones beautifully.  

 I think the marble on the tub deck is Emperador Dark.

Photo source.

Below is Crema Marfil marble with an Ogee edge detail.

Photo source.

I love the design on this tub deck. 

I love how they mixed the wood with the marble and I love the detail of that tall splash.  The edge is beautiful, the trim pieces are beautiful and of course, the Carrara marble is beautiful!

Photo source.

Proud Sponsor of the PINK Half Marathon

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. In 2010, over 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be found in women. Tragically, it will claim the lives of nearly 40,000 women, leaving behind grieving families and young children.

We, at MGS by Design, are really excited about the PINK Half Marathon that we are sponsoring this Saturday, October 16th.

This is Utah’s first ladies only half marathon.  The event sold out at 400 participants, with many other women on the waiting list to register.  The beneficiary of the event is UCREW, the Utah Cancer Resource and Education for Women network. 

You can also find more information on their Facebook page.

Some Walker Zanger love...

One of the things I really like about Facebook is following great interior designers, tile & stone distributors, people in the stone industry, etc. 

One of my favorites to follow is Walker Zanger, they keep their Facebook page updated with great photos of their products.  Today I was looking at some of their pictures and thought I'd post some of them here.

I LOVE pretty much everything about Walker Zanger.  I really wish we had one here in Salt Lake City.  As it is, we order from their Sun Valley, California location every once in awhile.

I'd kill for this bathroom....the wall tile, the marble floor and THAT SINK!  It's perfect.

The next two photos are of one of my favorite kitchens that I've seen in awhile. 

The floor tile is Xilo and the glass backsplash tile is from their Roku Collection. 

 The detail on this bench is incredible. 

Love this set up. 

I believe (though I could very well be wrong) that the floor tile and the vanity are Siena Silver Travertine.

 Beautiful wall of glass tile and I love that vanity.

 Last is this gorgeous backsplash from their Contessa Collection.

•  All images are from Walker Zanger. 
• Check out our most recent project using Walker Zanger tile here.
• Follow us (MGS by Design) on Facebook!  Click here!

Spectrus granite Kitchen

Here are some pictures of a kitchen we did awhile ago.

The granite is Spectrus. They actually did concrete countertops on the island. I like the mixture of concrete countertops with stone.  I also really love all the brick in this kitchen.

The edge detail is a Bevel Eclipse. 

All images from MGS by Design.