Choosing Stone & Brick for Transitional Designs

by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for The House Designers

If you’re designing with transitional aesthetics in mind, you’re in good company! Many homeowners started going this route with the rise of the modern farmhouse and continue with all sorts of homes updated to meet today’s lifestyle goals. Transitional design combines the charm of rustic natural materials with the bright open spaces of contemporary architecture, so the right stone and brick elements can do wonders for the final picture. Here are some things to keep in mind!

Consider Light Colors

Traditional stone and brick leans to the darker, more saturated side, but modern design tends to maximize light. So, one of the easiest ways to achieve an updated look is to select a bright color that enhances the space! Light-colored masonry is rare in nature, but you won’t lack for options with manufactured veneer. This material is relatively lightweight, easier to install, more affordable, and comes in a full range of styles and colors to meet your design needs. You’ll find plenty of white-based and other light colors in the mix due to popular demand, and not just in contemporary profiles—even traditional stone looks are available in unexpectedly bright hues!

Suitable Surface Texture

After color, the next thing you’ll likely notice about stone is its texture. Some profiles have relatively flat surfaces while others appear roughly cut by hand or worn by nature. You’ll find plenty of flexibility when it comes to transitional design, because you have to take each aspect of the stone into consideration with its other properties to find the right balance. Most homeowners opt for a subtle, grainy texture to add dimension to their space without going overboard. If this doesn’t match your vibe, don’t worry—we see rugged natural stone incorporated perfectly well, too!

Clean and Linear Shapes

Follow the history of masonry and you’ll find that we’ve moved toward sharp clean lines and longer, linear pieces as technology allowed. That’s why bigger, blockier stones are correlated with older architecture and clean-cut pieces that stack tightly are typically seen in modern homes. Many people err on the contemporary side when it comes to the shape of their stone or brick for a transitional scheme, because they can always use texture to balance the look. You can’t go wrong with a dry stack installation, either!

Balance with Other Features

When we said that transitional homes combine aspects of traditional and contemporary design, we meant it! So, you don’t have to find a true middle-of-the-road stone or brick product that perfectly balances color, texture, shape, etc. A more traditional profile could suit your home just fine, as long as you use it alongside modern design decisions. Take a step back and look at the whole picture—you may just find that a darker, rougher, squarer stone is a better complement than the sleeker options favored by others. When in doubt, find some inspiration images or contact a professional designer for their opinion before committing to a specific product!

Need stone or brick to complete your home? Take a look at the wide range of beautiful veneer options available from Eldorado Stone! Their catalog runs the gamut, with everything from historically inspired fieldstone, to versatile ledgestone, to crisp and clean large format stone and different brick profiles, too. Find a local dealer to help you explore the possibilities today!