Renovation Diary: Marble Shopping

—Paonazzo marble, Elizabeth Roberts Architecture—

Our home is a construction zone on the other side of the zip wall and there's a distinctly alkaline note of lime dust in my coffee this morning, so it was a real relief to spend the day marble shopping with Ross at Bas Stone in Long Island City. This stone yard — operated by two sisters — is like no other stone yard I've ever visited. We saw so many beautiful marble slabs, and one that I think may be The One.

I could lose myself for hours viewing stone at Bas. First off, unlike most stone yards it's super clean and organized, and the design office is spare and beautiful and well lit. And Beata, one of the sisters who showed us around, has a real design sense (check out her Instagram @BasStoneNYC). Unlike some other stone-yard salespersons, she doesn't try to sell you what she has but what you want. She listens, hears, and right away gets what you are admiring in particular slabs. If you're shopping for stone in the NYC area, I definitely recommend a visit.

I'd thought that I was settled on statuary, which we'd used in the bath and I love. But I'd heard that prices have gone up dramatically since then, with statuary now the beloved marble for all the white kitchen fanatics. So I was sure to let her know that I'm open to considering other options. Beata showed us about half a dozen types before helping me narrow down my likes.

Statuary

Arrabiata

White Soapstone (actually a type of marble)

And, finally this stone I'd never seen before called paonazzo, which currently is (slightly) less costly than statuary.

Paonazzo often has yellow and gold running through it, Beata pointed out. But she and her sister are always on the lookout for samples with no yellow, and they have one coming in in a few weeks. She showed me an instagram photo of one client's nearly finished kitchen, which used a similar slab. I reserved two on the spot!

—Paonazzo marble, Elizabeth Roberts Architecture—

The vein is dramatically dark, more navy than gray. (Can't you just see it in a kitchen with navy island or cabinets?). That navy vein is sparking all kinds of design and decor choices in my mind. I think I'm in love.

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