A residence in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, received a full-scale transformation, which brought an air of elegance, as well as an open-format living space, to its 4,128-square-foot interior. A palette of high-quality stone varieties was an essential component to achieve the desired design objective.

“This is the complete renovation of a traditional home to update it and open the inside to the outside with the addition of new custom windows and doors, a new kitchen, new bathrooms, all new flooring and finishes with a new layout opening the front to the rear of the home overlooking the pool,” explained designer Rita Carson Guest, FASID of Carson Guest in Atlanta, GA. “The master bath suite was also completely reworked, as well as all existing bathrooms. The goal was to update the home.”

An extensive collection of stone resulted in the home’s new lavish aesthetic. “There is a beautiful mix of stone throughout the home’s design,” said Guest. “The design worked around the beautiful stone selections from Marmi Natural Stone, including Princess White quartzite slabs, Smoke Onyx slabs, Calacatta Manhattan slabs and tile, Imperial Gray limestone tile and Negro Marquina marble tile.”

Additionally, the interior design features Calacatta mosaics, Bianco Venatino random strip polished marble tile, Sonoma Tilemaker Stellar Glossy Charcoal Crackle tile in multiple sizes for backsplash material and Ossigeno Matte long tile from Specialty Tile Products.

Stone and tile were employed for floors, walls and vanity tops in six bathrooms, for the entry foyer floor, and the countertops, farm sink and full backsplash in the kitchen.

“The selection process was only a few months,” said Guest. “Once I took our client to Marmi Stone and they loved the beautiful slabs I had preselected, we were off and running. The bathroom tile and backsplash were accents selected to work with the main slabs already selected. I took our client to look at the stone slabs and materials to educate them on options and suggest solutions for their approval.”

A grand impression is made in the entry foyer with a floor pattern comprising 18- x 18-inch Calacatta Manhattan marble tiles, 3- x 3-inch strips of Imperial Gray limestone and accent dots of Negro Marquina marble. “The foyer stone needed to provide a nice transition to the new wood flooring in the adjacent dining room, music room and into the breakfast/kitchen area,” explained the designer. “The dark border transitions well with the dark wood. The grid provides an interesting pattern in the foyer that becomes a passage way with five entries.”

Another dramatic accent in the home’s design is the floor-to-ceiling living room fireplace — featuring book-matched slabs of Calacatta Manhattan marble. “The stone becomes much more interesting with a book-matched pattern,” said Guest. “The clean lines of the design allow the beauty of the stone to carry the room.”

For the countertops in the kitchen and bar area, White Princess natural quartzite was chosen — contributing to the chic and fresh look of the interior design. The white stone provides a striking contrast to the dark wood floors and cabinetry. The countertop edges have a thickness of 3 cm.

In the master bath shower, Calacatta Manhattan marble wall tiles are complemented by an accent wall of Smokey Onyx. The shower floor consists of Calacatta Gold mosaics. Calacatta Manhattan marble tiles also clad the bathroom walls and were employed for the floor, while Smokey Onyx was also used for the vanity top in the powder room.

Among the most challenging aspects of the design were the fact the owners decided to remain in the home and relocate to the basement during renovations in order to not disrupt the lives of their pets, to determine how to open up the center of the home and relocate the powder room without disrupting major structural beams at the center of the home or relocating the existing staircase, relocating the downstairs stairs to provide more space in the kitchen, completing the work before year-end holidays and coordinating the stone farm sink with the new kitchen island cabinets and plumbing, according to Guest. “To hide the plumbing a stone ledge was created which works beautifully as a ledge for sponges and soap while keeping the island top clean,” she said, adding an additional obstacle was ensuring the new firebox worked with the existing flue and chimney connections. “We had a good general contractor and stone installer so our supervision work was limited to answering questions and keeping track of the schedule.”

Work on the renovation commenced in early 2014 and finished in early 2015, yet the owners were able to move back to the main floor and master suite before the holidays at the end of 2014. “We stopped the final work at that point and reconvened the completion after the holidays,” explained Guest. “The project has won several design awards and everyone who has seen it has loved the final result and the beautiful stone installation.”