The backyard is a great space for entertaining a group of guests, planting a vegetable garden or simply taking it easy and enjoying the sun. During the summer months the backyard becomes an extension of the house. It’s many benefits include: added space for hosting guests, the ability to utilize the bbq and of course the luxury of enjoying the great outdoors in comfort.

Many people devote a lot of time to backyard landscaping by creating lavish displays of plants and flowers. What many forget however is that the backyard can be transformed so much more when the right garden stone is used. There are many ways to add stone veneer to your backyard landscaping project. Simply think of a what kind of look or feel you want to achieve then choose the stone veneer that will accent the backyard plants and flowers.

Choose a bold garden stone pattern to compliment your backyard landscaping vision.

The beauty about working with natural textures is that virtually any stone veneer can be utilized with great success. Let’s take the Quick it and Canyon Ledge patterns as an example. These stones have a very neat and contemporary look. The straight lines and geometric patterns create a sense of order and modern sleekness. If you’re looking for garden stone veneer that will create a modern look then these are your best bet. We’ve seen great results when these stones were used to encase outdoor bbq’s and kitchen units. The simple addition of a few feet of garden stone veneer can really transform your outdoor kitchen. See for yourself. The results are quite impressive.

For more information on how to include stone veneer within your backyard landscape visit our website or better yet come by our showroom in Mississauga.

Castle-Ozark Mountain-Stucco&Stone Cladding

Ancient Rome was influential in its gifts to the field of architecture, medicine and plumbing systems. The legendary aqueducts serve to this day as a reminder of the knowledge and ingenuity  of the engineers of the time. If it was built in the Roman era there’s a strong understanding that those structures will still be in place today.

A popular look that has emerged in recent years that gathers its inspiration from ancient Rome is the Roman Villa look. This style involves combining stone cladding with stucco walls to create a look that emulates the Roman country farm house. Imagine walking home from a long day of work to the sight of a beautiful ancient Roman Villa standing right behind your driveway.

To achieve this look will require a mix of the right stone cladding and light coloured stucco walls. The best colour of stucco wall is a straight white or slightly off white. This colour will act as the base for the stone veneer accent. Choosing the most appropriate stone cladding pattern is important too.

If you strive for authenticity,  then using off white stucco walls and Canyon Stone cladding with red clay roof shingles will do the trick.

There are many different stone patterns to choose from to achieve this look but we found that these worked best. Castle Cut and Canyon Ledge are the ideal stones for the Roman Villa look. Their colour palette works well with the white or off white tone of the stucco walls. The Country Ledge and Canyon Ledge patterns utilize a palette that hovers in the earthy tone selections. Thus their combining them with the light base colour stucco will create an organic earthy tone mix.

Check out the selection of Castle and Canyon Ledge patterns. We have many colours  to choose from! Visit our website at stoneselex.com to get a quick look at our line of products. Or if you happen to be in the area stop by our showroom in Mississauga.

Quality stone veneers to decorate small space

Decorating small rooms is difficult for a number of reasons. For one, the size itself makes it tricky for any kind of hanging decorations. On the other hand you don’t want to pack a whole bunch of furniture in there or it’ll get crowded very quickly.

Depending on the room you’ll have different elements to consider. For a small bedroom all things will be focused on the bed of course. All other decor elements will revolve around the practical piece of furniture that sits in the room. For bathrooms it will be the appliances…sink, toilet and shower/bath. These will need to fit comfortably within the layout before any talk of decorating can be done.

How do you fit in quality stone veneer then? Well, utilizing our products in small room decorating scenarios is possible but tricky.

Quartzite Ledge- Snow white

Here is a brief set of tips and advice on how to move forward in the decorating process.

Use small stone patterns: Our quality stone veneer comes in many shapes and sizes. We specialize in creating natural textures that emulate real quarry cut stones. Thus, as a result, most of our stone veneer patterns consist of large and organic shapes. When working in small rooms we recommend using our smaller more contemporary patterns. Stone veneer like Quick Fit, Natural Ledge and Quartzite Ledge will work best with these types of projects.

Remember to not overburden the room with stone veneer. Our stone products are versatile in that they can be used as either accent pieces or base elements in the design process. Using the recommended stone veneer as accent pieces in smaller rooms is the most appropriate choice. You don’t want to overburden a small room with thick and heavy stones and you don’t want to cover the entire space either. Doing this will make the room seem smaller and will probably make the space resemble a cellar more than an inhabitable space.

For more information regarding the decorating of small rooms visit our showroom in Mississauga. There you’ll be able to speak with trained sales representatives that will give you the proper advice on how to plan out your next stone veneer project.

Basement Design – Stone wall accent in Natural ledge Ivory

Basement designs have evolved quite a bit throughout the ages. A few decades ago the home attic upheld the role of the basement within the family home. The attic was often used as storage but some home owners utilized this as an extra room or converted their attics into guest sleeping quarters. Attics where used as spare rooms because the idea to turn basements into suitable rooms had not yet been popularized.

Around the 1970’s the trend of transforming basements began, and with it came thick groovy coloured carpets and wood paneling. From there, many basement designs came and left, the trend of using the attic as a spare room slowly faded and here we are today. Renovated basement have become so popular that architects take all of this into consideration when designing residential areas. People love their basements, and why not? Basements are great!

Within the past few years we’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to incorporate stone veneer into basement spaces. There are various ways of including stone texture within basement designs but by far the most popular is the recessed stone wall. This works best as the stylistic base to the downstair home entertainment system. A full stone panel wall is created within a recessed area of the space and then this area is decorated by stereos, television and other electronics.

The stone texture wall that is desired by basement decor enthusiasts works with many different Stone Selex products.

Here is a list of various stone panels that will create the desired stone texture wall.

The most popular stone veneer selection for this type of project is our Natural Ledge or Quartzite stone veneer line. This specific stone texture is neatly organized into geometric patterns that come together nicely without any stone lines. It comes in 6 different colours that will surely add a dynamic twist to your basement designs.

For more information on our products visit our website or if you happen to be in Mississauga stop by our showroom at Dixie road and Eglinton Rd. on Eastgate Parkway.

Stone Fireplace Designs-Wood Burning Fireplace Makeover in Berlin Ledge

There’s nothing quite like the smell of burning firewood in the living room. The crackle of the fire, the warm glow, all these elements create a warm and cozy atmosphere. Gas or electric fireplace construction has practicality and cost effectiveness but nothing beats the real thing.

Real wood burning fireplaces are costly and high maintenance but for some it’s all about authenticity. Stone fireplace designs are rapidly progressing with new dynamic stone veneer textures and styles. The minimalist and modernist has created a niche for a sleek stone fireplace look but what about the traditionalists? For them the challenge is greater: the layout of the preliminary fireplace chimney construction must be taken into account. Be considerate of fireplace chimney construction layouts before moving on the stone fireplace designs.

There are a few things to consider when planning to redecorate and old chimney. For one, and perhaps the most important point of all is to plan well ahead. Look closely at the chimney and ask yourself what stone would be best suited to cover the area effectively. Stone Selex offers many different rustic stone textures that will work with your stone fireplace designs.

A large stone like Rustic Rubble or River Rock is best suited to cover large areas. To imitate the look of the stones within their natural settings you need to closely analyze how all shapes work together. A thin and narrow chimney will look crowded and inorganic if crowded with large and heavy stones of this nature. For thinner chimneys we recommend a stone like Ledge. It’s smaller shape still creates the rustic chimney look but won’t clutter the surface area.

For more tips on how to decorate your fireplace chimney stop by our showroom in Mississauga. You can ask one of our sales staff for expert advice on what stones work within the confines of the chimney structure. Or to have quick look at some sample pictures visit our website: stoneselex.com

Stone Selex is based in the Greater Toronto Area and works with clients throughout Ontario, from Ottawa and Cornwall, to Sarnia and Windsor (Tecumesh, LaSalle, Lakeshore), to Thunder Bay. We offer standard delivery to all Ontario cities including St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, Milton, Mississauga, Port Credit, Georgetown, Brampton, Bramalea, Etobicoke, Toronto, Willowdale, North York, Scarborough, Woodbridge, Maple, King City, Concord, Richmond Hill, Markham, Unionville, Stratford, Oshawa, Whitby, Clarington, Acton, Erin, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford, Brant, Brockville, Woodstock, Barrie, Carp, Innisfil, Midland including Tay and Penetanguishene, Orillia, Ramara, Leamington including Kingsville, Sudbury, Chatham, Kent, London, Kingston, Nepean, South Frontenac, Peterborough including Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, Belleville, Cornwall, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Kawartha Lake, Muskoka, Norfolk, Timmins, Owen Sound, and many more.

Fireplace design with contemporary stone veneer

Contemporary stone patterns have rapidly changed the face of stone veneer designs. With a new series of sleek and minimal panel designs the fireplace decor options have really expanded. The entire idea behind creating fireplaces with an authentic look and feel to imitate real wood burning ones has changed. The contemporary path has opened up many new and exciting design options for home decorators. The ability for gas or electric fireplaces to generate warmth without the need of a bulky chimney has revolutionized fireplace design ideas. Here are some styles that we think have worked well with contemporary stone designs.

Stone wall style – The full stone veneer wall style has been adopted in many home decor layouts. This styles requires you to cover a wall top-to-bottom in a contemporary stone veneer and then insert a contemporary piece of furniture to act as the accent piece. This trend has become a popular way of decorating the home entertainment unit. A floating TV with a hidden mounting system acts as the accent piece to the stone veneer background. Now if you are familiar with this style then think of how simple it would be to replace the television unit with a gas burning fireplace. This is definitely a simple and effective method of implementing a contemporary twist to your fireplace design ideas.

Traditional style with a twist – Another method that is catching on is using contemporary stones to cover a traditional chimney structure. This style is definitely for those who want to modernize their space but still keep the traditional roots of the fireplace within the home. This method is also very easy to implement. All you need to do is cover the existing structure with a modern geometric stone pattern. Contemporary stone veneer like the Natural Ledge or Quartzite Ledge work well here. Their neat geometric patterns create a very modern sleek look while still holding onto the unmistakable stone veneer feel.

If you have any questions on how to implement the contemporary look into your fireplace design then stop by our showroom in Mississauga. There you’ll be able to speak with our sales representatives who can give helpful advice and direction in designing your dream fireplace.

River Rock Fireplace Design Idea

River rock is one of those powerful stones that leaves a lasting impression wherever it is placed. The large size and natural shape of the stone veneer allows it to create a truly imposing presence in any space. This isn’t to say that the stone itself is overbearing. In fact, when paired with wood and soft candlelight it works like no other stone in creating an intimate rustic castle feel.

River rock is one of our most authentic stone veneer textures, It is created to imitate the look and feel of real river stones. The visual presence of this stone is unmatched, the feel it creates is similar to the castle or cathedral line but it stills holds its own category of style. Stone veneer of this shape and size has to be treated with extra care in the layout process. If you plan to implement river rock in your fireplace design ideas then take note of the following:

The shape – The natural round shape of the stone makes it rather tricky to use for individuals without any prior masonry experience. With more contemporary stones the issues with installation are minimized by their geometric pattern and structure. Installing contemporary stones is as simple as following a grid structure and creating

River Rock Fireplace Design

a grout line. With river rock there is no geometric pattern to adhere to, the texture is natural and organic. As a result the stone has to be installed in a way that mimics the pattern of real river rock which can be tricky without the proper experience in stone veneer layout and installation.

The size – The size of the stone is also important in the installation process. Let’s say that you have a few fireplace design ideas that use river rock to cover a narrow chimney structure. The first issue here is, of course, not crowding the space with large river rocks. With other stone veneer products it’s easy to cut and reassemble the stones to match the given space. With river rock this process proves to be a bit more complicated in that the river rock line cannot be cut and trimmed. The stones have a circular and organic shape, cutting and trimming them would destroy their appeal. In the case of a chimney you will have to make sure that there is enough room for the river rock to inhabit the space. The best way to use river rock is to spend a good deal of time in the layout process and identify what arrangement of the stone would look best before any installation occurs.

If you have any questions on how to implement the river rock line to the fullest, feel free to stop by our showroom in Mississauga. There you’ll be able to meet trained sales representatives that will be able to aid you in the design, layout and installation process.

Authentic stone brick homes

The rustic full bodied stone home look is not for the faint of heart. It requires dedication, wall space and of course a keen eye for exterior design. It is definitely a more daring venture, but if done right the results are truly extraordinary.

If this is a look you wish to pursue Stone Selex is here to help. This style of stone veneer project draws inspiration from the era of pioneers and new settlements. From the British isles to the North American farming communities this style of stone veneer evokes an authentic and historic visual appeal. The stone home look is a unique alternative to the popular log cabin aesthetic. Both styles create an organic texture that can be used to transform the look of your home’ s exterior. This rustic style can be split into two main style categories.

Remember to plan your exterior design with a theme in mind. Do some research to find an era that suites your taste then choose a stone veneer that resembles your chosen stone homes.

Large stone veneer: This style utilizes the large size and shape of select stone veneer products. These shapes emulate the texture of the stone homes that where constructed in the medieval era.  The crude tools and building materials available at that time produced bulky yet solid and stable structures. The larger stones are designed to mimic this exterior design. They provide an authentic look and feel which makes for a very convincing home decor endeavor. Ashlar and River Rock are popular choices for this style.

Compact stone veneer: This style of stone veneer creates a very compact and tightly fit aesthetic. As decades and centuries past the buildings tools and materials progressed. The architecture and visual appeal of homes became more sophisticated. Machinery that was more precise in sculpting and shaping allowed builders to create more complex home designs. By using smaller and more intricately shaped stones the builders could install windows, doors and elaborate front entrances. Some stone veneer lines that work well to achieve the more contemporary rustic look are Country Ledge, Canyon Ledge and the Classic Cut Stone.

For more information on how to achieve an authentic stone home look come by our showroom in Mississauga. There you’ll be able to speak with one of our trained sales representatives who will be able to aid in the selection process. Remember to have a theme or a look in mind, this will make the job of our design consultants much easier!

Combining Stone veneer at fireplace and cooking area

There are many ways to use stone veneer products that do not involve either a wall or chimney. Although these two areas go hand in hand with our products there are many other creative uses for manufactured stone veneer. Every faux stone product is designed to replicate and outshine the natural stone selection. Stone veneer is lightweight, easy to use and cost effective. We always encourage experimentation and innovation. Stone Selex products are designed specifically for the DIY home owner with a passion for home decor. Here are some ideas to get you started on your next project.

Outdoor living spaces have been gaining popularity in recent years. Many DIY home owners are creating new and adventurous ways to spice up their backyards.

We’ve seen everything from fully function outdoor kitchens (with multiple stationed BBQ’s and refrigerators) to custom built stone veneer gazebos. We’re not kidding when we say the possibilities are endless! It all depends on how you decide to use the space.

An effective way to begin is to conceptualize how you would like to transform your patio/backyard. Maybe you enjoy entertaining guests and would love to bring the party outside during the summer months. The first step is establishing the aim, not that we have that taken care of we can move on to the planning and design stages.

With a DIY project of this nature you can choose to be as simple or complex as you wish. An outdoor kitchen can be a simple as a BBQ with a stone veneer encasement or as complex as a lavish built-in stone veneer kitchen countertop with high end stainless steel cookware and appliances. The decision is yours, so remember to have fun with it!

For those just starting out we recommend using stone veneer like Quartzite Ledge or Timbre Ledge. These products are tight fitting and easy to install, you won’t have to worry about a grout line or creating a cohesive stone pattern. These two stone veneer patterns have geometric shapes that make them easy to work with.

Our products are built to last and will survive the changing seasons if taken care of properly. For more information on how to use stone veneer products outdoors come by our showroom in Mississauga. There you’ll get to meet our trained sales representatives that will be able to answer all your questions.

Stone veneer-Living room

Using stone veneer products to renovate your home is a great solution for the do it yourself home decorator. Stone Selex supplies all the tools and products for bringing a stone veneer project to life. On top of all that, we’re always here to offer sound installation and design advice. Here are a few things to remember during the preliminary installation process.

The sketch: Sketching out the final product is important because it will act as a blueprint for your project. You will continually refer to this image as the installation progresses so make sure to have the sketch nearby at all times. The best way to do this is to take a picture of the project area, print it out and then draw the basic architectural lines and measurements directly on the image. This will help you visualize the space in all it’s stages of completion.

The layout: This portion can be referred to as the preliminary installation stage. The aim here is to layout your selected stone veneer into 4×4 foot sections on the floor before you mortar them onto the wall. What this does is help you visualize the way particular stone veneer pieces will fit together before they are secured. Do this in stages by laying out the design, mortaring them to the wall and repeat the process for the next section.

Last but not least is the grout lines or stone lines masonry tip. You’ll be glad you picked up on this in the long run.

Stone Lines: Now this is a term you may not be as familiar with. It refers to the spacing between the stone veneer itself. Stone lines, or grout lines are used to protect the stone veneer from moisture damage. Water can seep into the cracks of the stone veneer and slowly work its way to the base where it will separate the stone veneer from the wall. This will cause your selected stone cladding to crack and shift and potentially even separate completely from the wall. This is more of an issue of concern for outdoor stone veneer projects where our products have to withstand more of the natural elements.

For more masonry tips like how to achieve proper stone lines and a smart layout drop by our Mississauga showroom. There you’ll be able to speak with our sales representatives who will be able to answer all of your installation questions.