When thinking of marble, we usually first remember beautiful architectural pieces, faced in marble, or famous sculptures, such as Michelangelo’s David. But marble is a really versatile material. We can see it in modern interiors, from floors and walls to tabletops and home décor items.
Marble has always been a sign of wealth – ever since ancient times. Now it’s available to all. No wonder that popularity of marble details in the interiors is growing.
Classic and elegant appearance makes this natural material one of the interior designers’ favorites. Marble easily blends into almost any home décor. Although marble visually can appear slightly cold, modern designers often prefer using accents of it – for example, marble shelves, vases or marble inserts in furniture pieces.
High-end furniture makers (such as Bellavista Collection, whose Italian luxury furniture is well-known all over the globe) love marble a lot. And there are reasons for it.
To begin with, marble is extremely durable, hard-wearing and fire-resistant. Sleek look of marble pieces lasts virtually for centuries.
Also, marble is multifarious. Different sorts of marble look so dissimilar that you are pretty likely to get lost in choice. The color palette of marble is extremely rich – from snow-white to black, and everything in between. Numerous shades of brown, red, yellow, pink, blue, and green – you can find marble in hundreds of tones. In addition, the characteristic veins and swirls create the inimitable and irresistibly attractive pattern we all love so much.
Well, this material has its drawbacks as well. Being natural stone, marble is (quite predictably) incredibly heavy compared to other materials. That’s why, when creating a furniture piece with marble details, Attilio Zanni, Bellavista’s brilliant designer, double-checks that the structure will take this weight for sure. Also, quality natural marble is far from being cheap.
Where Marble Comes From
Imagine a slab of marble – like the one, which craftsmen in Bellavista’s workshop are working on, turning it into, say, a tabletop. It’s difficult to believe, but this stone is tens of million years old. Ages ago it used to be a limestone (most commonly) or dolomite rock, until the heat and huge pressure deep under ground over thousands of years changed it into marble. The process of such a change is called metamorphism, so geologists call marble ‘a metamorphic rock’.
The Ancient Greek word for marble also stood for “white or glossy stone”. It’s true that marble mostly is more or less white. Other colors occur due to impurities in the original limestone rock. Clay, bituminous material, iron oxides, or other substances ‘dye’ marble into a range of colors. The attractive-looking veins are also formed thanks to these impurities, as well as small amounts of other minerals like mica or quartz that sometimes could be found in marble.
Marble Inserts in Bellavista’s Furniture
From the hundreds of marbles available at the modern market, Bellavista Collection picked a number of lovely-looking ones and uses them to add zest to its designer furniture pieces.
Gorgeous-looking Carrara and Calacatta marbles top this list of favorites. Both these stones come from the quarries in Apuan Alps – a mountain range in northern Tuscany, Italy. They both are white; although Calacatta is pretty often confused with Carrara marble, they are not the same.
In a nutshell, Calacatta marble is whiter, while Carrara is a bit deeper gray. As for the veining, Calacatta marble has softer, gold-tinged veins, while veins in Carrara are thicker, more substantial. By the way, it is said that Michelangelo preferred Calacatta marble to all other types of this beautiful stone.
Now you can have a piece of Michelangelo’s favorite stone in your home – as a decorative element in a furniture piece from Bellavista Collection.
For example, look at the bar unit named HIM. Its inner back is a solid slab of Calacatta marble. Optional backlighting with LEDs adds even more zest to its chic appearance.
In fact, it is extremely difficult to choose just one kind of marble out of the options Bellavista often offers for its items. These marbles are so nice! Stylish-looking Emperador Dark Brown marble; Grigio Striato Elegante (striped gray) marble with its spectacular stripes; lovely Breccia Damascata marble; Pulpis marble, brownish with small white streaks; Nero Marquina of elegant black color…
What is more, in 2019 Bellavista added two more marbles: Invisible Gray and Agra, so the customers have even more choice. Invisible Gray resembles Carrara marble to some extent but has lots of attractive grayish swirls in it. Items with inserts of these marbles have already became popular with the customers.
For example, MILANO sideboard, designed in 2019, offers an optional top insert in either Emperador Dark Brown or Invisible Gray marble.
MIAMI chest of drawers is also among the pieces designed in 2019. Along with a dozen of wood options to choose from (with natural oak, ebony, and rosewood among them), there are as many as five kinds of marble for optional top insert: Calacatta marble, emperador dark brown, Pulpis, Agra, and Grigio Striato Elegante marble.
If you browse through the company’s website, you will find lots of pieces with marble details or optional inserts – such as LUNA console, with the top available in either of 16 woods and three marbles.
The top of TOM coffee table is offered in 10 woods and 4 marbles. GOLDEN BRIDGE sideboard, which was much appreciated at the September edition of Maison&Objet in 2018, is available in 10 woods, plus 3 kinds of marble for its optional top inset: Breccia Damascata, Carrara and Emperador Dark Brown.
And, as a cherry on top – one more showpiece from the same trade event: a 50-centimeter-high coffee table named PECHINO, which is all marble! The entire table is made of beautiful Rosso Pechino marble. PECHINO looks so gorgeous that it is bound to turn heads whenever you place it.
Judging from the growing popularity of furniture pieces with marble details, Bellavista’s craftsmen can say for sure: use of marble in furniture making isn’t a temporary trend. It’s a timeless classic that’s here to stay.
