Modern Stone Veneer: Traits & Designs
Stone is a timeless building material — after all, the very first dwellings were built of stone. Drawing on these ancient roots, stone has stayed a popular façade for homes in recent times as well. When it comes to your stone veneer options in the 21st century, you have options that range from traditional to modern. In today’s blog, we’re highlighting modern stone veneer, the design trends, and much more!
At Affinity Stone, we build a line of manufactured stone panels that are firmly rooted in the contemporary style. Our ultra-deluxe panels are a popular finishing touch for exterior and interior spaces alike. Keep reading to see what sets modern stone veneer apart from the rest, see our popular lines, and start shopping today!
What Makes Contemporary Stone Veneer Stand Out
While the traditional type of stone veneer doesn’t look bad by any means, more and more, homeowners are looking to adopt this gorgeous and style-forward modern look. If you’re still trying to pinpoint the differences between contemporary stone veneer and old-school traditional veneer, look for these five differences:
- Smaller Stones and Pieces — This is a key hallmark of the modern stone veneer aesthetic. Older stone veneer is typically built with large, circular “fieldstone” style pieces. Contemporary stone veneer styles utilize tighter patters of smaller, more rectangular pieces. While the “fieldstone” look can certainly be attractive, when compared to the modern style, it just looks dated in 2021.
- Mortarless Look — Just as much of a factor as the stone pieces is the way they are arranged. Modern stone veneer is most often placed with a dry-stacked, mortarless look. This means that the stone pieces are directly on top of the others without a layer of grouting. It is very common to see the older fieldstone pieces separated by thick layers of mortar that forms a grout pattern. That grouted pattern is much better for a historical look than an up-to-date modern home façade.
Achieving that mortarless look is harder than you think — but that’s one of the reasons that our screw-on stone panels are a great choice!
- Cool Earth Tones — Unlike the shape and grouting, this is less of a hard-and-fast rule. However, in today’s stone veneer options, you’ll see more white and black shades rather than neutral colors like taupe and tan. In addition, the contemporary look also prioritizes the intensity of those colors. That means the white colors are often a brighter shade of white, and the black colors will be a darker shade of black. While these are the leading looks, there are more varieties and options than just those. We even build a wide range of veneer colors including rich copper options!
- Straight Lines — When looking at the big picture design — whether it be exterior wainscoting or an interior accent — you’ll see straight lines being the predominant style. A tenet of the modern aesthetic, the linear style is featured in every single one of our models.
- Flexibility of Use — The last trait of contemporary stone veneers is that they are versatile — perfect for indoor or outdoor use. While accessorizing your front door is a great exterior use, you might prefer to dress up your living room or master bathroom with the beautiful style of stone. Contemporary stone veneer makes both uses an option. This is a fairly new development, as even 20 years ago you’d be very hard pressed to find stone styles included in interior design.
Building a Modern Stone Façade with Affinity
Feeling inspired by the eye-catching appearance of our modern veneer? Those exceptional styles are just the first of many reasons to trust Affinity for your project — here’s what else you can expect:
- Competitive Price — While we may build a deluxe product with top-quality durability and style, our prices are very competitive.
- Time Savings — Since all of our stone panels are meant to be screwed in place, they take approximately 80% less time to install than a mortared option. This time savings is huge whether you’re a contractor or homeowner.
- Installed Any Day of the Year — Not only does ditching the mortar save time and provide the dry stack look, it also means you can install Affinity Stone any time of year, regardless of what the weather is like.
See a few more reasons that our repeat customers say we’re the best stone veneer on the market!
Shop Our Modern Stone Veneer
Modern stone veneer can be the perfect accent to transform a home — inside or outside. Enter your zip code right here to find the nearest Affinity Stone distributor, where you can see our product in person and bring it home.
If we don’t have a partner that serves your area yet, we still want to help. Simply enter your contact information at the bottom of this website to talk to our team!
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