The fresh, vibrant colors of spring are celebrated in new mosaics from Sara Baldwin, founder and creative director of New Ravenna Mosaics. Made entirely by hand in Virginia, the glass mosaic splashback designs are inspired by the inlay technique which originated in the 17th century India. Baldwin interprets her fascination with the cultures of South Asia, replacing traditional bone and mother of pearl with brilliant jewel glass and natural stone. Fiona, Jacqueline Vine and Climbing Vine are delicate organic Glass mosaic splashbacks that represent growth and renewal.

Climbing Vine jewel glass mosaic splashback

Baldwin says, My travels have taken me around the world where I delight in discovering ancient methods and patterns. I bring these ideas home to Virginia and interpret them them using the materials of my craft, stone and glass. One of my greatest challenges is to take an extremely hard and durable surface and make it appear soft and flowing, which to me, is the essence of spring.

New Ravenna Mosaics in stone can be installed on floors and walls both indoors and out. The jewel glass mosaic splashback is [...]

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This imposing designer wood burning stove is built from close to 330 kilograms of finely ground soapstone, to create a truly timeless design. Attika Geo comes with the high ceramic glass which offers a clear view of the burning flames. The soapstone stove continuously releases gentle warmth for 15 hours through the stone of the fireplace and can heat up to 215 m³. Burns 2.5 kg of wood logs per hour for 7.0 kW heat output and 83% efficiency.

The Q-20 is the rotating stove, designed to showcases its fire as effectively as on a stage. This designer wood burning stove is open on 3 sides and features automatically locking door. With its innovative, patented and concealed console, the Q-20 rotates smoothly around its own axis through 360° and can be secured every 45° using the foot pedal. 5.0 kW heat output and 79% efficiency allow for 250 m³ heating capacity. Burns 1.5 kg of wood logs per hour. Attika.

These beautiful black glass E series Wolf ovens will be available in both single and double configurations in the first quarter of 2012. The key idea behind the new design is to provide another decorative option for the modern kitchens, while maintaining every function of Wolf existing E series ovens.

Equipped with balanced door hinges for smooth door opening and closing, Wolf E series built-in ovens offer dual convection fans and 10 cooking modes including bake, roast, broil, convection bake, convection roast, convection broil, convection, bake stone, dehydrate and proof. Other main features of these self-clean ovens include dual convection logic control system, touch control panel with LCD display, 3 adjustable oven racks, a full-extension easy glide and full-extension door glide, double-pane window, dual interior halogen lighting, hidden bake element and recessed broil, temperature probe and receptacle, delayed start and Sabbath mode. Wolf.

We’ve not tried the hot stone grill cooking concept yet at our dinner table, but it looks really amazing. Basically the stone has two warmers that allow the stone to heat up like a grill so you can cook meats, vegetables, poultry, sausages right at your dinner table. We’ve also seen this with hot salt stone cooking, but this one forgoes the salt to give you more of an all around cooking / grilling surface.

Rok cooking is one of the companies making both commercial and consumer versions of the hot grill stones. This video shows you basically what to expect on using one of these hot stones.

At The Original Hot Cooking Stone

The art of the Mosaic goes way back, some 3,000 years BC and is considered one of the oldest art forms that is still here. Stone mosaics used to enhanced decors of the rich and powerful. From ancient palaces of Roman, Greek, and Mesopotamian cultures, the incredibly beautiful mosaic stone backsplash tile finds the way to the modern kitchens of today consumers. You can have stone backsplash done in polished, tumbled or antique tile. Mosaic can be made in shapes, colors and finishes that truly meet your taste and satisfy imagination – whether you draw ideas from the French and Italian Renaissance, want your stone backsplash to resemble mosaic walls from Roma villa, or want to enjoy your favorite modern art with every morning cup of coffee.

4″ hexagon red onyx mosaic stone backsplash from Maestro Mosaics

Stone mosaic backsplash in tiles of various shapes and sizes by Francois & Co

Rectangular tile stone mosaic backsplash by Ravenna Mosaics

Previously, Mosaic [...]

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Finished in grey or black, the F 250 cast iron wood stove by Jotul delivers some of the best combustion technology in modern trend setting design. This is a clean burn stove with air wash system to keep the glass clean and allow you to enjoy unobstructed view of fire. The cast iron wood stove offers 9.0 kW maximum heat output and will look very sharp with optional brushed aluminium or soap stone side convector panels. Jotul. See also Jotul wood burning stoves – F 162 and F 163 small stoves.

“Hi there, I am house sitting for some friends whose kitchen counters are (I believe) a type of dark slate.I acidentally left a paper towel soaked in lemon juice (I was making lemonade) on the counter and now it seems as though it has etched into the counter…the stain is very noticeable and cleaning it just stripped the sealer!! What can I do? Does it need to be resurfaced?” Thanks for your help. (name withheld) 

Dearest Name Witheld, 

It’s not your fault – who, really, would even be able to germinate the thought that lemon could possibly etch a hard countertop material? VERY few. Etching is different than staining, and you may want to tip off the homeowner that they should attempt to find solutions for the etching problem. 

Image from countertopnetwork.comTell them what substance caused the problem (was it only lemon juice?) How much lemon juice and how long was it sitting on the countertop? What did you do after you saw it/how did you attempt to clean it up? That will be helpful information. 

Beyond that, I am not a stone expert, and there are countless types of stone countertop materials which [...]

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We had no idea you could buy a stone outdoor fireplace from Costco, and have it installed – YES. The stone outdoor fireplace also has a adjustable 3 position grill for your outdoor kitchen needs, and features a unique construction that will no allow the stone work to crack with outdoor exposure. It also has a powder-coated steel door system, and assembly takes less than an hour.

What’s interesting is the fireplace allows it to be classified as recreational fire, so you can burn year around. We love the idea of being outside on the patio, and then having the ability to pull a leg of lamb out of the fireplace. Awesome.

At Mirage Stone Outdoor Fireplaces w/ BBQ

This pizza stone duplicates crispy pizzeria-style crust because of the firebrick construction which offers superior heat retention and distribution. The flat surface releases pizza or bread quickly and easily, and the durable texture resists cracking caused by high temperatures. We love the fact you can use this on a grill or in the oven, and if you want the smoky flavor using on the grill will be your best bet for that fire grilled pizza taste. We hope to get one of these over the summer and then make some fire grilled pizzas with a drink or two of sangria. YUM!

At Old Stone Oven 4467 14-Inch by 16-Inch Baking Stone

The Stok Quatrro Grill and its insert system make it easy to change between between a grill grate, griddle, pizza stone and vegetable tray. You can combine any two inserts to combo cook pizza and vegetables or whatever grilling needs are. The $350 grill also comes with side shelf towel bars, internal spice racks, stainless steel and porcelain construction, a built-in temperature gauge, and electric ignition.

Via Gizmodo at Stok Grills