How to Make Marble Marvellous

A stone that has been enjoyed since classical times is back in the spotlight. Here’s how to adapt the trend to your modern home.

Marble is a timeless, classical rock that gives any object or surface a luxurious and sophisticated shine. Yet if you add too much of it to your home, it could soon resemble a design from the ‘80s that you fall out of love with in six months’ time.

Designers have been working with this old material and thinking differently about how to modernise it for your home. The key is to be minimalist in your approach—don’t overwhelm a room where just a small addition will do the trick.

Using a neutral colour palette and combining it with metallics, for example, will give this traditional rock a very modern feel.

Here are some ideas on how to bring your rooms up to date and make them look chic.

Kitchen Island

Don’t smother your kitchen in marble—instead make it a centrepiece. A kitchen island is a design statement as well as a functional piece of furniture, so introducing a flecked marble countertop will look attractive plus create a hard-wearing, efficient work surface.

Add a trendy industrial look by adding in hanging copper lights or copper pots and pans.  

Feature Wall

A feature wall is the perfect way to introduce a touch of marble to your room without overwhelming it. This could get quite expensive, but special effects paints will achieve the same look for much less cost and effort.

Imitating marble’s smooth surface perfectly, the Dulux Ambiance Marble range of paints have a luxurious feel to them—plus they look just like the real thing. Pick a focal wall without any windows, such as the sofa wall in your main room, and match it with a similar colour rug.

Door handles

Marble or marble-effect handles are a nice little accessory that will add contrast to any room. You can add them to doors or even drawers to freshen up existing furniture—this small touch will make such a difference. 

If you want visitors talking about your fashion sense, try them in contrasting colours, such as black or white marble, or go one step further and get them in this year’s most fashionable colour: green.  

Fireplace

Combine two designs that are coming back into fashion, with a marble fireplace in your living room. For a very sleek bold look, use a jet-black stone against cream-painted walls.

Alternatively, opt for a light matte marble fireplace that you can accessorise with metallic—such as a sparkly mirror or bronze candlesticks.

Coffee Table

This functional piece of furniture can become really trendy with a dash of elegant marble. A stone-topped coffee table is a centrepiece piece that can be as modern or traditional as you like.

Add rustic, Scandinavian-style charm with a coffee table in reclaimed wood that’s topped with shaped marble. Or choose a minimalist table that has an unusual marble top—a square or a hexagon—and is finished with a gold, chrome or modern brass base.  

Accessories

As marble is back in trend, you’ll also find a wealth of marble accessories in stores. You will see everything from miniature statues and coffee trays, to clocks, vases and picture frames in all tones of solid rock.

A marble cheeseboard for the kitchen, coasters for your living room, or soap dispensers for your bathroom are small, easy ways to add a classical atmosphere. 

Looking for ideas for marble? Create a feature wall with Dulux Ambiance Marble special effects paints, available in 92 colours. #MyFutureWall is a Dulux Ambiance wall.