like a rock

10 premium European stone brands arrive in Houston for the first time

Eight Italians, a Dane, and a man from Portugal walk into Houston. No, this is not the beginning of a promising joke — far from it. For three days, a delegation of 10 European natural stone companies made the rounds to some of Houston’s top design firms, showcasing gorgeous products that have (mostly) only been available to the European market, until now. Read on for the exclusive details on which old-quarry brands will soon be popping up all over the city.

Excitement mounts as this new age of Maximalism calls for everything these natural stone lines have to offer. From colorful pastel marbles to dramatically contrasting slabs, bold basalts, imaginative Venetian terrazzos, and timeless marble cladding options — nothing was overlooked. Yachts and aircraft aren’t left out either, with a line of lightweight aluminum honeycomb-backed stones. There is even something for the eco-conscious, with a LEED-certified product making the list of brands to finally land stateside.

The mission was organized by Veronafiere Spa, which is also the organizer of Marmo+Mac — renowned as the world’s leading international trade fair for the natural stone industry.

“The Chamber was proud to partner locally with Veronafiere to coordinate all the events and meetings held in Houston on May 5, 6, and 7,” Francesca Bacci, business development manager at the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas, tells CultureMap. “The main goal of the mission was to create opportunities for manufacturers to connect with top-tier industry professionals, fostering networking and business development in the strategic U.S. market.”

Design and architecture firms Gensler, Perkins & Will, HOK, Jacobs, Intexture-Aura, Rottet Studio, and Nina Magon Design were all stops along the delegation’s tour, as well as Thorntree Slate at the Houston Design Center and the Amodo European Collection showroom at the Decorative Center. AIA Houston hosted a credit panel at their headquarters, and BeDesign hosted a luncheon with special guest and design powerhouse Abel Design Group. Houstonians with interest in these newly-available product lines will certainly know where to look.

Without further ado, here are the ten Marmo+Mac WeSpeakStone Delegation’s European brands that are now available in Houston:

Basaltite Guidotti Battaglini Srl
La Basaltite is a medium-grey stone with crystals of leucite immersed in a microcrystalline structure, derived from the hardening of lava in the eruption centre of Bolsena – Bagnoregio.

Pierangelo Umena of Basaltite shares that: “Houston and Texas can be a good market for our stone, Basaltite, because it is a natural grey stone extracted and processed exclusively at our facilities in Italy with an elegant and minimalistic neutral grey tone in great combination with white and any other colour or material.

Cancian Pavimenti
This legacy Venetian terrazzo brand dates back to 1840. The only LEED-certified brand on the list, this lightweight, nearly zero waste product is definitely one to watch. With numerous weight and backing options, this product can be made to suit both airplanes and yachts.

Alina Klak, who represents Cancian Pavimenti through Marble Büro, had this to say about expanding to Houston: “As the second fastest-growing city in the nation, Houston is a dynamic and promising market for Marble Büro’s traditional Italian terrazzo. With a surge in high-end residential and commercial developments, there’s growing demand for unique, durable, and customizable surfaces. Marble Büro—representing a third-generation terrazzo company with nearly a century of family experience—brings an authentic piece of Italy to Houston, offering genuine Italian precast terrazzo tiles crafted with artisanal time-honored techniques and tailored to meet the vision of today’s architects and designers.”

Domos
Based in Verona’s Stone District, Domos develops marble and natural stone products. “Marble is a source of inspiration for us, and design is form, it’s function,” a representative tells CultureMap.

Elite Stone
Perfect for those who appreciate dramatic, yet timeless, design statements, these marbles are perfect for book-matched, full-slab installations; this is the stone for clients who enjoy striking contrasts and bold veining.

“Houston gave me the impression of a city that unveils its charm gradually—like a well-kept secret,” sales manager Davide Sandini says. “Its true beauty isn’t loud or fleeting, but lasting and deeply appreciated by those who live there. The locals radiate pride in their surroundings, and that quiet sophistication makes Houston the perfect setting for our timeless, luxurious Italian marbles.”

Fauske Marble by Moser Aps
Based in Denmark, this sustainably-minded fourth generation company produces exquisite arctic marbles in colors like pinks and purples, plus many more.

Grassi Pietre Srl
Founded in 1850, this Nanto, Italy-based company touts its ability to combine “artisanal know-how with the most modern technologies available for stone processing and production.”

Marcolini Marmi Spa
The brand is known for its adherence to Italian taste and tradition in the areas of marble, granite, onyx, and stone.

Moca Stone SA
Marcelo Costa believes their warm, creamy marbles are a perfect fit for Houston: "Our natural stone materials, extracted from our own quarries and produced in our own facilities, are distinguished by their uniqueness, elegance, and luxurious appeal, making them a perfect fit for high-end residential and commercial projects across the city," a representative says.

Porfido Trentino - Cave Famiglia Pisetta
Thanks to a location in the middle of the Alto Adige's porphyry platform, the company offers a very large variety of porphyry products such as the cubes, irregular slabs, and tiles with split sides. In addition, it stocks other, more sophisticated materials such as steps-to-stone stairs, as well as materials with polished and flamed surfaces which are specially indicated for indoor floorings and coverings.

R.E.D. Graniti Spa
This exquisite marble cladding company offers monument quality stonework built to last for generations.

With all these exciting options, Houston’s top designers and architects undoubtedly have big plans for the new products. Time will tell how they enhance design in the Bayou City for many years to come.

Photo courtesy of Portugal Marble

Portuguese marble is also an option for timeless elegance

home-design

artist to entrepreneur

Houston artist rolls out new Hawaii-inspired wallpaper collection

Kristen Leigh Studio Island Collection wallpaper

Courtesy of Kristen Leigh Studio

The Island Collection introduces Mili, Lana, Meadow Check, and Kiko to the Kristen Leigh Studio line of textiles and wallpapers.

Houston watercolor artist Kristen Steen, founder and artist at Kristen Leigh Studio in West University Place, is set to make a colorful splash next month with her latest textile and wallpaper collection. Inspired by a family vacation to Hawaii, The Island Collection features four new patterns in shades like soft seafoam, muted blue, terracotta coral, and crisp white.

The collection unfolds across four patterns, each offered in a range of colorways. Mili anchors the group and is the only pattern to come through in both fabric and wallpaper, moving through chambray, lakeside, terracotta, olive, and shades of blue and green. Lana follows in a similar range of chambray, lakeside, blue and green, and terracotta, while Meadow Check and Kiko round out the offering with the addition of forest and, for Meadow Check, olive green. Fabric is woven on French linen and linen cotton canvas, with wallpaper finished in a premium matte.

The Island Collection brings the Kristen Leigh Studio line to approximately 85 fabrics and 30 wallpapers — quite an accomplishment for a studio that, like many, was created during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Relying on what Steen refers to as “the power of Instagram,” Connecticut-based Cailini Coastal tapped Steen to design her first wallpaper, a delicate herringbone pattern named Parker that is available to this day.

Courtesy of Kristen Leigh Studio

The Island Collection introduces Mili, Lana, Meadow Check, and Kiko to the Kristen Leigh Studio line of textiles and wallpapers.

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The success of her first wallpaper commission inspired Steen to design collections of her own, which have become designer favorites for providing classically-relaxed, nonchalant refinement elevated through their quality craftsmanship and sophisticated finishes. Fabrics are woven in either French linen or a linen cotton canvas, while wallpapers are premium matte, paper weave, or premium grasscloth. As with anything, trial and error ensued, but Steen quickly found a community that she credits with offering continuous support throughout the evolution of Kristen Leigh Studio.

“I just jumped in and learned everything I could about manufacturing wallpaper. I tried out a few here and there; it’s just a lot of research,” explains Steen. “Now that I am in it and have friends who are wallpaper and textile designers, we talk and get together. For being such a singular and solo industry, it’s so valuable to have other designers to bounce ideas off of: what’s working, what isn’t, and what swings in the industry.”

A family health scare kept Steen from creating anything new for a couple of seasons, until a wayward family vacation forced her hand. What was meant to be a week on the beaches of Hawaii ended up being a week indoors during a tropical storm.

“You just kind of had to make the most of it. We couldn’t just sit there and complain — that doesn’t do any good,” says Steen. “There was a lot of sketch time — a lot of just doodling — then afterwards I was playing with color and thought ‘this could be fun.’”

As a studio that mainly markets to designers and showrooms, the pressure to create a new collection each season can grind the gears of the creative process to a halt. After an 18-month hiatus, Steen credits the lack of pressure she felt while just passing time on vacation, while admiring the local flora and fauna, for the inspiration she needed to accumulate enough sketches for a complete collection.

“It sounds really cliché, but just being able to draw and sketch without any end game in mind, being able to not really care about it, is where this collection came from,” explains Steen. “I’m biased, because it’s one of my favorites now, because that’s how it was created.”

Lush botanicals, winding vines, and the easy, unhurried rhythm of island life came into focus, not as literal tropical motifs but filtered through a quieter, more classic point of view. As a watercolor artist, Steen’s work often maintains a traditional, serene dialect. However, her occasional use of bold, saturated color can feel electric and dramatic — something entirely foreign to those who speak in watercolor.

“I do love how the watercolor will have variations in the tones and the shades. You can’t mimic that, you can’t fake it,” says Steen. “There are some patterns — like the Kate, or even the new Mili — that all started with just sketches and brushstrokes, but it just didn’t translate as well to pack that color punch that I wanted. So, when I was editing, I ended up really pushing the saturation to where it almost felt like a solid. But everything is done by hand, for sure.”

More consumers than ever before are seeking out niche studios like Steen’s. Kristen Leigh Studio is not exclusively to-the-trade, a distinction that once made products nearly irresistible. Steen’s collections are available through her Houston studio, website, numerous trade studios throughout the country, through interior designers, and even through select pop-ups. So, with that being said, who is a Kristen Leigh Studio client?

“Someone who wants to have something that feels warm and joyful. Something that feels special and authentic, but not necessarily fussy,” says Steen. “They want to feel proud of it, ‘This is a designer fabric. This is a designer wallpaper. This is something special that I don’t see in my neighbor’s house all the time.’ They want to feel like this is something special, but I’m also a mom of three kids. I realize that the fabrics have to be durable. They have to be something you can touch and live in and it’s not like a museum. Something that’s approachable and sophisticated. Just approachable design—something that’s everyday, but still special.”

Kristen Leigh Studio’s The Island Collection will be available beginning October 1.

home-design wallpaper kristen leigh studio