Onyx
Honey onyx
Translucent, banded and unrepeatable. Backlit from a ventilated cavity it becomes the only light source a room needs at night.
Never underfoot. Onyx is soft and it will scratch in traffic.
The material library
Eight materials, and the honest version of how each one behaves
Stone is the loudest thing in a bathroom. These are the materials we return to, what they are good at, and what they will do to you if you choose them for the wrong place.
- In the library
- 8 core materials
- Slab selection
- At the yard, with you
- Showroom
- River North, by appointment
The material library
The eight we keep coming back to
Each one is in the showroom at full size. You can hold the brass, run a hand over the fluting and see the onyx backlit at the light level your room will actually use.
Marble
Nero Marquina
Dense black marble with sharp white veining. Honed, it grounds a dark room without turning it into a mirror.
Seal it and keep acidic cleaners away from it. Etching shows quickly on polished black.
Marble
Calacatta Viola
Plum and rust veining across a warm white field. The one marble that reads as jewellery rather than as stone.
Buy the whole block. Matching a second slab later is effectively impossible.
Quartzite
Taj Mahal quartzite
Warm cream with soft movement, and far harder than it looks. Our default when a client wants marble but lives like marble is a bad idea.
The practical choice. It takes daily abuse far better than any marble.
Metal
Unlacquered brass
It arrives bright and darkens where hands touch it. Within a year it has a map of how the room is used.
If you want it to stay bright, choose satin brass instead. Unlacquered is a commitment.
Metal
Blackened steel
The frame material for fluted and reeded glass screens. Thin sections, sharp corners and a finish that absorbs light rather than reflecting it.
Keep standing water off horizontal sections. Wax once a year.
Glass
Fluted low-iron glass
Clear glass has a green edge. Low-iron does not, so the stone behind it keeps its real colour. Fluting adds privacy without losing light.
Templated after tile, never before. Nothing here is a stock size.
Glass
Smoked mirror
A bronze-tinted mirror doubles a dark room without the hard reflection of clear glass. Flattering at low light levels, which is the point.
Not for the grooming mirror. Use clear glass where you actually need to see detail.
- Honey onyx · Turkey and Iran
- Nero Marquina · Basque Country, Spain
- Calacatta Viola · Carrara, Italy
- Taj Mahal quartzite · Espirito Santo, Brazil
- Unlacquered brass · Fabricated in the US and Italy
- Blackened steel · Fabricated in Chicago
- Fluted low-iron glass · Fabricated to size
- Smoked mirror · Fabricated to size
Lighting scenes
Materials only look right under the light you chose them for
We wire four independent layers to a keypad. Stone is selected under the same temperatures, so what you pick in the showroom is what you get at home.
Morning
3000K at 100%
Mirror task lights at full output, ceiling wash at 60%, floor heat already running. The only scene designed for accuracy rather than atmosphere.
Day
2900K at 65%
Even, quiet light for ordinary use. Ceiling wash carries the room, mirror lights drop back so the stone reads as it does in daylight.
Evening
2400K at 30%
Cove and niche lighting only, mirror lights off. The feature wall becomes the brightest surface in the room.
Night
2200K at 8%
Floor-level guide light and the backlit slab at a whisper. Enough to move safely without waking anybody up.
Living with it
Care, without the marketing
This is the table we hand over at commissioning, printed and specific to the materials in your room.
| Material | Cleaning | Sealing | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marble and limestone | pH-neutral cleaner only | Every 12 to 18 months | Etching from acids. Sealer does not prevent it. |
| Quartzite | pH-neutral cleaner | Every 18 to 24 months | Very little. This is the low-maintenance choice. |
| Onyx | Damp microfibre, nothing abrasive | Annually on vertical work | Softness. Keep it off floors and work surfaces. |
| Unlacquered brass | Dry cloth, or let it darken | Not sealed by design | It will patina. That is the point of choosing it. |
| Blackened steel | Dry cloth, wax annually | Wax, not sealer | Standing water on horizontal sections. |
| Low-iron glass | Squeegee after use | Optional hydrophobic coating | Hard water spotting in Chicago. A squeegee solves it. |
Pick the stone with us, not from a photo
A private morning at the slab yard with your designer is included on every Atelier and Commission project.
Request an estimate(312) 555-0214
Serving Chicago and the North Shore. Showroom visits by appointment.