A lifelong love of natural stone.
Lisa’s journal / Natural stone worktops
Years of marble and granite, purposeful joints, sculpted shapes and the details I keep coming back to.
Lisa MelvinFounder, Kuche & Bagno25 October 2026 · 16 minute read
Concept kitchen / Panda White, bookmatched around Hannah’s V-shaped island.
I’ve always been a natural materials girl. Wood, stone, anything that comes from nature—I’ve been drawn to it from day dot. I love the grain, the movement, the little details you notice when you get close. Marble and granite have been part of my work for years and years, and natural stone still stops me in my tracks.
It amazes me that something with a geological history stretching back millions of years can end up taking pride of place in your kitchen. You can sit beside it, run your hand across it and make it part of everyday life. If that stone had eyes, imagine the stories it could tell.
We’ve worked with some extraordinary materials over the years: greens, violets, deep blacks, dramatic white marble and luminous onyx. But I want to look a little closer here. At the edge of the worktop. At the way a vein turns a corner. At the details that turn a beautiful slab into a piece of furniture. These photographs are drawn from our own project archive, from earlier kitchens to the work we’re doing now.
Through the yearsAfrican FusionNorth Road laundryThe offcut consolePanda WhiteThe boxed sinkShapes & bookmatchingThe onyx roomMaterials & wellbeingChoosing your stoneQuality Marble
01 / From our own archive
Years of working with the material.
When I look back through our earlier kitchens, I can see how long I’ve been interested in the shape of a worktop. A curve changes how you move around it. A lozenge gives you a different place to sit. A wedge can open out towards the room.
I’ve used lozenges and those shapes I’ve always called my “cheese shapes”—a triangle with a curved outer edge. They’re part of a much longer conversation about how a kitchen works, where you gather and how the surfaces meet.
My own Star Galaxy worktop went into my kitchen in 2004 and is still going strong. Alongside that personal story, there have been years of marble and granite across our projects: different colours, different outlines and so many details worked out with our fabricators.
2003 / A curved seating edge beside a straighter working run.
2005 / A long, curved island changes the outline of the room.
2007 / Straight edges and a curved end, brought together.
A few earlier kitchens from our dated archive, showing the changing shapes and layouts. Tap a photograph to open the original archive image.
02 / North Road, also known as Ash House
African Fusion. An island with its own character.
African Fusion deserves a proper place in this story. We used it on the island at North Road, where the dark stone and its flowing pale and golden markings give the whole piece such presence.
The shape is important. The seating surface projects towards the room, with angled sides and a substantial stone end. Then there’s that opening in the end panel, framing a little space within the granite. I love being able to take a material this expressive and work with it as a piece of furniture.
North Road / African Fusion gives the island its own sculptural presence.
Look closer / The angled surface, the turn into the end panel and the opening framed by the granite.
Make the meeting feel purposeful.
I’m always thinking about where a joint will sit. When two pieces need to meet, I want that meeting to belong to the design. A change of direction, a shaped section or a bookmatch can give it a reason to be there.
Look at the way the darker surface meets the paler part of this island. The change becomes part of the composition. That is the thinking behind so many of the shapes I’ve used over the years: plan the whole piece, including the joins, from the beginning.
03 / A working room, with beautiful stone
The granite in the North Road laundry.
And then there is the laundry. I absolutely love the granite we used here. Look at all that movement around the sink: the swirls, the changes in colour and the way the pattern travels along the work surface.
These are the details I want to bring you closer to. You can see the front edge, the cut around the sink and the upstand against the wall. A room used for everyday jobs can still give you that pleasure of looking at a beautiful material.
North Road laundry / The movement in the granite continues along the worktop and upstand.
Closer to the surface / The granite’s movement, the front edge and the upstand beside the sink.
04 / Making more of the slab
From the island to the hallway.
The African Fusion story carries on into the hallway. I used the offcuts from the island to make this console. That is one of my favourite parts of working with a slab: seeing what else we can create from the pieces we have.
The angled shape gives the stone a different role here. Beneath Renée’s painting, against the pale fluted panelling, it becomes a piece of furniture in its own right. The markings connect it back to the kitchen, while the outline belongs to this space.
It takes planning. The offcuts available, their dimensions, the vein direction and how the finished piece will be supported all need to work together. But look what can come from considering the whole slab.
The same home, another piece / A hallway console made from the African Fusion island offcuts.
The offcut, given a purpose / An angled console surface that makes the pattern part of the furniture.
The closer views are crops of our existing photographs. Open them to see the complete original image.
05 / Look at the edge
Panda White. Drama, with a fine edge.
Our concept kitchen’s Panda White marble is a wonderful example. The black veining is so expressive, and the bookmatching gives the island a strong centre. Hannah’s V-shaped design lets that pattern become part of the shape itself.
Then look at the sharknose edge. The underside slopes back so the visible edge reads as a much finer line. It changes the way the whole worktop feels: substantial stone, with a lightness at its edge. The exact profile needs to suit the material and its thickness; this is where the fabricator’s skill really matters.
Panda White / Follow the black veining across the surface and towards the edge.
Look underneath / The sharknose profile and the stone turning down at the island’s end.
Tap any photograph to open the larger view. These are the original project photographs, so you can look closely at the finished work.
06 / A room within the cabinetry
The sink, wrapped in stone.
In the same kitchen, we created a soapstone box around the sink area. The work surface, the back, the sides and the top are considered together. Open the doors and you discover this little stone-lined space within the cabinetry.
It’s the corners I love. A mitre brings angled edges together so the meeting of the surfaces feels carefully resolved. There are still joints, of course, but the eye reads the complete form.
With stone, I’m always thinking beyond the top surface. What happens at the side? How does it meet the furniture? Where does the pattern go? Those decisions make such a difference.
The complete surround / Soapstone encloses the sink area within the cabinetry.
Closer still / The meeting of the soapstone surfaces beside the sink.
07 / Designed by Hannah
Let the stone make the pattern.
Hannah has brought so many interesting shapes to our islands. Those V-shapes and arrowhead forms are lovely to gather around, and they give us an opportunity to do something really special with the stone.
Bookmatching is like opening a book: neighbouring slabs are arranged so their veining reflects across the join. You still see a joint, but it has a purpose. It becomes the centre of the composition. That’s a very different feeling from a seam interrupting a beautiful run of stone.
We plan the top, the downstands and the mitred legs together. Sometimes we’re following a vein around an edge; sometimes we’re creating a deliberate reflection. The actual slabs guide what is possible. You can’t choose all of that from a little sample.
The Hut / A sculpted stone edge above the fluted island base.
The Hut / The mirrored veining meets beneath the fluted cabinetry.
The Hut, up close / Follow the veining and the texture across the surface.
“The beauty of a stone worktop is in the details: its shape, its edge and the care taken where each piece meets.”
Lisa Melvin
We’ve also used curves, softer outlines and those wonderful brown stones with veins that look like branches. The material gives us something to respond to. No two slabs ask for exactly the same design.
08 / Emerald Radiance, in our studio
A room that makes me pause.
Emerald Radiance / Backlit onyx, Black Fantasy and a softer curve at the seating end.
Our onyx splashback is one of those materials I never tire of looking at. There is so much happening within it: colour, movement and depth, brought out by the light. The palette brings together onyx, Taj Mahal, Black Fantasy and African Fusion, alongside the timber. Each has its own part to play in how the room looks and feels.
I find that space wonderfully calming. I slow down when I’m in it. For me, it’s the whole room: the stone, the lighting and the way everything comes together. I love that a space can make me feel that way.
And the material has its own fascinating story. The onyx used for interiors is usually banded calcite, deposited by mineral-rich water. Its layers can record thousands of years of growth. It is a different material from the chalcedony gemstone also called onyx, and it deserves its own care and consideration.[1]
09 / A question worth exploring
Natural materials. Why can a room feel different?
That feeling in our onyx room stayed with me. I wanted to look into it properly. Could the stone itself have a calming effect? Was there anything behind the idea of healing properties? And why stop at precious stone, when I’ve always felt such a connection with wood and other natural materials too?
The research takes us into an interesting conversation about what we see, what we touch and the surroundings we spend time in. There are promising findings, and there are unanswered questions. Feeling calmer, a brief change in a body measurement and a lasting health benefit are three different things.
The pleasure of looking closely.
I can spend ages following the movement in a slab. A line disappears, another emerges, and a colour changes as I move around it. The grain in timber holds my attention in much the same way.
A 2026 study looked specifically at granite. Its first experiment found no significant benefit over the comparison material. In a second, some groups reported different short-term mood responses depending on the finish and whether they looked or touched. It makes me curious about the surface we choose, although it doesn’t establish that stone heals or regulates the nervous system.[11]
Hannah’s desk / Taj Mahal quartzite, ash panelling, smoked mirror and light, considered together.
What happens when we touch it?
Think about resting your hand on timber, then on a polished stone worktop. The temperature, texture and finish become part of how you experience it. That’s one reason I like you to spend time with materials in the studio.
In one small experiment, touching uncoated oak produced a short-term change in a heart-rate-variability measure associated with relaxation, compared with marble and stainless steel. It involved just 18 young women and 90 seconds of contact. That is an interesting clue, with a very specific set of limits.[12]
The wider picture is mixed. In another study, 61 participants reported less anxiety in a wooden office, but the physiological results did not show the expected calmer response. How we say we feel and what a sensor measures don’t always tell the same story.[13]
Light is part of the material.
Our backlit onyx would look quite different without that light behind it. I love the depth it reveals. But I’m also thinking about the rest of the room: reflections, brightness, the view out, and how the space will be used through the day.
Laboratory research shows that light can affect alertness and melatonin, a hormone involved in sleep timing. The conditions of exposure matter. That helps explain why lighting deserves care; it doesn’t demonstrate a special calming effect from illuminated onyx.[14]
Research into rooms with natural features also gives us reasons to keep exploring. Some experiments report better recovery after stress; others find an improvement in how participants feel without a measurable physiological change. Much of this work uses virtual rooms, so we should be careful about applying it to a finished kitchen.[15]
And the idea of healing stones?
A controlled study of 138 adults compared rose quartz with a similar-looking glass substitute over 14 days. The crystal did not reduce anxiety more than the glass. Believers reported improvements in both groups, which is consistent with expectation playing a part.[16] That was a study of rose quartz, not our decorative onyx, but it gives us no basis for promising a healing effect from a precious stone.
I still find our onyx room wonderfully calming. I can describe that honestly while staying curious about why. For me, the useful design question is how the materials, light and details work together—and how you feel spending time among them. That gives us plenty to explore.
Read my thoughts on LED lighting and everyday life →A closer look at the research
Granite, 2026. The two experiments involved 40 and 64 young adults. The second compared honed and split-face granite, with looking alone or looking plus touch. It found differences on a particular self-reported depression/anxiety subscale, rather than a broad benefit across the measures. It had no no-stone comparison. Neither experiment measured nervous-system activity or long-term health.[11]
Touch and timber. The oak experiment measured a component of heart-rate variability, alongside brain blood-flow changes. These are short-term physiological observations, not evidence of treating anxiety or other conditions. The office experiment’s mixed findings are a useful reminder to read beyond a positive headline.[12][13]
The whole setting. A 100-participant virtual-office experiment found better recovery with biophilic features. A separate 30-participant virtual-classroom study found lower subjective stress without significant physiological or cognitive improvements. Different settings, methods and combinations of features make it difficult to attribute a result to one material.[15]
Light and crystals. The cited lighting experiment compared two wavelengths during a controlled evening exposure; it wasn’t a test of a kitchen or a backlit stone panel. The rose-quartz study concerned short-term anxiety scores in a non-clinical sample. Neither establishes that a stone’s age, value or quantity gives a room healing properties.[14][16]
A little geological wonder
A much longer story than ours.
Many natural stones have histories measured in millions, or hundreds of millions, of years. Each deposit has its own history. Some decorative stones, including certain onyx deposits, are much younger.[2]
Think of the Earth’s outer shell as a slowly moving jigsaw. Continents that are far apart today were once joined, so some rocks on different continents share a geological history. Similar-looking stone can also form independently, wherever the right geological conditions occur. Each quarry gives us a glimpse into that particular part of the Earth’s story.[3]
For me, understanding a little more about that makes these materials even more remarkable.
10 / Beauty, and everyday life
Marble, granite or quartzite? Choosing your worktop.
I can fall in love with a slab immediately. But choosing where to use it needs another conversation: how will the surface be used, and how do you feel about it changing with time?
Hardness is only part of the answer. On the Mohs scale, calcite is 3, feldspar is around 6–6.5 and quartz is 7. Those are mineral values, not a single performance score for every slab. Scratch resistance, resistance to acids, porosity and strength are different things.[4]
Swipe across to read the full comparison.
A starting point for choosing a natural stone
Material | Its character | What to consider |
|---|---|---|
Marble Including our Panda White | Recrystallised carbonate rock, commonly formed from limestone. Often chosen for its flowing veining. | Usually softer than quartz-rich stone. Acidic spills can etch the surface. Lovely where you welcome a developing patina; kitchen use needs an informed choice. |
Granite | Geological granite forms as magma cools underground, with interlocking minerals such as feldspar and quartz. | Often a practical kitchen choice. Absorption, finish and the actual stone still matter; the trade name can cover several geological rock types. |
Quartzite Including Taj Mahal | Quartz-rich sandstone transformed by heat and pressure. Taj Mahal is known for its warm, pale tones. | True quartzite resists scratching and ordinary food acids well. Porosity varies, so confirm sealing and care for the selected slab. |
Soapstone | A tactile, talc-bearing stone, used for the boxed sink surround in our concept kitchen. | Generally dense and acid-resistant, but softer and easier to mark. Discuss the grade, finish and the patina you can expect. |
Decorative onyx | Usually translucent, banded calcite. Especially striking when the light reveals its layers. | Relatively delicate and acid-sensitive. Feature panels and carefully chosen decorative areas suit it better than a heavily used preparation surface. |
General guidance, rather than a specification for an individual slab. Sources: Natural Stone Institute and material suppliers.[5][6][7][8]
Taj Mahal and Black Fantasy
Taj Mahal is a natural quartzite, distinct from manufactured quartz worktops. Black Fantasy, which we have used on our studio island, has a much darker, more dramatic appearance.
I wouldn’t rank their hardness from the names alone. Commercial descriptions of Black Fantasy are inconsistent. We confirm the particular slab’s composition, finish and care requirements with our fabricator before deciding where it belongs.[9]
A little care goes a long way.
A stain is something absorbed into the stone. An etch is a chemical change at the surface, often caused by acid. Sealing may improve stain resistance; it doesn’t make a surface stain-proof or stop acid etching in marble and other carbonate stones.
Use the recommended neutral cleaner, clear spills promptly, and use chopping boards and trivets. Some stones need sealing and others don’t. Bathrooms, wet areas and outdoor settings each need their own assessment of the stone, finish and installation.[5]
Natural stone starts as rock. The finished slab may also be filled, resined, reinforced or sealed.[7] Understanding those treatments is part of choosing it well. I still find the natural pattern endlessly interesting; knowing how to live with it means you can enjoy it properly.
Our brand family / Together since the showroom opened
The hands behind the detail.
We’ve worked with Quality Marble from the day our showroom opened. Over so many years and so many projects, they’ve helped us turn these ideas into real pieces of stonework.
Carlo Fossaluzza founded Quality Marble in 1980, continuing a family tradition in marble, terrazzo and mosaics. That knowledge of the material and care for making are things I’ve valued throughout our work together.[10]
My own kitchen is part of that story. In 2004, I chose Star Galaxy, with those lovely little gold-coloured flecks. Twenty-two years later, it is still going strong. I think that says a great deal about choosing a material you love and having it made well.
Then there was the enormous 4.2-metre piece. I still remember Quality Marble sourcing and fabricating it, the HIAB delivery and the excitement of having it installed in one piece. It was exceptional. Every project needs its own assessment of the available slab, support, access and lifting arrangements.
I do have a bit of an obsession with avoiding unnecessary joints. But give me a beautifully planned bookmatch and a shape that makes the most of it, and I’m very happy to celebrate the join.
A material you can live with
Choose the piece that keeps drawing you back.
That is what I love about natural stone. You can know a worktop for years and still notice something new in it. A line, a colour, a little glint when the light changes. It becomes part of the home, and part of your own story.
Look closer in our studio →Explore the islands →More from Lisa →Materials, research & further reading
Personal project memories are Lisa’s own, including the African Fusion island and offcut console, the North Road laundry granite and the earlier lozenge and curved-wedge shapes. The three earlier kitchen photographs retain their dates from our published kitchen archive and show the development of the shapes. The concept kitchen’s Panda White, sharknose profile and soapstone cube are documented in our original project story and Revealed, seventh edition, page 40. Emerald Radiance’s stone palette is listed on page 9. The material guidance and wellbeing research were checked on 25 October 2026. The studies below are starting points for understanding their findings and limitations.
Natural Stone Institute / Use Natural Stone: The Mystique of Onyx.
Geological Society: Granite, Devon; Use Natural Stone: Getting to Know Your White Stones. These give geological examples, not ages for our individual slabs.
Brachot: Taj Mahal quartzite; Granit Design: Taj Mahal, treatments and care.
Antolini: Black Fantasy. Trade descriptions vary; the article does not assign an unverified hardness to our slab.
Ishikawa & Nishikawa (2026): experimental research on natural stone, mindfulness and stress, International Journal of Affective Engineering, 25(2), 207–222.
Ikei and colleagues (2017): physiological effects of touching wood.
Ojala and colleagues (2023): psychological and physiological effects of a wooden office room.
Cajochen and colleagues (2005): wavelength-dependent responses to evening light.
Yin and colleagues (2020): stress recovery in virtual offices with biophilic features; You and colleagues (2023): responses to a virtual biophilic classroom.
Escolà-Gascón and colleagues (2025): rose quartz, a glass comparison and anxiety.
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