Xiamen Aofei Building Materials LTD.

Reputable architects and designers know that marble can be a perfect choice for a variety of projects. While this elegant stone can fit many different needs and appeal to almost anyone, choosing the right type of marble for your client’s hotel, bank, or a residential building is crucial for both the project and good client relationships.  While this popular material is always in style, new marble trends pop up quite often. It can be quite difficult to keep up with all the news in the industry, especially for such busy professionals as interior designers and architects. That’s why Xiamen Aofei Building Materials team has prepared this article with the latest marble tile design trend! Ready to find out what it is? Keep on reading!

One of the biggest marble trends for tiles in 2020 is geometric tile design. You heard us right, angular marble tiles are back in business. We put together a list of the most popular geometric marble tile designs that can benefit your project. 

Hexagon Marble Tiles

Tile Designs with Geometric Waves and Block

3D Patterns in Marble Tile Design

In the urge of saving our planet from climate change, it is crucial to pull all the possible resources together and cooperate. Using sustainable building materials in interior design and construction helps to do it more efficiently. One of the great options for both commercial and residential projects is marble — the luxury material that will both help your company to create a perfect ambiance and help our environment. 

Many professionals in the architecture and interior design industry love marble for its amazing qualities and looks, but many wonder, is marble sustainable? The answer is yes!

So, How Sustainable is Marble? 

According to an independant environmental performance rating, the Green Guide, natural stone in general performs very well across a wide range of categories and usually scores “A” or “A+”, which makes it a quite sustainable building material.  Going even further, we discovered that there is even more potential to reduce emission in stone in the future. It will be possible by using electricity generated from renewable sources. 

Marble is an extremely durable material, with simple maintenance and precautions your marble flooring tile, walls, facades, and countertops will look brand new for decades. Not to mention, marble is unlikely to go out of style any soon — if not never! As you will not need to replace your marble products for quite a long time, using this sustainable building material in your project will cut the costs for you and reduce the impact on the environment by not contributing to the over-consumption. 

Marble is also a recyclable material! You may need to find a local processing center for natural stone, as not every recycling center will be able to take marble, but we believe that there are going to be more and more convenient places to recycle building materials. 

When talking about architecture, sculpture, and history of design, it is almost impossible not to mention marble. Serene and victorious, marble has become a luxury icon, loved by the industry professionals and the general public alike. However, because of marble’s reputation of being a material used in grandiose structures like The Colosseum in Italy or The Supreme Courthouse in the USA, sometimes interior designers and architects miss the opportunity to take advantage of marble’s amazing qualities and to use marble facade for commercial buildings with elegant, but minimalistic design. That’s why, in this article, Aofei Stone experts have prepared 3 brilliant marble building facade ideas in different styles for your marble design inspiration. Ready to see how marble can make the exterior design of your project even better? Continue reading. 

The 3 Brilliant Marble Building Facade Ideas

1. Original Marble Facade in Esrawe Studio Designs Experiential Showroom and Exhibition Space for Grupo Arca in Guadalajara

2. Stylish Office building with Marble Design in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France

3. Classy Banco Caminos Headquarters Building Marble Facade in Madrid, Spain 

Design and Architecture are both service industries with fierce competition. Sometimes, even a slight misunderstanding may ruin your reputation for years. Building a relationship with your client is just as important as delivering outstanding results. But you are not the only factor that affects your clients’ trust, and sometimes interior designers and architects have to pay for someone else’s mistakes. 

For some projects, choosing the main type of stone is one of the most important building materials selections. And while a successful building design with high-quality marble can satisfy your clients and lead to long-term cooperation, a wrong choice of your marble supplier may lead to a completely ruined reputation. 

Because of these factors, who you choose as your natural stone supplier directly affects your success in the industry. This article will help you avoid making detremantial mistakes and know who is the right supplier of marble for you. 

The Main Things to Consider When Choosing a Marble Supplier

Quality Control

It is hard to overemphasize how important quality control is when it comes to marble manufacturing and supplying. Marble is a luxury material that can make almost any design shine. But if the quality standards are not taken into account, even marble can have a disappointing performance. A good way to check your marble supplier is to ask about the quality management systems certifications they obtain. 

Customer reviews and Testimonials

Looking at what other clients say and recent projects the marble suppliers have worked on is sometimes one of best ways to predict your experience working with them. Check the projects & reviews sections on the marble supplier’s website, google their business, and search them on social media to see what other people think of the company. 

Transparency 

Sometimes, you may not find too many client reviews online or won’t be able find the quality certificates. This isn’t necessarily a red flag. Reach out and ask all the questions directly. If the natural stone supplier is still being shady or refuses to present any documents or certifications —  that is one. 

Taking all these factors into consideration will help you find professional marble suppliers who can be great options to choose for your project. Going through the checklist above will pretty much ensure that the short-term cooperation will go smoothly. 

However, if you want to make the right decision for long-term projects, there is one more critical thing. Get on a call with the marble suppliers you have in mind. Based on how they treat you, their tone of voice, the confidence, and willingness to make your work together as smooth and successful as possible will help you choose the supplier of marble you can work with for decades. 

At Xiamen Aofei Building Materials, high quality natural stone and superior customer service are of the highest priority. Our company is a member of the Natural Stone Institute and has been certified with ISO 9001, an international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). We try to show all the important certifications and share updates on our recent projects and client testimonials on our website and we are more than happy to answer any questions you have about our processes, factories, materials, and more! 

As business owners, we always strive to provide our customers with better service and experience. And while for online players one of the most important things is user experience, for offline companies, such as hotel chains, restaurants, banks, and retail stores it is an interior design and the ambiance of the space. The feeling your clients get when they walk into the door for the first time is crucial for how they will perceive your business and how much they will trust you. One of the great ways to ensure that your company is going to be associated with elegance, luxury, and wealthiness — all the things you will help your clients acquire through your products and services, is choosing high-quality luxe materials like marble for your company interior design. In this article, we will explore how marble design can help your business translate sophistication, create a killer first impression, and win wealthy clients. 

When we see marble, we think of grand historical buildings and statues, created by the most talented artists for the richest and most influential people of their time. Marble is known to be one of the most luxurious materials on the market, not to mention its amazing qualities, durability, and great looks. By using marble design in your company interior design, you create a luxury brand image for your business and show that your services will help your customers to get to the same level. 

Who wouldn’t want to be treated as the most important person in the room and actually get help to become one more often? What we know for sure, is that your clients would love that. In his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, famous writer and pioneer in the area of the psychology of the successful personality Dale Carnegie wrote: "The desire for a feeling of importance is one of the chief distinguishing differences between mankind and the animals. This desire makes you want to wear the latest styles, drive the latest cars, and talk about your brilliant children". That’s why luxury brands and services are in such high demand. And if you succeed in helping your clients feel important and affluent — they will respond with loyalty, amazing reviews, and will be willing to pay more. 

Being an interior designer can be really tough. Just as any creative profession, it requires tons of energy, inspiration, and, needless to say, hard work. Art requires you to think outside the box and inspiration does not just come from nowhere. Many times to create your own vision and get unique ideas, you first have to develop a taste by looking at as many pieces of great art as possible. Same works for professionals who got jaded to all the designs that look the same and are looking for afflatus. In today’s article, we decided to help you get the interior design inspiration from some of the most famous international interior designers who are known for their extraordinary marble design ideas. 

Kelly Hoppen, the UK

Kelly Hoppen’s work is a perfect source for interior design inspiration. Her unique vision and extensive experience of more than 40 years in interior design make her one the most recognized and honored interior designers in the world. She is based in the UK, but her portfolio features projects all over the world, including China. Many of her works spotlight marble design. Here is one of our favorite examples: 

Joseph Dirand, France

Joseph Dirand, a famous interior designer and architect is loved for his elegant minimalistic designs that “bring space to life”. He emphasizes the importance of the story of your brand or home in the design and loves to use rich luxury materials like marble. 

Here is just one of the many of his famous marble designs for a commercial project —  Monsieur Bleu restaurant in Paris:

Kelly Wearstler, the USA

Kelly Wearstler is another splendid interior designer internationally recognized with numerous awards, publications, and most importantly — the public. She is well known for her luxury and extravagant designs for industries from hospitality to retail. Kelly also uses marble design to highlight the ambiance of wealth and uniqueness in her work. 

A perfect example is the five-star urban resort and residence project — Viceroy Miami:

A sign of power, luxury, and elegance — marble has been favored by architects and designers for centuries. Marble tiles and slabs are some of the hottest 2020 interior design trends. But will marble eventually go out of style? We do not believe so and are sure that this proven over time material is here to stay. In this article, we will share why marble style will never go out of fashion and present some interior design ideas with trendy Carrara marble tiles for commercial and residential projects. 

Why will marble never go out of style? 

Marble is extremely durable. Marble is a natural stone, which is one of the most sustainable building materials. With proper care, marble can enhance the beauty of your design for long decades. Some great examples of how long marble can last are Taj Mahal, The Pantheon, and The US Supreme Court. 

Countless colors and patterns allow marble to withstand shift in trends. It is a common misconception that marble only works for classy and traditional styles. In fact, because of a huge  variety of colors, patterns, and polishes, marble works well practically for any design style.

Marble is Versatile. You can successfully use marble in both exterior and interior design, residential and commercial design and building projects, in bathrooms, kitchens, halls, and even more! 

Marble is Rare and Unique. As one of the most rare types of natural stone, marble will always be in demand. It is unique in its looks and high quality, which will never go out of style.  

Best Ideas for Carrara Marble Tiles in Interior Design

Carrara marble is one of the most popular types of marble for a good reason. Carrara marble tiles’ classy design brings a touch of elegance to any interior and it is a relatively more affordable luxury building material. 

Click here for Xiamen Aofei Carrara Marble Tiles. Here are some of our favorite uses of carrara marble tiles in commercial and residential projects: 

Carrara marble tiles for living room flooring

Carrara marble tiles for luxury brand stores

Carrara marble tiles for office spaces

Marble has made a spectacular come back into the world of interior design in the last 30 years and has been favored by homeowners, designers, real estate developers, and architects for its amazing qualities and grand looks. 

While marble countertops remain the most well known marble application in home design, there are plenty of other equally amazing marble uses for interiors.  From kitchen walls to basement fireplace, marble can create a luxury ambiance in any part of your house or real estate project. 

In today’s article, we will share some of our favorite uses of marble in home design that will enhance the beauty of your house for many years to come and also increase the value of your property. 

Marble Furniture and Accessories 

The use of marble furniture is one of the best ways to take advantage of this perfect building material in your house if you are on a budget. Marble bathroom accessories sets, marble coffee tables, and marble mirrors can be great cost efficient accents that make a statement about elegance and good taste. 

Marble Fireplace Backsplash

Fireplace is a symbol of home comforts and unity, which often is the central point of the room. Nothing can make it even more appealing and highlights the symbol of family values better than a tasteful marble backsplash. 

Marble Flooring

Have you ever wondered how, as an architect, designer, or a business owner you can make your project be as magnificent and memorable as some of the best pieces of art in classic architecture? All of them feature fantastic work on patterns, detail, as well as astonishing use of marble. 

Marble has been used in architecture and design for centuries. Its reliable properties, durability, and grand appearance made it one of the most desirable materials for builders. Some of the world known breathtaking architectural structures have marble both in their exterior and interior. In this article, we will look at the top three magnificent structures in marble history. 

The Pantheon

The most well preserved, and one of the most influential buildings of the whole Ancient Rome, the Pantheon is a Roman temple completed around A.D. 126. It features remarkable marble design with marble from many different parts of the Mediterranean Roman Empire.

The Taj Mahal

The gorgeous Taj Mahal is a monument built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, it is one of the wonders of the world. The beauty and grandeur of this architectural structure would be hard to spoil with any material, but white Makrana marble strengthens its beauty even more. 

The Supreme Court Building in the US

The supreme court is named the symbol of faith of the United States of America by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes. This majestic structure features a combination of different types of marble, including Vermont, Alabama, and Georgia marble. 

We see marble everywhere: from museums, ancient libraries, and sophisticated institutional buildings to offices and our friends’ expensive houses. This durable, sustainable, and elegant material can make practically any project better with more and more creative marble uses and applications appearing on the market every year. However, using marble for commercial building design can be especially beneficial. In this article, our professionals will explain why and how to use it right to make your commercial building design project even more successful. 

So why marble for a commercial project?

Marble is a luxury building material. Using it in a commercial building design sends a message of affluence and success, and let’s be honest, we all want that. Having your hotel, office, bank, or restaurant translate the feeling of luxurious life will bring more sophisticated clients.

How to do it: Popular Commercial Marble Applications

There are endless options when it comes to marble uses, but there are a few that can help you highlight your business slightly better than others: 

Marble Walls: Slabs and Cladding 

Marble walls work perfectly in commercial projects by enhancing the ambiance of luxury. One amazing way to use a marble wall in commercial building design is placing it behind the reception. 

Marble Flooring

Marble is often used for flooring in commercial projects, such a design accent helps to spotlight the elegant beauty of marble and make a killer first impression, especially when used in foyers and entrance halls. 

Marble Conference Table

Perfect for businesses that focus on high-end clients and want to build trust and show their commitment. 

Marble is one of the most demanded luxury building materials worldwide. It has been the first choice of famous interior designers for the last couple of decades and has been featured in countless luxe hotels, banks, corporate office buildings, and residential houses. However, marble design is no longer just about large rooms and cold color palettes. The design trends of 2020 dictate new rules for marble applications — the key is to not overdo it. Keep reading to find out how to make your clients’ interior design perfect with the new marble trends. 

Not overwhelming your design is the main marble trend this year, use marble statement pieces to highlight your design and create special marble accents. 

Marble is a perfect choice for furniture. Coffee tables, counters, and dining tables will enhance your interior design for decades due to marble’s high durability and beautiful appearance. 

Using stylish contemporary marble accent walls combined with wooden flooring and furniture is a perfect way to create a fresh and cozy ambiance in the interior. 

Marble kitchen islands help to smooth the transition between the kitchen and living room, adding a unique sense of elegance to any design. 

Combining classy white or creamy marble flooring with metal accents and furniture will help you make a unique modern design, particularly great for professional settings. 

Since antiquity, designers and architects have favored marble in various projects. Which is not a coincidence, not many materials are able to instantly create an ambiance of luxury equally well as marble can. 

Modern interior design usually features marble in kitchen and bathroom countertops, but there are many more marvelous marble applications that can enhance your project in a unique way. In today's article, our experts will walk you through some of the refreshing contemporary marble design ideas for your inspiration! 

Marble Plinth Coffee Table

Marble coffee tables are incredibly popular and widely used in business foyers and office entries. Using a marble plinth for this role highlights the beauty of the stone and adds simple elegance to the design. 

It is a perfect choice for minimalistic designs with pastel color palette and works well in a contrast with wooden and metal furniture. 

Contemporary marble flooring

This marble design for the hotel floor draws your attention as soon as you walk in. It provides the customers with an ultimate feeling of royalty and richness. The patterns of beige marble tiles complement the contrast of black and white and the glossy surface of the flooring highlights the openness of the space. 

Modern Marble Kitchen Backsplash

This solid slab marble backsplash is the focal point of the combined kitchen and living room. The perfect harmony of the warm golden chandeliers, wooden flooring, and marble kitchen island create an immediate sense of luxurious comfort and delight. 

White marble countertops can add a feeling of luxury to any design, they work practically with any style: from traditional to modern. Many five star hotels choose them to attract affluent clients, real estate developers use white marble to increase the property value, and many homeowners buy marble countertops to create an ambiance of inspiration and elegance in their houses. All these are excellent choices, marble countertops can enhance the beauty of your space for many years. Although, white marble is still one of the most popular choices for countertops, many have concerns about the maintenance they would need to keep the products looking brand new. Caring for marble countertops may seem an exasperating task, but knowing a few tips makes it a much easier process. Ready to find out how to make marble counter maintenance effortless? Read ahead.

Effortless Marble Counter Maintenance: Tip #1

Use a good marble countertop finish. This is the very first step, as it is critical for long-term performance of your white counter. Using a proper finish will make it harder to scratch the countertop and easier to remove any marks in the future. Honed finish is usually recommended for countertops in high-traffic areas. 

Effortless Maintenance of Marble Countertops: Tip #2

While having a finish will save a lot of your time when it comes to taking care of your white marble counter, acids, and other liquids may still leave stains on your product. And as we have mentioned in our article about the stains on marble surfaces, the best cure for them is precautions. Avoid any spills and make sure to wipe them off as soon as possible if they do happen. 

Effortless Marble Counter Maintenance: Tip #3

Make sure to reseal your white marble countertop on time. Ask your supplier for the timeline, and reseal immediately if your seal was damaged before then. This will help to preserve the beauty of your marble countertop for longer, and make it  much easier to deal with scratches and stains. 

Investing in your project by choosing marble pays off really well: marble entry makes a killer first impression, marble in luxury hotels and banks increase the property value and attracts wealthy clients, and marble design ideas for home bring happiness to the whole family. But making such an investment makes you wonder: how long will marble flooring last, whether marble is good for kitchen countertops, and does marble stain easily. While it is easy to answer the first two questions — marble is an extra durable material that can last for decades and it is an amazing choice for kitchen countertops, the last question creates a lot of confusion. That’s why in today’s article, our experts will explain in simple words whether marble counters stain easily and how to prevent stains on your marble products.

Does Marble Stain?

Marble is a unique and precious stone, unfortunately that comes with a price — it has a porous surface that makes it more prone to stains. However, while it is not as maintenance free as quartz, and has a higher chance of staining that granite, using a proper sealer and giving a preference to a harder type of marble reduces the chances of staining and makes marble much easier to take care of. 

Marble is one of the most commonly used building materials all over the world. It has been a popular and reliable choice for designers, architects, construction workers, and artists for many centuries. When people think of marble, they imagine luxurious resorts, elegant hotels, sophisticated office buildings, and other desirable locations. While it is common sense that marble is a gorgeous natural stone perfect  for commercial and residential design, many of our customers are still not sure how marble is made. We often get questions such as “What is marble made of?” and “What type of rock is marble?”. Questions like this are really important to understand why marble is a great choice for your project. If you’re still hesitating and looking for answers — look not further! In this article, our experts explain how marble is made and what makes it so amazing. 

What is marble? 

Marble is a metamorphic rock, it is born in the process of the heat and pressure recrystallisation of calcium-based rock types. One such rock is limestone. Limestone is prevalent in tropical areas, in particular, on the shores. Going further into the details, limestone itself is formed by various types of shells, and those are made of the mineral calcite. Find more on marble properties here. 

So, how marble rock is made into a building material? 

The very first task is to locate a quarry, usually, the heros who do that are geologists. Next, experts take core samples to determine the place with the purest and highest quality marble within the area. After going through a legal process, the mining company may begin the digging. The thorough process of marble mining may go on for years, that’s another reason for the high price tag — quality marble making takes time. 

Processing of marble

Next crucial step of the marble making is processing. To process marble slabs, multiple diamond blades tools such as diamond wires or gang saws are used to slice marble into thinner pieces depending on the needed dimensions. To process marble blocks into tiles, on the other hand, factories use the cutting-into-bullets technique. Then, different finishes may be applied along with other customizations.

 The way marble is made protects the quality of the building materials and allows for unique measures which helps to meet special needs and requests. 

Luxury backyard pools and spas is the key trend in the real estate and design industries. A luxe pool at home elevates the recreation game and allows you to feel on vacation whenever you would like. The increased demand drives real estate developers and designers to come up with new pool design ideas and figure out which materials are best for the homeowners. While there is an abundance of options to choose from, granite pools and natural stone pool decks are the favourite options of many luxury pool builders, residents, and landlords. By using granite and other types of natural stone for your pool, pool deck, and coping, you create an unforgettable long-lasting luxurious resort ambiance in your backyard. 

Xiamen Aofei Building Materials supplies natural stone to luxury pool builders all over the world. Today, we are happy to explain why granite is an amazing choice for a pool, coping, and decking and share some of the top luxury pool design ideas with our granite. 

Why Xiamen Aofei Granite for pool, decking, and coping? 

Amazing durability

A variety of colors and patterns suitable for any pool design idea

Safety: sandblasted granite reduces slipping

Great water resistance properties

Granite’s natural shine adds an elegant touch to the luxury pool design

Xiamen Aofei Building Materials have been in the design and building materials industry for many years — our extensive experience helps us provide the best quality and fastest delivery service to our clients.

Top 3 Luxury Pool Design Ideas with Granite

1. Spectacular granite pool waterfalls 

2. Elegant light gray granite natural stone for pool deck

Choose Xiamen Aofei Gray Chinese Granite JX654

3. Geometric pool design featuring gray and light gray granite tiles

Consider Xiamen Aofei JX654 Gray Granite. 

Whether you are planning on selling or renting out your space, it is always a great idea to renovate the kitchen and bathroom first. Even if you are not planning to move out yet, investing in remodeling and improving those areas can increase your comfort, happiness, and productivity! Refurbishing your house right will often greatly increase the value of your house. 

In this article, our experts will explain how to remodel your kitchen and bathroom right with quartz and why you should choose it in the first place. We will also share some of the hot kitchen and bath design examples with specific Xiamen Aofei quartz options to choose from. 

KITCHEN REMODEL WITH QUARTZ 

Kitchen is a very special place in the house, its heart and soul, in which we get to live through many unique experiences with our family and friends, cook for our loved ones, and strategize for the day with a cup of coffee or tea. One of the latest trends to make kitchens an even more open and social area is to expand it to the living room. To not to go too far and keep the two spaces separate, designers love to use quartz island countertops. 

Xiamen Aofei quartz countertops are ideal for kitchen applications. They are stain-free, non-porous, extremely durable and hygienic surfaces available in a variety of colors and finishes.

For an elegant family-friendly kitchen ambiance consider our AF-WD-03 Quartz with a natural marble white veined pattern look. 

BATHROOM REFURBISHMENTS 

Today, many of us are striving for a more sustainable future, functionality, and more productive life order. Even relaxing in the bathroom became more about minimalism and calmness. That’s why one of the most popular house refurbishments is choosing a shower tray over a bathtub. Such a change fits our modern lifestyle, saves water, space, and improves accessibility. Xiamen Aofei quartz qualities make it perfect for modern shower trays. Check out our recent blog article to find out why. 

For trendy minimalistic interior designs like the one above, choose Xiamen Aofei XPA1028-Pure White quartz.