The very mention of ‘Families’ evokes a sense of mayhem… lots of people, doing lots of things, having lots of fun, making lots of mess. Yet the place still needs to look good for when calm hits, or when visitors come over.

The floor of the family home is really the basis for all present living requirements; and for all future interior design possibilities. Here are some beautiful natural stone options…

Classic Travertine – Honed and Filled. This has deliciously warm neutral tones that compliment many different furnishings from Timber to plush upholstery. Install a Tan Brown Granite kitchen bench top and the scheme is complete

Calacutta Marble – polished tiles that are cool and comfortable in appearance with oodles of character, the kids will have great fun sliding across them in their socks. They’ll still look fabulous once you’re finished with that old sofa bed that all your kids friends used on the many ‘sleep-overs’, and you buy yourself something more sophisticated. Install a Black Granite kitchen bench top to finish it all off.

Absolute Black Granite – polished or honed, this is my favourite choice. In Australia we have lots of sunshine, our houses usually have lots of windows, some great big windows in the main rooms, glass doors, and many have skylights. We’re not short of natural light, then we add to that lots and lots of lighting – everywhere - ceiling, walls, above doors, under overhead cupboards, inside cupboards, outside sensors… everywhere. Black is such a great tone for Floors, and granite (the strongest of stones) will outlast the entire house and everything in it. All your furnishings will look fantastic against this black back drop, people won’t know why but they’ll love your stuff. Go for either an Imperial Red or River White granite kitchen bench top to make this scheme really ‘pop’.

Here we have a couple of people who have bought a place of their own. This is the pre-family stage and one that involves lots of entertaining friends at home. It’s an opportunity to express yourselves as a couple – show off your journey together, and how you can successfully blend the styles of two individuals.

Basalt – Honed. This is a good solid, no-nonsense stone. It has cool blue / grey tones which emphasizes masculinity and practicality. But it’s not all testosterone – it can be easily made to compliment even the most feminine furnishings. It’s great with crisp white, as well as with gentler tones of musk, cranberry, azure, and mint. A good option for kitchen bench top with Basalt is rich Volga Blue, or Kashmire White granite – depending on your ultimate scheme

Crema Marfil Marble – Polished. Relaxed and well to do, this stone portrays a quite confidence in a classical style. Timeless and tasteful, this stone is warm, down to earth and easy to accessorize. Even if the couple ends up with an eclectic combination of styles Crema Marfil works.

When style is everything and you yearn to express yourself inside and outside of your home then selecting the best natural stone for you is purely individual. But that is too broad a statement for an ‘ideas’ page so here are some fabulous schemes that have worked for others…

Imperial Green Marble – Polished... Strong in character, colour and confidence, this green is both soothing and striking. I’ve seen it work well with lots of crisp white and rich mahogany

Paradiso Granite – Polished. The swirls of purples, marshmallow and creams in this stone is so bold it requires little or no accessorizing. If you like rivers of colour flowing throughout your home then Paradiso could be for you. You can even use this granite on your kitchen bench top… wild man.

Thassos White Marble – Polished. This is the stone to choose if you are going for that ‘white on white’ look. There is an Arctic coolness about Thassos, a bold richness which is undeniably appealing, and it’s white, so you can either keep it simple – with more white, or go nuts with any colour.