Let’s Get Stone’d

By Brenda Lange

When Cherie and Bob Weller made the move from Ivyland to New Hope, they had many decisions to make. Fortunately, choosing which granite contractor to use for their new riverfront home was a snap.

“Let’s Get Stone’d did the kitchen counters in our shore house in Atlantic City,” says Cherie Weller. “They also did our kitchen in our last house and we loved their work both times, so it was easy.”

The couple visited LGS on Route 611 in Warrington and, because they wanted something totally different and new, they traveled to LGS’s distributor, MSI in Edison, New Jersey, to have the largest selection possible.

“We needed three slabs just for the kitchen,” Cherie remembers. “We chose the ones we liked and that was that.”

Picking out your own color and style of granite at LGS is easy; in addition to the indoor display of sample blocks of granite and marble, hulking slabs of the igneous rock line the fence in the rear of the shop. This is where customers can work with LGS fabricators to outline the exact cuts they would like to see in the larger piece of granite.

“A wood template is placed over the slab and moved around so the homeowner can choose exactly how the coloration will appear once it’s cut to size,” explains Kirk Raysky, who started Let’s Get Stone’d in 2001 with his father Eric, with the goal of providing the very best in materials, craftsmanship and customer service.

The client is part of the planning process from beginning to end, collaborating with Raysky and his 12-person crew through every step. There are so many choices, decisions can seem daunting. But LGS’s trained personnel help clients pick what is right for their home décor and lifestyle.

“We want the customer to be a part of it all because this granite they choose is not just a counter; it becomes a piece of art that is unique to them and to their house. It’s all very personal,” Raysky adds.

The expansive new kitchen at the Weller house is warm and welcoming, in earthy shades of browns and tans. Their choice of Butterfly Gold Granite was an ideal complement to the medium maple cabinets and neutral wall coloring.

Granite is not a static piece of material; rather it has depth and life. It can look differently based on the angle it’s hit by light and shadow. Butterfly Gold is embedded with large speckled sections, providing a wide variety of appearances; Cherie says it has more “movement” than any other she’s had before.

About 120 square feet of granite were used to cover a large center island with two levels, counters and backsplash. The couple even used it behind the stovetop with a center, tiled medallion as a focal point.

Adjacent to the kitchen, a small wet bar now boasts a granite counter of Absolute Black granite with double ogee edging, creating a striking contrast to the cream colored cabinets.  A second wet bar, counter and island in the family room were created out of tan granite streaked with black and tan, making it come alive.

This “Supreme Fantasy” stone has a lot of movement or flow, which is how granite is described when it’s not solid or consistent throughout, like Absolute Black.

When finding uses for granite and other stone and tile in the home, the family didn’t stop with the kitchen. They also used LGS to install bathroom counters and shower seats: Indian Dakota, brown with black streaks, for their daughters’ bathroom, and marble for the master bath.

“Since this was a brand new house, there were other contractors around, and the LGS installers were great,” says Cherie. “They worked around the other workmen and came in when they said they would, cleaned up and just did a great job.”

Let’s Get Stone’d sells granite, marble, travertine and limestone for counters, backsplashes and flooring from its shop on Route 611 in Warrington. LGS belongs to the Marble Institute of America, the trade organization that sets the industry standard for quality craftsmanship. For more information, visit www.lgsgranite.com or call (215) 491-7814.

Brenda Lange is a freelance writer based in Doylestown (www.brendalange.com).