Interior Stone Accent Walls

Inside the house, stone does not have to keep the weather out. It just has to look right at arm's length and go up over drywall framing without a fuss. That makes an accent wall the easiest stone project we sell: one flat area, no flashing, no grade clearance, and a color you pick under the light it will live in.

Where interior stone goes

The wall behind the television, with or without a fireplace. An entry wall you see from the front door. The back of a kitchen island or a bar. A wine room, a powder room, a basement family room, a stairwell. On the commercial side: restaurant dining rooms, hotel lobbies, and the wall behind a reception desk.

Which profile inside

Strip Ledge and 3" Strip Ledge are the interior favorites: straight courses that read as a designed surface rather than a rustic wall, in Mist, Rushmore, Snow or Charcoal. Ledge in Snow or Huron is the traditional stacked look and shows well under downlights, which rake across the split faces. Ashlar is calm enough for a dining room. Light colors make a room larger; dark colors make a television disappear.

Installing an interior wall

Over framing, use cement board or metal lath and a scratch coat; over existing drywall in a dry room, many installers add cement board and go from there. Set the stone in mortar, drystack for ledgestone, with a thin joint for coursed profiles. Corners are needed only where the stone wraps an outside corner. A weekend job for a handy homeowner; a day for a mason.

Order

Measure width times height, subtract nothing for a television, add 10 percent, and order flats; the minimum is 100 square feet per color, which a 10-by-10 wall meets. Made to order in Lenexa in 2 to 4 weeks, and an interior wall fits in a car trunk on a couple of trips or in one pickup. Ben answers homeowner questions at 913-345-8888.