Decorating With Rocks: Earth Inspired Decor

Decorating with rocks adds earthy charm and texture. From mantles to tabletops, stones bring natural beauty into any space, inside or out.

Decorating with Rocks: In the Kitchen

When we remodeled our kitchen several years ago, I could not decide on the pulls for the maple cupboards. All the ones at the building stores were lackluster at best, but truthfully, most were boring and completely unappealing. I wanted something worthy of the beautiful wood.

I found the answer to my question when I attended my first gem and mineral show. A booth offered pulls made from petrified wood from the Yellowstone River. That was it! Special pieces like these pulls made me realize that many people seek earth-inspired, beautiful objects to adorn their homes, many times with stories behind each one.

“Living in a fifty-year-old log cabin that is highlighted by a large brick fireplace with built-in sandstone shelves and Saltillo tile floors, decorating with items brought in from the great outdoors is a natural inclination,” says Rachael Stevens Nation of Heart Butte, Montana, located on the Blackfeet Reservation. Her parents built the octagon-shaped cabin that fits perfectly into this landscape, where the prairie emerges from the creek bottom and continues into the Rocky Mountains foothills.

Decorating with Rocks: An Indoor Aesthetic

Living in this stunning setting, it makes sense to bring this aesthetic indoors. “Rocks are a primary subject, and we seem to have at least one on most surfaces… the coffee table, side tables, china cabinets and the sandstone fireplace shelves and mantle. Some are temporary displays, keepsakes brought home by a family member, a remembrance of places visited, outdoor adventures, such as the ones currently serving as part of a centerpiece on our coffee table,” she says. “Others have found their place as permanent fixtures in the house, holding a place of honor for years. Our antique coffee table is currently adorned with a pile of assorted rocks surrounding a large candle.”

One of the reasons so many rocks found their way into the Nation household is because of Rachael’s four children, including her two grown, full-fledged nature girls and a couple of equally adventuresome teenage boys who have keen eyes for unique specimens. With so many special rocks finding their way into their home, Rachael uses some as rotating decor.

She says her eldest daughter, Alexandra, recently found pressed sandstone with pink and white mottling on the surface that she collected during a hike in the Grand Teton National Forest’s Flaming Gorge. These are now displayed as the current conversation piece on the coffee table.

“Next summer, the arrival of rocks via pockets, bags and backpacks is inevitable,” she says, “The latest ‘cool thing’ discovered by a family member will be shared on the coffee table, observed through a jeweler’s scope and admired for all its unique qualities.”

Geology and Home Decor

As a homeschooling mother, these discoveries prompt discussions of the pieces’ geological origins, location history, and possible uses. It’s easy to go down the proverbial rabbit hole learning about the hundreds of billions of years it took to create what, at first glance, is a mere, albeit eye-catching, rock. Lessons abound in every one of them.

“My kids have often commented that I build “Alters to the Nature Gods” on the mantle and fireplace shelves with my collection of rocks, sticks, and feathers combined with a houseplant or antique hand tool,” Rachael says. These displays are visual reminders of outdoor adventures and family stories, eye-catching specimens found in Badger Creek that runs outside their door, and lichen-covered pieces that require occasional misting.

Treasured Memories

Rachael points out, “Some appear quite ordinary—not what one would expect of an ‘ornamental stone’— but these rocks bring memories of hikes and horseback rides, people and stories. It’s a life tapestry in solid form.”

These tokens of good times make the specimens memorable, yet some possess an even deeper meaning because of their connection to each other and their larger community.

“The most treasured pieces in our home are truly linked to the lives of our family members,” Rachael says, “These are six pieces of petrified stone called Buffalo Stones by the Blackfeet. Each stone represents a member of our family, Gordon and I, and our four children. Each stone was an individual gift from a Blackfeet elder, a sacred object to serve as a protector against life’s hardships. Ours will forever reside on a prominent shelf, displayed on a lace doily.”

Buffalo Stones

Called “Insikim” by the Blackfeet, these small, dark, oval-shaped stones are also called “buffalo stones” because they resemble a buffalo, the animal most critical to the tribe’s survival.

In reality, the stone is a fossilized section of a baculite, a type of ammonite that is straight rather than curved, as is more common. As the septa walls, which are the thin membranes between the chambers in an ammonite, erode, the buffalo-shaped formation is created.

In one of the Blackfeet origin stories, a band of people were starving with no buffalo or game in sight. Praying to the Creator, a young woman was instructed to find this particular stone to bring the buffalo back to them. To this day, it is a totem of prosperity and care.

Only some are fortunate enough to live in an area where unique specimens seemingly emerge in front of them, asking to go home. And this is why collectors scour the globe to bring back special pieces to add life to our decor.

Decorating with Rocks: Shopping

Joanna Pratt, the proprietor of Zsa Zsa’s in Bozeman, has spent years traveling the world and developing relationships with sources to find unique specimens for her customers. Square tower lamps are functional conversation pieces of blue or purple fluorite, zebra onyx, blue onyx or aragonite. The variety of colors, swirls and layers within each piece of stone make them natural works of art.

These lamps gently accentuate their naturally muted colors when lit from the inside, creating a soothing light in any space. When decorating with rocks, some of the lamps are small enough to sit on a table as a focal piece, while others stand tall in the corner of a room, creating a relaxing ambiance.

“The stones are in certain regions and areas (of the world),” says Joanna. “They are mined in the bigger blocks and then cut into slabs to create the lamps.”

Decorating with Crystals

Crystals are in Joanna’s blood. Born in Gdańsk, Poland, known as the “amber capital of the world,” Joanna made her home in the American West, eventually finding her way to Bozeman. She spent years in the jewelry business, so she knew where to purchase the best precious and semiprecious stones.

During a gem show, she met a gentleman from Morocco who introduced her to the purveyors of a selenite mine in Brazil. She realized there was so much that could be done with the stunning mineral, including artistic pieces and functional lamps lit from the bottom to make the entire structure glow.

“I was speechless and loved it so much,” she says. “I thought, let’s find different treasures and present them to the rest of the world.” Now, she offers pieces such as full-size selenite angel wings or natural grape agate specimens that are far from ordinary decorations.

From this beginning, Joanna began her search through Brazil, Argentina, and many other areas of the world to offer natural objects for decorating with rocks. She looks for what makes her own heart happy.

Stones That Resonate

Joanna also firmly believes that we pick the types of stones that resonate with us, whether we realize it or not. “It’s not just the beauty factor. They have metaphysical healing properties,” she says. “Crystals have this powerful energy. There is so much more to it. Each one of the crystals has a different metaphysical property.”

She says she tells people to wander around her shop and tell her which ones they like when they are considering decorating with rocks. “Then I will tell you why,” she says. “That is what you need.”

Joanna offers an example: “Water signs (such as Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) are very attracted to amethyst. “

Amethyst, a type of quartz, is formed in hydrothermal veins within the earth, where dissolved silica, along with other minerals, creates this beautiful purple semiprecious gemstone.

In contrast, the otherworldly-looking grape agate is a relatively new discovery that comes from Indonesia, as well as the Green River in Utah. It’s believed that it is formed in areas with previous volcanic activity where andesite, an extrusive igneous rock mixed with sea water, created rounded cavities within the structure. This is where the mineral-laden waters deposited silica and manganese, forming this chalcedony specimen.

Falling in Love with Stones