Malachite

Travel

Malachite Chair on Desk

Malachite chair sitting on malachite desk at Paris St. Ouen Flea Market

Malachite Fireplace at Hermitage Winter Palace

A malachite fireplace at the Hermitage (Winter Palace) in St. Petersburg

Hands down, my favorite stone is malachite. It's the perfect shade of green, it has incredible movement, and of course it is insanely expensive and rare.  This past summer I traveled to Russia and had the opportunity to tour the Winter Palace (The Hermitage) in St. Petersburg.  It has a room dedicated to malachite...I guess the Czar was a bit obsessed with it too.  It was filled with large malachite urns, columns, fireplaces, tables and coupes all created in the early 1800s. Maybe someday I'll have a "malachite room" like they had at the Winter Palace, but I'm doubtful given that a czar of Russia had them...probably not something in my budget at the moment.  Regardless, its a stone that is so unique in its movement and patterns that I can't help but dream of it.  Last year I completed a design for a show home here in Chicago where I included a malachite wallpaper.  Check out the DreamHome Foyer Interior Design for images, and I even use a malachite patterned paper (though not in vibrant green) in the Palmolive Interior Design project. What do you all think - do you dream of having a malachite room someday?  And is anyone else as obsessed as I am with those malachite chairs from the Paris flea market?