If you think concrete couldn’t be more bland, think again. Today’s decorative concrete can be a design powerhouse. Take a look at these eye-catching examples.
Floors that don’t bore
Decorative concrete’s popularity has grown over the last 20 years as residential and commercial buildings have begun foregoing tile and hardwood floors for gorgeous artisan concrete surfaces. Advances in color and stamping techniques have brought a unique design flair to decorative concrete, which is relatively simple to clean.
Your friend’s patio may look like stone or ceramic tile, complete with texturing and veins of contrasting colors, but don’t be surprised if it’s actually stamped concrete. The look of this decorative concrete is virtually indistinguishable from professionally installed tile.
Concrete flooring can also be decorated with hand-tooled patterns, images and emblems, with individual segments colored in different shades. Allowing the concrete to set and coloring afterward achieves a high degree of customization in the look. Blending colors takes decorative concrete customization even further.
Amazing countertops
Imagine a concrete kitchen counter that looks like a gorgeous piece of wood cut from a large tree, with wood grain and even knots. Decorative concrete can be customized to mimic granite or marble; countertop edges can feature elegant mosaic patterns. It’s even possible to fashion a farmhouse sink that looks like it’s made of hammered copper using concrete.
Even decorative concrete furniture
A product called glass-fiber reinforced concrete even makes concrete furniture possible without being impractically heavy. Concrete lounge chairs can be molded to the contours of the human body to combine artistic elegance with ergonomics. Tables, patio furniture, firepits and bathtubs — there’s virtually no part of your home that can’t be enhanced with decorative concrete. Even interesting chandeliers have been formed from cast concrete. And the look isn’t just for residential use. Concrete meeting tables now grace corporate boardrooms.
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