Anna Donahue's Design Blog

Here's an example of a beautiful concrete floor from one of my interior design projects in Michigan. This floor was installed over the entire ground floor and has embedded heat. It's easy to maintain and warm in color and feel so it looks and works great in home design. 

I didn't know how easy and economical it is to polish concrete floors until I met Aaron Kamphuis from AK Concrete Staining in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has the lowdown on everything you need to know about concrete and making it look beautiful for your design projects. Here's all the stuff I learned from Aaron:

1. If you are building a new home or office you can add dye when the concrete is poured and then just have the concrete floor polished to a gleaming shine. If you want to go totally green then all you need to do is grind the concrete and polish it. 

2. Almost everyone has concrete floors that can be made to look beautiful with staining and polishing. 

If you already have a ground level or basement floor that needs updating this is a new option. You may even have a garage that could use some attention or an outdoor patio area. Don't be afraid to add this new element to your interior design plan.

3. The process is clean and dust free because filters are used on all of the equipment. There is no harsh chemical residue or odor so you don't have to move out of your house while the work is being done. 

4. The floor will be impervious to stains and will hold up under the most harsh conditions. Factories  use this technique to keep their workplaces clean and easy to maintain. Tires don't leave black marks and spills don't penetrate and soak into the concrete. 

5.  Stencils can be used to create designs and elaborate patterns. Aaron says, "I'm only limited by the creativity of the people in the process." In other words, there are limitless possibilities with the colors and designs.

6.  Colorants or dyes are added once the concrete grinding is finished. The process is simple; An acid stain liquid is applied and dries after a couple of hours, the residue is scrubbed off, sealed with a water-based acrylic and then floor wax is applied to finish it off.

7. There are different products used for different types of applications and Aaron can explain all the important details. His website has more info and photos of different projects. Thanks, Aaron, for sharing your knowledge on the subject of adding decorative concrete flooring to my interior decorating scheme.

I'm thinking about where to add this new designer flooring next. Readers, what do you think? Where are you going to start?

Here's some of Aaron's work on outdoor patio and sidewalk areas.