Decorative Ways to Use Exterior Concrete

Whenever warm weather returns to the Portland area, something about seeing our houses in the sunlight makes us start thinking about all the things we’d like to change. The driveway, the front steps, the backyard… Or maybe you simply want to give your home a few new decorative touches to add character and make it your own.

Concrete offers the best combination of elegance, versatility, and affordability. Today, we will look at a few decorative concrete ideas you can use to:

• Enhance your home’s exterior
• Give your driveway some stylish appeal
• Show your artistic side in any outdoor area

Let’s get started!

A decorative concrete patio not only improves the appearance of your home, but it also creates a lovely space for socializing, relaxing, or even enjoying a family dinner. With concrete, we can easily work around trees, flower beds, fire pits, and other existing elements. It’s also a great, affordable material for large patios that cover a lot of space.

Concrete even allows you to customize the color and style of your patio to your personal preferences. When most people think of concrete, they think “gray.” Actually, we can use dyes, stains, paints, color hardeners, and other techniques to achieve the exact color scheme you want.

When it comes to style, stamped concrete can get you the look you want. Stamped concrete has been embossed, textured, or patterned — often to replicate the look of other materials. We can use this process to make your concrete look like stone, brick, tiles, hardwood, and practically anything else you can imagine. Or you may choose to use multiple stamp patterns to create a truly unique piece that speaks to your personality and aesthetic tastes.

Your driveway is one of the first things you see when you come home. You want it to be sturdy and resistant to the elements, but there’s no reason it can’t be beautiful too. Concrete offers options for every design preference.

You might choose ornate stamped concrete or the simplicity of classic exposed aggregate, which is concrete whose surface mortar layer has been carefully removed to reveal the aggregate layer underneath.

Want to get even more creative?

Add curb appeal with a splash of bright color, subtle hues, or anything in between.
Incorporate striking details by embossing concrete with leaf motifs, wavy textures, and much more.
Use two or more contrasting types of concrete together to create dynamic patterns.

Using concrete is an easy and fun way to add an eye-catching piece to any area.

Need to revamp the front steps that lead to your porch? Decorative concrete steps are classic and lend a clean, finished look to any home. Sand finish is a smooth, classy option for steps. Plus it’s gentle on your feet.

Concrete planters are a gorgeous way to showcase your favorite flowers, your herb garden, and larger plants too.

Have you been dreaming of a backyard fire pit for your family and friends to gather around on summer and fall nights? Concrete fire pits are safe and low maintenance. Plus, just like any other concrete project, you can use colors, patterns, and more to make it look simply stunning.

If you’re curious about other ways to use decorative concrete, or you want to see more style and color options, take a look at a few of our most recent projects in our portfolio.

If you’re ready to get started on your exterior home project, or you just have some questions, we’d love to help. Get in touch today.