Raw Concrete in Interior Design
Natural and imperfect, raw concrete compliments the current popular trend of eco-friendly, natural living and adds a functional and durable element to interior and exterior design.
Natural Imperfections
Raw concrete is concrete in its natural state: it is poured into a mould in a liquid state, formed into hard stone, and stripped from the mould. The original texture remains in the concrete and it is neither polished nor honed so its natural beauty can be expressed, including all of its natural imperfections: chips, bug holes, and a variation in colour, hue and texture.
Beautiful and Durable
Raw concrete is the perfect design solution for the discerning client who sees the beauty in natural flaws. Timeless in its appearance, raw concrete is a style that won’t soon fade; functional in its use, raw concrete is durable and long-lasting. The charm and casual feel that concrete offers continues on as it endures wearing and staining, essentially becoming an integrated and well-established part of your home or workspace.
Let’s Work Together
At Anthony Concrete Design, we love the natural elegance of raw concrete and the long-term durability it offers our clients. Get in touch with us to learn how you can incorporate raw concrete into your interior or exterior design plans for your home, retail space, workspace, or gallery setting.
Anthony Concrete Design services commercial and residential clients across Canada and Ontario including Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; London, Ontario and the GTA.
Concrete Interior Design Trends of 2019
December is almost gone and the end of 2018 is near. While we can look back on a great year, we may also look forward to next year. What trends are interesting for us and for you concerning concrete in interior design?
Concrete countertops
Although we started our business mainly with concrete countertops, the last couple of years we didn’t do a lot of them anymore. However, concrete is coming back in kitchen designs! Apart from regular countertops, this also includes concrete tops and waterfall edges for kitchen islands. Our sealers, either topical or hybrid, are better than ever, providing the best care and protection to concrete kitchen tops. Yet we obviously don’t advise to try out the strength and endurance of the sealer by cutting straight on the surface or by exposing it to acids and oils longer than desirable.
Raw concrete
Raw concrete is the texture we see at concrete structures which are made of poured in place concrete, such as walls. However, with our custom moulding technique, we create thin raw concrete panels, which can be applied anytime, anywhere. The client can enjoy the beauty of bold looking, industrial, authentic aesthetic, produced and installed with the ease of modern techniques.
Microcement
Last but not least: we want to introduce you to microcement. Microcement is a technique of troweling the concrete mix directly unto the substrate, either at location or in our shop. It is a great alternative for concrete panels at complex situations or smaller objects, but it also displays style and grace on walls and fireplace surrounds. The seamless result resembles the artwork of the installer, which adds to the uniqueness of the design.
Anthony Concrete Design services commercial and residential clients across Canada and Ontario including Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; London, Ontario and the GTA. If you are interested in learning how to apply concrete interior design trends in your home or otherwise, please get in touch.
Fireplace Featured in OurHomes Magazine
Our goal is to provide people with a fireplace surround that defines their style. The possibilities with concrete are seemingly limitless because of the customization of colours and textures. This results in the ability to perfectly match your personal style.
In the picture above, you can see a fireplace surround placed in Burlington, Ontario. This project is part of a full interior renovation designed by Volumes of Space Inc. In the living room design, including the fireplace, natural light and colours are considered very important. Therefore, the light-coloured concrete tiles fit in perfectly. The look of concrete emphasizes the central position of the fireplace surround. To match the sleek design of the room, smooth concrete tiles were fabricated. The 1/2 inch seams between the tiles contribute to the peaceful appearance of the fireplace.
This Oakville concrete fireplace is one of the best examples of the work of an expert artisan. The final touch to this incredible and demanding project brought a lot of satisfaction to all of us. That was because we had worked with one of Toronto’s most respected architects on a great project. Moreover, because Designlines Magazine, Toronto’s main design magazine, featured the project, including our fireplace surround in their fall issue. All in all, this project has brought us and our client a very nice experience.
Large Format Concrete Tiles
Large format concrete tiles are growing in popularity among interior design trends. Loved for their clean, nearly-seamless appearance in applications such as fireplace surrounds and concrete wall textures, large format concrete tiles are the perfect modern approach to interior design needs for the residential or commercial space.
A Perfect Fit with Full-Width Concrete Tiles
We recently were given the opportunity to create a fireplace surround with full-width panels for a client in Burlington, Ontario, who needed the concrete tiles to span the width of their home fireplace and create a living room that felt modern, clean and beautiful for everyday living.
This client’s home fireplace required wide, made-to-measure full span concrete tiles that fit their unique fireplace from floor to slanted ceiling. Our custom fabrication techniques allow us to individualize every fireplace surround that we install with great detail and precision, offering a made-to-measure approach that sets our concrete fireplace surrounds apart. To add a feeling of warmth to the finish in this family space, this fireplace was made with a distressed concrete texture in smoke colour, which created a rustic and unique patina.
The aesthetic benefit of extra large format tiles is that they boast less grout lines; larger pieces installed together have fewer seams, and in the case of this particular residential fireplace surround, we used panels with a height of 20 inches to emphasize this clean look. The use of butt joints creates beautifully finished edges on the corners of the fireplace surround and offers a minimal, clean final product for this residential space.
We’d Love to Work with You
It can feel overwhelming to take on a home renovation project, and we are here to help. Updating your fireplace surround can transform your entire residential space, and no project is too large or too small for us to discuss with you. Find out how Anthony Concrete Design can partner with you to create the home of your dreams, by adding or updating a concrete fireplace in one of the most beloved spaces of your home.
The Aroma of Concrete
We started the last month of the year at IIDEXCanada, Canada’s biggest National Design & Architectural Exposition/Conference. We met some awesome people, not only those visiting, but also many in the Design and Architectural community who shared their unique experiences, products and ideas from all over the globe. However, the two things that generated the most excitement were, that we are a locally based company serving primarily the Toronto area and beyond, and that we offer the full package – fabrication & installation services for our products!
At our booth we inspired and shared a lot of information about the possibilities of concrete, with all its potential applications, especially for unique fireplace surrounds and wall features. Sharing ideas with architects and designers is the only reason we can make such interesting and innovative products. With more than 300 potential customers, IIDEXCanada 2015 was a success and we thank you all for the support!
Most visitors were able to experience our products with their senses, through sight and touch. However, we were really put to the test, when a specialist with a heart for concrete smelled our samples!
Now that’s just given us inspiration for next year’s show: Wine and concrete anyone?
Installing a Concrete Fireplace
Frequently our clients come to us seeking help in creating an amazing focal point for the home or business. We love pointing them to the timeless elegance of the fireplace – an asset many homes already boast – and working alongside them to draw attention to the hearth. One of our favourite ways to add style to homes through the fireplace is by installing a concrete fireplace surround to draw attention to one of the most unique design pieces a home can offer, the fireplace.
In the sense of design, concrete is a perfect medium for the minimalist home, but the opportunities don’t end there. Concrete can be given a warm touch with a variety of colours and finishes that you can choose from, lending itself to a variety of styles and interior designs, making the concrete fireplace surround a staple in the ever-changing design world and your ever-changing family.
In our experience, we have found that a concrete fireplace surround is a design element that is appealing to all types of clients.
Individuals and families find that concrete fireplace surrounds are a fantastic way to set the tone of the home by reflecting a family’s individuality and uniqueness by creating a piece that is specific to their needs and design. Alongside this, designers and architects find the flexibility and custom-created opportunities that fireplace surrounds offer appealing when incorporating the fireplace into the design of the home or building. And, because our poured concrete panels are only 5/8” thick, the weight of the concrete fireplace surround is significantly reduced while still maintaining the look and feel of stone – this is something all of our clients can get behind.
Most importantly, concrete is safe. In fact, concrete fireplace surrounds are the safest and most natural material way to surround your fireplace because concrete is naturally non-combustable, meaning that no chemicals or factory-made finishes are required to keep your interior design fireproof. With a natural concrete finish, you can feel good about your environment and adding to your home in a positive way.
If you’re looking to add an elegant and modern touch to your current fireplace, or are looking to incorporate the flexible opportunities concrete offers into an upcoming design project, please get in touch with us. We’d love to know how we can help.
Featured Custom Concrete Bench
Mercedes-Benz Magazine
Summer 2013 has been a busy and exciting time for Anthony Concrete Design. With completing some incredible projects, meeting new fantastic clients and discovering even more creative ways to use concrete as a stylish addition to any home or business, we have been hard at work.
Especially exciting for our team was a summer 2013 feature in the stylish and sophisticated Mercedes-Benz Magazine Canada!
In the featured article “Rock Solid” (pg 20, Mercedes-Benz Magazine Canada, Spring/Summer 2013) compiled and written by Paige Magarrey, the floating concrete bench we created for a Toronto residence designed by Commute Design Studio was demonstrated as an elegant interior design feat by our team of “Canadian Designers who like a tough challenge”.
The piece reads:
“Though often perceived as a bulky material, concrete has the ability to be quite airy–as in the case of this floating bench for a Toronto residence, designed by Commute Home. The wafer-thin seating was manufactured by Anthony Concrete Design, a Burgessville, Ontario, concrete workshop that collaborates with designers and architects to develop custom furniture, countertops, and even feature walls for such heavy-hitters as Starbucks and Mendocino.”
We appreciate the recognition for our hard work and creative approach to elegant design by Mercedes-Benz Magazine Canada.
Anthony Concrete Design services commercial and residential clients across Canada and Ontario including Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; London, Ontario and the GTA.
Changing the Look of Concrete
Integral Pigment Colouring or Acid Staining?
One of the many benefits of working with concrete surfaces are the unique opportunities to customize concrete in such a way that reflects your home or company’s brand, style or theme.
Choosing the look of your concrete can be an interesting way to personalize the concrete used in your home or commercial space. There are two means of adding colour to concrete – let’s take a look at which choice might be best for your interior or exterior space, and why we at Anthony Concrete Design only offer integral pigmented concrete.
Acid Staining
The first option you might pursue when adding colour to concrete is to apply the surface treatment of acid staining: A stain is applied to your pre-cast concrete surface and essentially sits atop of concrete instead of becoming integrated into the material.
Although acid staining concrete allows for interesting or artistic designs to be applied to concrete, in our experience we have found that acid staining doesn’t allow concrete to keep the warm, beautiful aesthetic that natural concrete offers. Over time, acid stained concrete can wear down, chip and lose its original glossy look which makes it a short-term solution with high-cost consequences.
At Anthony Concrete Design, we look for long-term, natural, elegant and beautiful solutions for concrete design. That’s why we always recommend integrating colour into the very concrete itself by choosing to colour concrete through pigment (or integral) colouring.
Pigment Colouring
Pigment (or integral) colouring is completed by adding a coloured pigment to wet concrete when mixing, prior to casting. Through this solution clients are guaranteed that the concrete will be coloured evenly throughout, while maintaining the natural feel concrete offers. Our standard collection includes shades of grey, black, white and some warmer tones. However, the choice of custom concrete colours is endless! We can offer beautiful pastels or bold and bright hues that matches the aesthetics of your space or branding.
Integral colouring opens many doors to communicate your family or your company’s personal style and taste in design. By integrating a pigment into the very concrete we cast, Anthony Concrete Design can work with you to keep your space looking chic, elegant and taking advantage of the natural beauty that concrete provides.
Let’s Work Together
Getting creative with the look and colour of your concrete can be a great way to personalize your home or commercial space. With an approach to concrete design that values elegance, beauty and longevity, Anthony Concrete Design takes advantage of the benefits that pigment (integral) colouring offers and we always mix our pigment to produce an even, elegant and clean image for your space.
Anthony Concrete Design services commercial and residential clients across Canada and Ontario including Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; London, Ontario and the GTA.
Interior Design Ideas
Creative Uses for Concrete
Recently we found this great post from Design Milk which outlines twelve creative uses for concrete – have a look! Here are some of our favourite ideas from the post:
Let’s Work Together
Anthony Concrete Design services commercial and residential clients across Canada and Ontario including Toronto, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Ontario; Mississauga, Ontario; London, Ontario and the GTA.