WORDS Graham Wood
Concrete has been cast in a new light in the world of interior design over the last few decades, and now creating a concrete feature wall just got a whole lot easier, thanks to Cemcrete.
People thought Thomas Edison was nuts when he commissioned and moved into the world’s first pre-cast concrete house. (He even tried to make a piano out of concrete.) These days, concrete is not just a building material but also a desirable decorative element. It’s one of the materials that, along with steel and glass, changed the face of cities in the 20th century and underpinned the new building techniques that made Modernist architecture possible, thanks to its strength and versatility. But its understated beauty is perhaps what we love most about it, the way it takes the wood print from the shuttering used to cast it, for example, or the subtle variations in its colour.
But we’re not all lucky enough to live in concrete homes. The good news is you can now give just about any surface a concrete finish. A new skim-on coating from the Cemcrete range, CemCote Skimmed, allows you to paint or trowel the product onto walls, ceilings, countertops and wooden doors. But maybe you should still spare the piano.
For more information, visit cemcrete.co.za.
