Having recently got to grips with concrete worktops, both casting in moulds and onsite pouring, its time to start having some fun with it.
I’ve experimented using my standard go to mould for a mortar (and pestle), putting bits and pieces in it and also tried specialised concrete dyes.
(The red dye with white stone looked like a slice of chorizo, not so appealing on a worktop!)
What I needed now were customers willing to try something daring and new.
Et voila, I was lucky enough to get 2 projects back to back where my clients were willing to let their and my imaginations run riot.
Resin Glass and Mirror
First up was Charlton kitchen; a stylish, tasteful affair where the concrete added sparkle and colour to a very grownup setting.
I used pigment to cast trays of purple resin to match my client’s Farrow and Ball wall colour, which I then smashed into pieces to be set in the concrete. I added broken mirror and handfuls of finely broken safety glass from an accident with a very big double glazed panel (another story but at least we up-cycled it)
This concrete worktop was a great success, the various additions all polished up beautifully and have added something really unique to the kitchen.
Glow in the Dark and Marbles
Then along come the Kellys, a crazy fun filled family, who have commissioned some of my favourite projects in the past. A secret door that actually leads to a whole room and a grass covered oversize number 9 sign for their house so the postie can’t miss it.
Not content with their shocking pink formica, ply and ash kitchen they wanted their concrete island unit to look like the console from Star Trek, feature all their favourite marbles and glow in the dark.
I spent many an exciting evening online finding all the bits to put in and in the end it was a combination of marbles, glow in the dark pebbles, fish tank dyed stones and those otherwise pointless glass beads that homeware shops sell.
I cast the top in two sections in my workshop so that I could transport it and to my relief the bits joined up very well when we installed it.
Concrete; the final frontier, bringing joy every night when they creep down to catch it glowing.