So, I am all about being frugal, but I am about to share a project that was a bit on the pricey side, but, of course, I saved lots of survey money to make it cheaper! 

Years ago I saw images of acid washed concrete and fell in love. I researched the products and bought some online. I tried it on our bare concrete and was shocked at how it turned out. My concrete looked like rust. Luckily I had not done all of the concrete, but I had to come up with a way to cover up my "oops". So, I bought concrete stain and got to work covering all of the concrete, even the bare places, so it would all match. Well, in my haste to get the job done, I had not read all of the directions, I had not prepped the concrete so within months the stain was peeling up. It sat that way for years (as you can see above).  I was always so embarrassed when people would come over. I would tell them it was a DIY project gone wrong. A few years ago I was in my local Home Depot store and came across a new product by Rustoleum called Restore. They make it for wood and concrete. I bought a few cans and tried it. This time I left it sit for, ready for this, 2 years, to make sure that it would not chip off. Finally convinced that it would work, my husband and I set out to do our entire 600 square foot concrete back yard. Restore is amazing! Just like paint, you can get it in many colors. We bought (6) 4 gallon buckets and got to work. It takes two coats, so we dedicated a Friday and Saturday to our project. You have to buy special rollers because it is the consistency of wet concrete, but it was really easy to roll on.  

Ready to see what we have now?


It looks a little dirty because we just had some rain and dirt from my pots is on the concrete, but it is amazing! So pretty, fresh and when people come over they want to know all about it.

So, if you have an outdoor surface that is in need of some TLC, I definitely recommend Restore. They even sell it on Amazon. Click here to learn more about it.