I painted our front porch, which gets heavy use as the main entry to the house. I cleaned the concrete really well, let it dry, then used paint directly onto the concrete. Four years later, no peeling. And yes, there is special paint. Just go to your hardware store and ask for porch and patio paint. Good luck.

Thanks everyone, I found a paint online that is actually weather proof if you bake it. Just gotta find it again forgot to book mark it. I will attach a link when I find it. Shellybelly darn when I moved back from Pa I gave away about 50 things with sunflowers on them from dishes to crockery, would have mailed it to you. Calamity j aren't they the greatest this is my second one, my first lived 12 1/2 yrs and died in my arms. I'm so glad I was holding him, massive coronary. Was gone in a second. but anyway. Thanks. Pea I have about 400 8x8 grey tiles, left over from tiling my house in '88. believe that!!! I was going to send to dump, but hate to throw them away. When my son tiled his apt, he had 6 boxes of 16x16 white, so I am going to use them up. gin_gin, the first set I do I am putting in partial shade and planting artillery fern in the holes so it cascades out over the block, I don't like to see a 'wall effect' I want it softer so I don't think the sun will be affecting these. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the link, there is a picture of a brown vase with gold, I was thinking that would be pretty if you break it up. Will keep you posted, Dena Here is a link that might be useful: design

You have to imagine how you are going to use the space first. Do you like to spend time out side. You have lots of shade, so I imagine it would be pleasant under the eaves. Then, yes, set up a table and chairs to eat out side with a server. Conversation places, to lounge and talk, etc. Just as you would in a large indoor space. I love the look of the bertoia chairs, but I find them very uncomfortable to sit in for an extended period. A pair might be nice outside the master with a little table for a cup of tea in the morning or a glass of wine before bed and would be nice to look at otherwise. In a hot clime, I wouldn't want metal furniture because even the frames conduct and radiate heat. I'd look for teak or wood. In your price range you may be able to find an original designer who's work you like. Sometimes, for outdoors, all a wood indoor piece needs is a different finish, which you can order as for from a custom or original designer. There are thousands of brilliant furniture makers out there working in wood, Mark Tuckey comes to mind.

Asking a contractor to match concrete is akin to calling in a baker and asking them to match the wedding cake, that you happen to have a sample of in your freezer from a couple of years ago. While they can get it close enough that everyone will agree that it's white and cake, there are going to be differences that the more discerning palates will undoubtedly notice. In your last picture, it looks to me like the contractor used a coarse broom finish, which is an extremely common finish. How rough it is depends a lot on the broom and the broom operator. There is no way to grind/"sand" this smooth without changing the character to yet another version of concrete that doesn't match your steps. If your contractor thinks there is, I suggest you'll be in for another surprise. (You had best get a sample of the end result before committing to the change.) Myself, I much prefer a ground finish over a broom finish. It's smooth and starts looking like low contrast terrazzo. (BTW, do not use an aggressive diamond blade for grinding or you'll be grinding it a second time in order to remove deep grooves. Grinding with carborundum stones would be all you need for smoothing. Also, keep in mind that it's not a 1-hour job. It would be more like a day of grinding ... so would cost extra.)