DIY

8 DIY Projects Using Concrete Pigment

Dec 6, 2025 Justin Richardson

Pigment is not only for slabs. Anything with Portland cement in it will take color the same way — stucco, grout, mortar, plaster, and cement-based overlays. That opens up a lot of small, cheap projects that look expensive. Here are eight of them.

A masonry stucco wall colored with 202 blue pigment.

Shop Concrete Pigment →

A note on one product: several projects below use a cement-based overlay. Direct Colors does not currently stock an overlay product, so those are described generically — the pigment that colors them is available as normal.

1 · Countertops and fireplaces on a budget

An integrally colored cement overlay goes straight over old laminate, Formica or tile. Colour the overlay mix rather than staining afterwards and you get a consistent finish for very little money.

Tiled fireplace — Before — a tiled fireplace.

After smooth pearl white concrete overlay — After — resurfaced in a pearl white cement mix.

2 · A woodgrain-effect cement floor

From Nicole Teut, @ethoscustomjewelry. This is the cleverest project here and needs almost nothing: white Portland cement, pigment, a chip brush and a trowel.

1: Mix two parts white Portland cement with your pigment to a thick pancake-batter consistency
2: Spread it evenly with a chip brush
3: Apply a second layer over the first
4: Let it dry and harden at least 24 hours
5: Press and drag a trowel across the ridges to pull a woodgrain pattern out
Working in sections?: Overlap each new section slightly with the last so the joins disappear

Before: Unfinished retail space concrete floor with unsightly stains, blotches, and glue residue — The floor before.

Clean and patched retail space concrete floor, ready for the woodgrain-effect cement overlay application — The pearl white base.

Retail space concrete floor with cream beige pigmented overlay applied using a chip brush — The mix going on with a chip brush.

Artistic woodgrain effect achieved by skillfully troweling and burnishing the textured top coat.

Artistic woodgrain effect using integrally colored cement overlay.

Image showcasing a beautiful white concrete stained floor in a retail shop, complemented by elegant store showcase furniture — Beautiful white concrete stained floor in a retail shop, complemented by elegant store showcase furniture.

3 · Color in the countertop mix itself

Pigment and acid stain are not alternatives — used together you get an even base color with reactive depth over the top. These counters are a pigmented base with acid stain worked into it.

Beachfront colored concrete overlay over formica kitchen countertop — A countertop cast in a tinted mix.

Stunning Cola and Malayan Buff EverStain acid stained finish enhances Beachfront Buff pigmented concrete overlay kitchen countertop — Then acid stained.

4 · Grout

Pigment powder mixes straight into grout. Two or more grout colors in one installation is a designer trick that costs almost nothing.

White Grout Colored with Cafe Pigment

Custom grout colors mixed with concrete pigment.

Full guide → Color your grout with concrete pigment.

5 · Stucco

The biggest money-saver on the list. Coloring stucco integrally means never repainting an exterior — and if the stucco chips, the color runs all the way through.

Masonry wall — Before — plain masonry stucco.

Full guide → Stucco colors with integral pigments.

6 · Plaster

Same principle indoors. Malayan Buff pigment through a white plaster wall gives a soft, even warmth that paint cannot imitate because the color has depth rather than sitting on top.

Stucco coat colored with maize pigment — A pigmented stucco maze wall.

Malayan buff pigment mixed with white plaster wall design — Malayan Buff through white plaster.

7 · Mortar

Standard mortar is gray, white or buff. Coloring it lets the joints complement the brick instead of fighting it — and it is the difference between brickwork that looks new and brickwork that looks right.

Mortar Color Concrete Pigment