Shifting Sand is a luscious medium brown that brings simple sophistication to any concrete surface. Pair it with a neutral, or with an earthier brown like Coffee Brown or Malayan Buff — and if you want a smidge of vivid color, a blue or green acid stain combination works beautifully. Here are real customer projects in Shifting Sand.
A finished patio in Black, Seagrass, and Shifting Sand EverStain™.
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Garage floor upgrade
A default gray garage floor became an acid-stain showpiece. Shifting Sand and Coffee Brown add depth and give the space a visual focus it never had as bare concrete.
Two-stall boat storage garage
This customer had been in and around construction for 28 years but had never tackled acid stain — and was surprised how much less technical it turned out to be. Malayan Buff and Shifting Sand finished a 900 sq. ft. boat garage with an office and reloading loft above.
Tips: “Watch as many videos as possible. Spend as much time as needed to ensure your prep work is complete. I sanded the entire floor with 40-grit for the mechanical etching to ensure a uniform finish. Wash and clean the floor at least 3 times to remove all dust. I used carpet drying fans to aid drying after the initial wash, the neutralization wash, and during sealing — the fans also helped ventilate the room.”
— DIY Customer
Tattoo shop floor renovation
'Til Death Tattoo in Springfield, Missouri turned a carpeted commercial space into a marbled, vintage-vibe floor with Malayan Buff and Shifting Sand — their first-ever DIY project, across 1,000 square feet.
The finished floor with vintage character throughout the shop.
The completed tattoo shop floor — charm and personality from the concrete up.
Tip: “Clean, clean, clean. And then clean again. Your work beforehand and your finishing after your project is sealed makes more of a difference than anything else you will do.”
— 'Til Death Tattoo, Springfield, MO
A pool house with personality
This pool house floor blends three colors, but it's the slight pop of Azure Blue against the Shifting Sand and Malayan Buff that really stands out.
Revamped garage floor
A straightforward, high-impact garage project: an even coat of Shifting Sand across the whole floor, with a few areas highlighted in Coffee Brown thinned 1:1 with water.
Tip: “When I rolled on the sealer it appeared like polka dots and I was scared I did something wrong — but after 2–4 hours the dots dried clear and resulted in what you see here.”
— DIY Customer
Pretty barndominium floor
Cozy and rustic: Shifting Sand with Malayan Buff gives this barndominium's floors a warmth that suits the earthy palette of the whole build.
The same palette across an open pole-barn interior.
Beautiful basement floor
Moving into a partially finished basement with awful carpet and no idea what was underneath, this customer had a 10-day window to get the floor stained — and made it, in seven days, with an EverStain™ Shifting Sand stain-and-seal kit.
Tips: “The videos on the Direct Colors website taught me how to acid stain and gave me the confidence that I could do it! Know going into this that the prep work takes the very longest. One call to Direct Colors helped me a ton — the man I spoke with advised me to use a carpet cleaner to rinse the concrete floor for the rinsing phases. What a lifesaver! I receive a lot of compliments on it — and I proudly say 'I did that!!!'”
— DIY Customer
A porch with perfect imperfections
Acid stain doesn't hide what's underneath — it enhances it. This porch was far from perfect, yet the brown and amber somehow complement every one of its imperfections.
Pooch heaven: a patio for the dogs
Coffee Brown, Malayan Buff, and Shifting Sand made this patio a warm, easy-clean, dog-friendly outdoor room.
A watercolor-look patio
Most people come to acid stain for its mottled, marbled character — this customer wanted more of a soft watercolor blend across a 651 sq. ft. patio poured in two stages, six to eight years apart.
— DIY Customer
More Shifting Sand spaces
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What's Next
- Garage floors → Concrete Stain Garage Floor
- Malayan Buff projects → Malayan Buff Gallery
- See every acid-stain color → Concrete Acid Stain Colors Guide
- How to apply acid stain → How to Apply Acid Stain to Concrete
- Layer two colors → How to Layer Two Acid Stain Colors
- Shop → EverStain™ DIY Kits · Trial Kits
Direct Colors. Shawnee, OK. Manufacturing the full decorative concrete system since 1997.
