I'm renovating my apartment and my architect is suggesting exposed concrete for the interior walls. Apparently it's trendy, but I don't really get the practical appeal. Does it age well? How do you clean it? Is it really better than regular paint?
Raw concrete is basically an aesthetic thing, let's be real - it's not "better" than paint, it's just a different style that's popular right now. Before you go for it, have you actually checked how it'll age in your specific apartment, knowing that concrete absorbs moisture, stains, and you need to maintain it regularly with specialized products so it doesn't turn grayish and gross after a few years?
Honestly it takes way more work than regular paint to stay presentable, so before you decide it's worth asking yourself: are you really ready to maintain it properly, or are you gonna regret it in six months when it starts looking crappy?
It's not just an aesthetic thing, there are practical aspects people often overlook too. Raw concrete doesn't trap dust as much as you'd think (depends on the finish), it naturally regulates humidity better than standard paint, and honestly it absorbs odors way better. For an apartment where you don't want to smell your fridge or your kitchen, that's not negligible. But yeah, it's trendy and a lot of people do it for the industrial design vibe, gotta be honest about that.
When it comes to maintenance, that's where it gets less glamorous. You gotta apply a waterproofing and stain-resistant treatment before you use it, otherwise every little thing shows (spilled coffee, fingerprints). After that it's just lukewarm water and neutral soap generally, but if you mess up you can't just wipe it away like with paint that you can easily repaint. How it ages really depends on the treatment: if you take care of it, it can develop a nice patina charm, if you neglect it it's just dirty and stained.
Before you go for it, try to see different finishes (polished raw, brushed raw) because it's really not the same day-to-day. And make sure your heating/AC is working properly, because concrete doesn't like extreme humidity swings. It's doable for a renovation, but you really shouldn't go into it blind.
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