Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

So, today we did a little something called Team Wars.  My brother and I divvy up into teams and we all agree on the day’s tasks.  Each team works to get the specific tasks done first and done well and each member of the winning group gets a financial bonus. 

It was Team Terrorizers vs. Team Kick A$%%@!  You can imagine the amount of trash-talking, subterfuge, psychology (”Wow, you guys have a lot left.  We’re so ahead of you…”) and spying/recon missions that were occuring (”They’re still sanding!”).  At one point, my brother came into our area and started playing the Rocky theme song on his iPhone and putting his hands up in the air in victory.  Of course there was an uproar (”What?!?” — “NO WAY are you guys done!” — “You haven’t even started spraying — that was part of the deal!”).  Then he said ”Just wanted to give you all a preview of what’s gonna happen when we win!”.  He was promptly kicked out with some lovely parting shots. 

At the end, we were right in the middle of various phases of our tasks and so tired that we haven’t even decided a winner.  I’ll keep you posted.  I did, however, want to run two things by you that we’ve come to love: Orange tape and TSP substitute. 

(1) My friends, James and Shayna, told me they sold an orange tape that was better than my 3M orange-core blue tape.  They mentioned something about Japanese rice paper and Danish adhesives but I was skeptical so they sent me a trial roll.   WOW — I love this tape.  Seriously: No more blue tape.  It gives an even cleaner edge to a faux finish and my Modern Masters metallics don’t even stick to it and pull off.  Better yet?  It’s $6/roll and free shipping if you buy by the case.  (I pay close to $8 per roll for the blue tape and I buy those by the dozens.)  Please consider trying this tape — here’s the link. 

(2) TSP Substitute — Went to Home Depot looking for TSP to clean cabinetry and they no longer sell it.  They do sell a TSP substitute that has biodegradable contents.  While you still do have to wear gloves and such, it was much easier to work with than original TSP.  It comes ready-mixed, the vapors aren’t as potent and it preps a surface beautifully. 

That’s it — thought I would pass those two info nuggets along.  I hope you are having a great day…will talk soon!

Recently, I had the pleasure of having a professional photographer, Lindsay Pardo, run around with me to several past jobsites to take pics.  On some of them, it was wonderful to see the finished home.  You see, a faux finisher is usually the last trade in.  We come in right before the furniture and all the other accoutrements are delivered so it’s rare (at least for us) to get a great After shot. 

The following pics are two of my fave shots of an exterior we worked on…or as we call it here at Garay Artisans: Going Outside to Play!  

Here’s one of our “during” pics…amazing what a difference a little faux can do, huh?  Down with Plain Paint!

P.S.  Guess what?!?  I wore Lindsay down I nicely asked Lindsay to share some tips with us on taking great photographs of finished rooms (or wonderful shots in general) and impart some other pro tips.  That’ll be coming up soon.  :)  Have a great weekend!

P.S.2.  Happy Birthday, Lindsay! 

Hello everyone! This is Jason Rosales - Guest Blogger (aka Regina’s Brother). I’m excited and honored to have been offered a chance to write a guest post on my sister’s blog and as I type I’m realizing that these words are going to be all over the Internet, world wide!?! A combination of stage fright and empowerment!! LOL. So what to write about….what to write about…..Oh!

Woodgraining. There are some things in life that bring great pleasure and a calming sense of peace and tranquility. Woodgraining is one of them for me…given I have the freedom to take my time and not be rushed with construction deadlines, upcoming scheduled clients, weather, dry line issues, etc., etc. Recently, we had the pleasure to take on a cool project that has brought about that joy that I get from woodgraining without all the other stuff. We had some really great clients, the weather was beautiful and it was stress free…we just enjoyed the work. Here are some pictures.

Semi-Before Shot: Half-way through the cleaning phase I realized I hadn’t taken any before pics, hence the reason why one door looks glossier than the other.

Meet the Floggers: This is the phase where you go straight home from work otherwise you risk being quarantined from all the dark speckles of flying paint all over you. I’m not alone on this, am I?

Remember playing “Tape Ball” when you were young? Good times… Monica wants to save the ball and keep adding to it to see how big it gets. Yeah….LOL

We caught this guy steadily climbing up one of our drop cloths determined to get on top of one of the cars.

On the fin on top of the car - His triumphant photo!!!

Back to work. Ta Da! Wasn’t that easy? LOL. I like this blog thing.

Ready for your close up?

I hope you guys enjoyed this project post.  I’ll be on the look out for the next one to write about!!  Until next time, take care!

My Design Secrets ran an interview with yours truly on their blog yesterday.  Well, I’m used to interviewing people for Fauxology so this was a cool change-of-pace.  (…and thank you, Dawn, for your nice comment on the article!)  Please check it out if you get a moment.  Take a look at their site, too — it’s got great design info.  

Today I have a loooooooong day so it’s a short post but I do have some nice ones coming up for you in the next few days, including a Mailbag question, our November Book-of-the-Month and a guest post by my awesome brother, Jason.  Although I implore you to ignore anything he says about me — it’s not true! 

It’s not often that we walk into a ceiling shaped like this one.  The moment I saw it I (inwardly) jumped up and down and suggested a painted fabric ceiling to the designer and the client.  They thought it was a great idea (Yay!).  See if you agree…

Before pics of ceiling and room.  On the left, you can see how the ceiling swoops down in folds from the center.

This room was a team collaborative effort.  We worked to make sure the colors we used would look good together yet still stand out from one another.  There was added scroll work to the fabric and gold leaf peaking through the shimmery wall plaster.  Here’s the After pics…

Until next time…

As promised, here are more pics of Melanie Royals’ studio and shots of some of the samples produced. Can’t wait to go back!

The one on the left is my FAVE room (see the geisha on the door?) and the one on the right has such nice tones.

                        A work in progress…love the finished border on the left panel.

What a great idea for stairs: a pretty design to see when you go up and soothing alternating colors on the way down.  When you get to the bottom, you are greeted by the gorgeous flooring on the right. 

Additional mirror images…the last one I made when I got home.  Sorry about our studio’s ceiling beams you can see reflected on some of the samples…

I hope you’ve enjoyed the pics and the info.  Check Melanie’s website for more info on this workshop and others.  Have a great day!

No, that isn’t a reference to our president or the current state of the economy but more of a reference to my head.  The crew and I have been working the overnight shift (10 pm - 5 am) at the beautiful Hilton at Walt Disney World Resort – something we offer in our company’s services and a shift we’ve worked many times before (see the lone post on a past one here).  This time, however, it sent me for a loop.  I think my mistake was coming home on the red-eye from California, getting home at 11 am, going to sleep and waking up to start the 10 pm shift that same day.  The first few days were ok but I woke up at one point and I couldn’t remember what day it was.  Now, though, we’re recovering and the hotel executives are pleased with our work so all’s well that ends well.  I can recharge, blog a bit and go back to more artworks on Monday. 

While I get my thoughts together, I was pleased that this week we got shout-outs from not one blog, but two.  We were mentioned in the Stencil Talk blog for Stencil Search and also in a post entitled “What is Faux Painting?” on My Design Secrets.  Big Thank You!s to both of them for such a pleasant surprise.

I’ll be posting soon…but for now, someone’s cooking breakfast and I have to follow the scent like one of those cartoon characters…

I’ve had a few e-mails about the snakeskin misadventure, mostly asking “Was it really that bad?”.  Yes and no.  I think what set us down the wrong path was that the production stencils (which are stencils that are large and create an overall wall pattern) and the smaller corresponding stencils did not match, pattern-wise.  We actually ended up using only the smaller stencils since that design was both stronger and more pleasing.  Using the smaller sizes, in addition to making the already-stencilled different patterns match, added to the working time.  I’ve since spoken to Faux Effects and they couldn’t have been more gracious and accommodating about the situation.  (Thank you Cat and Scott!)  It really is a gorgeous realistic pattern but make sure than when doing the finish, over-order on the delicate stencil since it can come apart after a few uses.  Why do I say “when you order”?  Because I’m posting the recipe (with courtesies from Faux Effects) for all to try and you may find yourself tackling the finish. 

The recipe is a Faux Effects original and consequently, uses all Faux Effects products.  I’ve placed links where needed and pics where possible (I forget to photograph some layers sometimes).

1)  Start with as smooth and correctly prepped a surface as possible.  For the base color, we used Sherwin-Williams’ Millet but you could also use Aquabond Woody Yellow.  Let dry.

2)  With a Japan scraper, trowel Venetian Gem Finish Coat through vinyl tulle (also called tulle netting) over the entire surface.  We bought the tulle by the yard at our local Jo-Ann Fabrics.  You can easily cut and reuse the same material piece a few times.  The Venetian Gem goes on white and dries clear.  This step creates the underlying scales — a key ingredient in making this finish go from just another “oh, how cool” to a solid “you’ve got to see this room!!!”.  Let this layer dry completely.

3)  Using Rich Brown and Antique Mahogany Stain & Seal mixed with AquaGlaze, glaze the surface in a vertical motion.  You can also use other colors (such as blue, green and irridescent tones) to create a different snakeskin feel.  Let this layer dry completely.

4)  Stencil FauxCreme Color Black through the Snakeskin Stencil and continue the pattern.  There are no registration marks on the stencils but you can easily find where the snakeskin design fits in.  I highly recommend using stencil spray for this application to adhere the stencil firmly (but temporarily) to your surface.  If on a wall, make sure you use a level at all times.  Let dry.

5)  Overglaze the entire finish with a Van Dyke Brown aging glaze, which acts as the final step marrying all the layers together.  Let dry. 

I have to admit that after seeing the final result, I might possibly perhaps maybe consider trying the finish again — on smaller surfaces.  Doing an entire room might not be in the cards again…but a cabinet door or under a bar counter?  Nice.  We’re getting final pics after the interior designers finish doing their magic.  I’ll be sure to post them. 

Well, well, well.  Today is an excellent day.  You see, we’ve been working on the Snakeskin finish for a while now.  The finish has four layers and I thought it would take us 5 days to do it — one day per layer and a buffer day, just in case.  Yeah, well.  It has taken 5 days just to do the stencil layer.  Yes, you read that right: 5 days for the overall stencil layer.  It is a beautiful finish (we are all salivating for the final pics) but boy is it a doozy.  We’ve all agreed that we are never, ever doing this finish again…it is officially discontinued.  Not an accent wall, not a niche, not even a small table top.  Folks, you know I’m usually a positive person but what fun would a blog be if I didn’t share the misadventures?

Getting back to it being an excellent day.  Since we knew today was the last day we would be stencilling, the crew was in high spirits.  As my brother and I drove in to the site, we were happily debating the points as to who would win in hand-to-hand, face-to-face combat: a ninja or a samurai.  (I say ninja.)  As we worked, the team excitedly debated how we would dispose of the stencils: sacrificial bonfire, scissors or just slam dunking them into the trash can.  We ordered a gigantic margarita pizza for lunch.  And at the end?  We were too exhausted and hand-cramped to even muster up the

(My brother just walked by my laptop and read the post.  He’s like “Regina, you’ve got to emphasize the horror of the situation.  You didn’t even tell them we were sent stencils that didn’t match up. I don’t think you’re explaining it well enough.  What Saw is to Horror Movies, Snakeskin is to Faux.  That’s what you’ve got to get across.”) 

(Now, my friend Jeff Huckaby called me to talk about his day and his client’s ceiling.  Man, I feel for him.  I also told him about my day and he said “Well, if you were closer, I’d smack you in the head, LOL!  What were you thinking?”  It’s nice to know you can call someone and just vent and laugh about paint, you know?)

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  Well, at the end we were too tired to even entertain the idea of the celebrational bonfire or the cutting up of the stencils.  We just stood around in disbelief that the stencilling was actually done and tiredly patted each other on the backs.  I guess that even on the particularly stressful commissions, there is always something to be happy about - a joyful non-grumpy team, knowing you’re working with wonderful designers or just the thought that all that hard work is going to pay off into one heck of a show-stopping room.  Appreciation must always abound.

(…it’s still getting discontinued, though.)