Fabulous Fakes

Achieving luxury looks with faux processes and products

Faux ceiling and wall finishes give this new home an antique look.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Paints

For many home applications, a good faux product or finish is as good as the real thing — especially if you're looking for ways to add luxury without a big price tag. This is nothing new; in fact faux products and processes have a rich tradition dating back hundreds of years, when techniques such as mosaics (tile), intarsia (wood), and trompe l'oeil (paint) made people think they were looking at something they weren't. Trompe l'oeil literally translates to "trick the eye."

Faux products and processes let home owners achieve a sumptuous look at a fraction of the cost, said Jennifer Farrell, a Los Angeles-based designer who is the lifestyle expert for Your Magazine and host for the A&E network show, "Find and Design," which scours garage sales, flea markets and Big Lots for designer-look gems among the junk.

"In my opinion, the biggest area of impact is walls," said Farrell. "It's the thing people notice first whether they realize it or not." Faux finishes can give walls a wide array of looks, from shimmering metallic to marble to exotic leather. One of her favorite wall treatments is faux Venetian plaster which "begs to be touched because it's so smooth and silky."

For flooring, Farrell loves the range of options available with today's engineered woods, from distressed barn wood to slick, ebonized wood and raw bleached maple. "The choices are infinite," she said.

Nothing says luxury like crown molding. Dentils and crown moldings that were once carved from wood are now made from plastic or plaster. At ceiling height, they look just like wood, but at a much more economical price point. One of Farrell's favorite techniques is to build an eight-inch wide crown molding out of thinner pieces. "I've taken pieces parts and gotten really thick, beefy crown," she said.

Another item that harkens back to a more elegant time is metal-look ceiling tiles made from PVC or polystyrene. They're virtually identical to the metal original.

Paige Rien, designer for the HGTV show, "Hidden Potential," said her favorite fake is a kitchen or bathroom countertop made of polished 18-inch porcelain tile with very thin grout lines in lieu of granite or other stone. "This is a product that wears very well," she said. "It's shiny, easy to clean, durable and extremely inexpensive when compared to marble or granite. It's great for flooring, too — the bigger the tile, the better."

Another high-style fake that has become very popular is stone veneer. It costs less than real stone and doesn't have the weight and the installation requirements. It's a fabulous look for interior walls, fireplaces and columns, as well as for outdoor kitchens, fire pits and retaining walls.

Stamped concrete offers a host of faux applications for everything from driveways and patios to interior floors. The range of available patterns can mimic brick, slate, cobblestones and even limestone.

On some faux products, the cost saving comes in the long-term. Fiberglass exterior doors and composite decks, for example, have the look and feel of wood. The price is similar to wood, but neither product warps, maintenance is a breeze, and they'll last longer than wood. And in the case of the decks, you can walk on them barefoot and never have to worry about getting splinters in your feet.

For more information:

Faux Metal Tiles:
www.armstrong.com

Stone Veneer:
www.eldoradostone.com
www.culturedstone.com

Stamped Concrete:
www.concretenetwork.com

Illustration
www.voiceofcolor.com


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