Faux Finishing
The art of faux painting has been around for many years. Painters have been fooling people for hundreds of years. There is a good chance you have been fooled and didn't even realize it. I can tell you that while doing research for this column I could have been easily fooled! I saw some samples of fake marble that were so real I thought I could carve my name in them. But, alas, they were paper thin. The most amazing thing was how three dimensional the faux marble appeared!
Infinite Possibilities
"There are only 88 keys on a piano", said Gary Lord - one of the top faux painters in the land. "Yet, you can create an infinite amount of music with those keys." I interviewed Gary at his studio for this column and bulletin set. Gary then went on to say that the human eye can perceive nearly 16,000 different colors. This means that the different colors combined with the different faux techniques allow anyone to create countless faux possibilities. I can tell you that Gary has thousands of sample faux finishes as part of his selection process, more than I had time or energy to look at!
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Faux finishing can make a surface look like real stone.
Price Ranges
If you decide to hire a pro like Gary Lord, you can spend a little or a lot. The simplest faux finishes can be done by a pro for about 75 cents per square foot. If you want a detailed, decorative mural, you will pay nearly $50 per square foot. Most of the common faux finishes created by a professional cost between $1.25 and $3.00 per square foot.
Who Does It?
Would it surprise you if I told you that most of the professional faux finishers out there are women? It shouldn't. They seem to have much more patience and more of an eye for detail than men.
You can find the best faux finishers by calling the interior designers in your area. These people use faux painters on a regular basis. They know who can deliver striking results. If you run into a dead end with interior designers, then try all of the top quality paint stores in your area. The store manager often knows several faux painters. The painters must buy certain types of materials from standard paint stores on a regular basis.
Related Articles: Faux Finishing Basics, Faux Finishing Tools, Faux Finishing Books, Faux Finishing Wall Paneling, Faux Painting
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