Faux Wood Workshop

Faux wood beams and a beautiful sculptured t-rex welcome kids to Astro Kids

FAO Schwarz in NYC, perhaps the most famous toyshop in the world, got a startling new addition this December – a new store-within-a-store brought beautifully to life using our faux wood beams.

Astro Kids is the brainchild of gemstone and mineral experts Dennis and Marc Tanjeloff, and offers “anything related to minerals,” according to Dennis. That includes replica dinosaur and shark teeth, fossils and geodes and a host of exciting scientific kits to introduce curious kids to the exciting science of geology.

The Astro Kids store is just under 400 square foot, and features a gigantic skeletal dinosaur rearing out of a solid rock wall – designed by New York native Judy Richardson. The rest of the incredible décor was supplied by Barron Designs; using our vividly realistic faux wood beams, and a variety of our rock veneer panels.

A store-within-a-store in New York's famous FAO Schwarz, faux wood beams and faux panels bring the displays to life

Astro Kids is one of more high profile example of the ways in which stores have used our products to add life and energy to their shelf displays; and serves as a brilliant demonstration of the versatility of our faux wood and faux rock products.

We’re especially proud of the way in which our beams have been used to create a stunning faux wood truss above the store; indistinguishable from real wood; but easy to install and a fraction of the price.

Literally millions of visitors from all over the world come to visit FAO Schwarz NYC every year; so we’re incredibly excited to be part of one of the most exciting and innovative new additions to this venerable store. We’ve already had incredible compliments from people who’ve seen the store and recognize our products.

Have you had a chance to check out Astro Kids yet? If you’re visiting New York, we’d love to hear what you think. Email us at info@fauxwoodbeams.com

One of our Facebook friends, Sharon Carter, recently wrote:

“I have an A shaped ceiling in my bedroom and a vaulted slant over my dining area that both need something done to them. I wish I had someone in the area that was good with installing these that I could trust.”

Even those with little or no building experience can install decorative beams in their home.

Well, you can trust yourself, Sharon – and there’s no reason you can’t install those decorative beams yourself!

In fact, one of the things that sets our artificial wood beams apart from the real thing is that they’re so incredibly light and easy to install, making them the perfect solution for DIY home projects like Sharon’s. You don’t need to have years of carpentry experience to mount the beams correctly. Just by following a few simple guidelines you’re practically guaranteed a great result.

Check out our installation guide for a full run-down of what you’d need to do to install decorative beams on your ceiling – but here are some of the basics you should always remember:

• Get some tools. Unlike installing real wooden beams, you can install our faux timber beams with the sort of tools almost every homeowner has sitting in their basement or garage. You’ll need a tape measure, a regular wood saw and a power drill with screw attachments.
• Get some help. One person can easily lift one of our faux wood beams – but because of their length, we definitely recommend having a friend to help with the installation project. The good news is, though, that they don’t need to be super strong, or construction veterans. We’d had customers in their seventies who’ve easily installed the beams in just a day or two – without any prior building experience whatsoever!
• Plan ahead. Perhaps the most important step to successfully installing the beams yourself is to plan out exactly what, where and how you intend to install them ahead of time. One tip is to photograph the ceiling you want to install the beams on, print out the picture and “draw” beams onto it with marker, so you get a visual feel for what the finished project will look like.
• Measure twice, cut once. The golden rule of carpentry applies to installing faux wood beams as well. Because our beams are made from molded polyurethane foam, you can easily cut them to size with a regular saw – but make sure you know exactly what that size is before you start chopping.
• It’s all in the details. One of the tricks to getting really amazing results with decorative beams is to pay attention to the details. If you’re joining two beams together end-to-end, for example, use our rubber beam straps to cover the join. Likewise, use colored caulk to cover screw heads and other imperfections and once your beams are installed, they’ll be practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

If you’re really not confident about installing our beams, it’s probably best to speak to a contractor or builder – but don’t sell yourself short. The beams are specially designed to be easy to install; so there really is no reason why you wouldn’t be able to get great-looking results doing it yourself.

If you still have questions, check out FauxWoodBeams.com for tips, tricks and installation guides – and if you haven’t already, be sure to “like” our Facebook page. We try to answer every question posted there.

A customer recently reached out to us with a very simple question about our synthetic wood beams – which direction should they run in? The customer was interested in installing three of our timber beams in her living room, but didn’t know if they should run the length of the room, or go from one side to the other.

Traditionally, horizontal beams span the shortest gap between walls, as these faux wood beams do..

In all honesty, there’s no right or wrong answer to this question. The beautiful thing about our synthetic wood beams is that you’re pretty much limited only by your imagination when it comes to installation options. From a technical point of view, though, there are some factors to think about.

Firstly, faux wood beams are often used to mimic real timber beams. If that’s the look you’re going for, you should think about installing them in the same position real wood beams would have been used to support a roof or ceiling.

In most buildings, structural ceiling beams run across the shortest length of ceiling because that enables them to support the most amount of weight. This is safe bet for most people installing faux wood beams – especially on flat ceilings.

Apex roofs and cathedral ceilings could have beams running either way - or a synthetic wood beam frame.

If you’re installing synthetic timber beams on a sloping or apex ceiling, you could run them either way. When framing a ceiling, builders tend to use thicker lengths for the longer stretch between walls, then small beams to prop up the apex.

As exposed ceiling beams became popular, homeowners would generally reveal whichever beam was “underneath” the other; so the exposed beam would run seamlessly from one side of the room to the other.

A framework of crisscrossed beams is also popular – and can be recreated by cutting notches out of our faux wood beams with a regular wood saw, then slotting them together with the other beams at right angles.

Finally, in older timber-beamed homes wooden trusses often supported ceilings. These stunning structures are easy to mimic with faux wood beams; but once again you should create your designs with real architecture in mind. Create a truss design that matches what a real builder would have created out of real wood – check out our wooden truss photo gallery for inspiration.

A synthetic wood truss mimics traditional structural trusses, which supported larger, cathedral ceilings.

Ultimately, though, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with our beams. The great thing about “going faux” is that synthetic wood is lighter, easier to install and a fraction of the price of real wood – and that means you can create things with them that you’d never be able to do with authentic timber.

Do you have an opinion? Please share it with us – and send pictures of your own faux wood beams projects, no matter which direction they’re installed in! Send them to info@fauxwoodbeams.com

For several years, FauxWoodBeams.com and our sister site FauxPanels.com have partnered with ABC’s hit TV series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – who help deserving families by transforming their homes and living spaces. This week sees the final episode of the popular show; and FauxWoodBeams.com are helping to make sure EMHE go out on a high note.

Faux Wood Beams will join Ty Pennington and the EMHE crew in Joplin, MO

Host Ty Pennington and the rest of the EMHE crew – including FauxWoodBeams.com and FauxPanels.com president Steve Barron, will be heading to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri for their special “Heart of America” episode. There, they’ll tackle Extreme Makeover’s most ambitious project yet – creating seven unique homes in just seven days.

FauxWoodBeams.com and FauxPanels.com partnered in creating five of the seven homes; each designed and built to perfectly match the lives and personalities of the families they were built for.

Our products are perfect for a project like this; as they are easy-to-maintain, easy-to-install, yet deliver the beautiful look of rustic wood the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew were looking for. In addition, they’re a smart choice for areas that might be hit by tornadoes; as real timber beams can become potentially deadly projectiles in tornado winds; with the power to penetrate solid brick walls.

Joplin was devastated by a tornado that tore homes and families apart.

Although it’s incredibly exciting to see our products used in ambitious builds like this, the real reward comes from knowing that you’re helping make a real difference to people’s lives. Each of the seven families receiving new homes in this episode are incredibly deserving; and have astonishing stories of bravery, sacrifice and strength stories to share.

Steve Barron was particularly touched by the heartbreaking experiences of single moms Crystal Whitely and Crystal Cogdill, who both lost children during the devastating tornado.

“As a father, I can’t imagine what these families went through,” he says.

Although FauxWoodBeams.com and FauxPanels.com are sad that this is the last episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, it’s great to know that this is perhaps their most important project ever; and one we could not be more excited or honored to be a part of.

• “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Joplin, Missouri” will air at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT on Friday, January 13 on ABC. Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.

Texas isn’t exactly known for its winter weather, but one of our customers created their own winter wonderland this holiday season, by installing our faux timber beams to add some undeniably rustic charm to their living room design.

BEFORE: Arched doorways and wall openings gave Holly's house a period feel.

Before it was the Lone Star State, Texas was its own country – and with a storied history like that it’s not surprising that the state has some of the most historic homes and buildings in America.

Texas homeowner Holly Van Delden wanted to pay tribute to Texas’ historic roots by adding timber beams to her beautiful ranch-style home; and faux wood beams were the perfect solution.

As you can see from the before photos she emailed us, Holly’s home was already rich with period detail before she started her makeover project.

Arched doorways and wall openings gave a real southwestern flavor to the home, while a lot of dark wood furniture and a stone fireplace provided a classic, timeless interior perfectly in keeping with the finished design she had in mind.

AFTER: Faux timber beams gave a lovely rustic look to the living room.

Adding the faux timber beams was a quick and straightforward process. Molded from durable polyurethane, each beam is light enough to be easily attached to a ceiling with screws and construction adhesive.

Because each beam is molded from a real timber ceiling beam, then painstakingly rendered in rich, wood colors, they’re practically indistinguishable from the real thing once installed.

One challenge Holly faced was spanning the full length of her not inconsiderable ceiling. Although our beams are available in a variety of lengths, she cleverly installed two lengths end-to-end and used our rubber beam straps to disguise the join.

AFTER: A challenge customer Holly faced was disguising where two beams joined. She used our rubber beam straps to hide the seam.

The finished product looks like a single length of timber running from one wall to the other – and from the ground, the rubber beam strap looks identical to the weathered iron straps used to reinforce real wood beams.

As the after pictures show, the results are impressive. The timber beams add a stunning, rustic touch to the home – and look just like real wood.

As you can probably tell from the Christmas tree, these pictures were taken during the holiday season; and the beams add a really festive flavor to the room even if the Texas sunshine means there’s very little chance of a white Christmas.

Thanks to Holly for sending us these pictures – and if you have any of your own faux wood beam pictures you’d like to share, we’d love to showcase them here. Email them to info@fauxwoodbeams.com.

From the baking heat of Arizona to the chilly hills of New England, 2011 has continued to see our faux wood beams used in home redesign projects all across the country. That’s why, at this time of year, we like to take a moment to think about all those projects, redesigns, builds and renovations we’ve had the opportunity to be a part of over the past twelve month.

From everybody here at Faux Wood Beams: Thank you.

Not just for being customers, but for becoming more – for emailing and writing to us with pictures of your amazing home redesigns, and sending in your tips and experiences. Seeing our products become part of your homes is incredibly rewarding for us; and it’s great to build relationships with our customers.

In addition to the photos, emails and friendships we’ve made through 2011, we’re also incredibly grateful to have been a part of many other great experiences – including continuing to be involved in helping deserving families, in partnership with TV shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

We’ve been given so much, so it’s nice to be able to give something back.

We’d like to take a moment to give all the readers of Faux Wood Workshop season’s greetings; and send you our best wishes for 2012. We look forward to hearing from many of you in the coming year – and featuring your stories and photographs right here. Don’t forget to send them to info@fauxwoodbeams.com.

Happy holidays!

2 Oaks Panel with Trompe L'Oeil Frame

Looking back on when I first became determined to learn to paint faux wood (before the internet), I studied every book I could get my hands on. At that time, there were virtually no resources for learning realistic wood graining.

I would look at the pictures in the books and think to myself “That looks kind of like wood, but how can I make it look EXACTLY like real wood?”

I was all about the art of Trompe L’Oeil (French: “to fool the eye”), so “approximation” just didn’t cut it for me. I wanted magic. It’s been an obsession ever since.

The fact is that most faux wood grain products are not very attractive or convincing. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. I admit it; I’m a snob.

I stumbled onto fauxwoodbeams.com via their Twitter account. The product designers at fauxwoodbeams.com get it right. Their realistic and convincing faux wood products were a breath of fresh air.

Cherry Grain Doors, Casing, Crown, Base

Harmonizing with Faux Wood Beams

When done right, faux wood can be the perfect tool for your interior design project.

Let’s say you’ve got your gorgeous faux wood beams in place, now it’s time for the trim. Chances are you’ll be updating, restoring or installing wood accents such as casing, baseboard, cove, crown, wainscoting…

At this stage there are 2 hurdles: The cost of materials, and getting everything to match and look good together.

Cost
Stain-grade wood is very expensive to buy and have professionally finished and installed. Trim carpenters, being some of the most skilled and specialized tradesmen of all, need to bill accordingly.

That is why you often see trim packages painted in a solid color. Nine times out of ten, the original desire was to use natural wood but due to the cost factor, the project had to be done in MDF (particle board) and painted to accent the walls.

Bookmatched Cherry Cabinet Top

Matching
Your trim elements need to harmonize. This is why fauxwoodbeams.com has a diverse selection of wood types and colors. That’s also why they offer samples; so you can find the best match for your trim.

Painted wood grain: A solution rich in color and history

Faux wood has been used for centuries to decorate and accent interior spaces. The craft has evolved and is applied today using materials that are durable and quick-drying.

Even if faux finishes aren’t your thing, you should consider painted wood grain to be the exception. When done well, it fits perfectly and stands out, not as a painted effect, but as beautiful wood. Add to that the fun factor when you get to tell your guests how it was done!

As a working artist who’s applied dozens of finishes including faux marble and masonry, Venetian plaster, tile, semiprecious stone…. I find painted wood grain to be the most color-rich, beautiful and versatile of all the finishes. Time and again it gets the greatest response from customers and friends.

Faux Walnut Panel

Finding a faux wood expert for your project

Become a snob
LOOK carefully at what you need matched and compare that to the samples your faux finisher provides. Ask them to paint samples specifically for your project and make sure they’re dead-on

Whether you’re paying someone to bring your creative vision to life or doing it yourself, it can only work in your favor to be aware of what looks good or bad.

Poor match? Don’t panic
Not all decorative painters will have the skill to match your project accurately. Many faux finishers only learn how to paint a few varieties of wood; one or two types/colors of oak, of pine… No big deal.

Every professional faces new challenges. Point him or her to perfectwoodgrain.com for an inexpensive guide to accurately matching any wood grain. It’s an innovative, groundbreaking method for learning painted wood grain that will earn them far more than it costs.

If your painter insists that their sample is good enough, looks fine… get a second opinion on their sample. Maybe it’s a great match and a second set of eyes might help you see that.

But, if it simply doesn’t match and they won’t or can’t fix it, interview some more painters. It’s a good idea to get 2 to 4 bids anyway. Find someone who’ll collaborate with you in creating a remarkable project.

Faux Oak and Lapis Jewelry Box

Paint your own wood grain

If you have a creative eye and you love do-it-yourself projects, this may be the best way to go. The ability to paint convincing wood grain is one of the most rewarding crafts you can imagine.

However, there are some very specific skills and techniques to getting it right. When I was starting out I wasted hundreds of hours trying to figure things out on my own and I don’t recommend it. It’s best to find a system that will get you started quickly.

There are many sources to learn faux wood grain. Some are very good. Others, not so much. Here are a few things to look for when choosing a method.

Faux faux is bad
The method needs to show pictures of actual wood and teach you how to match it. It should not teach you how to match faux wood. This is crucial since using a painting as your model will give you far less authentic, less believable results. Portrait artists don’t ask their subjects to provide paintings of themselves for study: They rely on live sittings or photographs.

More than one approach
No faux finishing book, DVD or workshop should require you to use special materials available from only from them. If it does, its authors may be more interested in selling you overpriced product than teaching a versatile skill set.

Any method should teach you how to find reasonably priced, readily available materials on-line and in your area. The same goes for tools: You don’t have to spend a fortune on magic widgets as there are alternatives to high-end “expert” brushes and other tools.

Regal faux ceiling beams pre-primed for painting

Everything you need for your project

With the amazing fauxwoodbeams.com assortment of color and texture and The Perfect Wood Grain Mastery course, you’ve found everything necessary to complete a picture-perfect interior project. If you desire a bit more control over the finished look of your beams, use your new wood graining skill to perfectly match the Regal Beams to the rest of your trim package.

Thanks to advancements in painting techniques and materials, and great suppliers like fauxwoodbeams.com, it’s now possible to be in for a penny, in for a pound where faux wood is concerned. Your projects will be amazing and no one will be the wiser. But please, after they’re sufficiently impressed, let them in on the secret.

FauxWoodBeams.com has many styles of beams that are unfinished or pre-primed for painting. Click here to view the complete list.

Size is everything – especially when you’re talking about ceiling design. That’s where the flexibility of synthetic wood beams comes into it’s own.

At FauxWoodBeams.com, we’re always excited to receive pictures and videos from customers who’ve used our products to transform their homes. One interesting thing we’ve been paying particular attention to recently is the clever use of contrasting lengths of our faux timber beams – which can give dramatically different visual results.

Carol used tiny lengths of our synthetic timber beams to give the impression of structural supports.

Take this new build in Amarillo, Texas, for example, that included a towering, cathedral roof. Clever customer Carol Potts used very short lengths of our synthetic timber beams to give the impression of ancient, supporting timbers poking through the plaster roof. It was a great way to give a discrete, but significant edge to the room’s aesthetic.

Because our timber beams are molded from durable polyurethane, it meant Carol had the freedom to cut a single full-length beam into three angled pieces with nothing more than a regular wood saw. That made installation a breeze, kept her costs down and still gave her the astonishing results she was looking for.

In complete contrast, Alabama native Ron decided that longer was better when it came to transforming the living room of his Union Grove home. The 60-year-old worked off a scaffold to install over 200 feet of our synthetic wood beams; and gave the impression of seamless lengths of timber by covering up where one beam met another with our rubber beam straps.

Ron used immense lengths of faux wood beam to span his enormous ceiling; far longer than would be practical with real wood.

Because our beams are uniform in width and fit, Ron was able to create a beamed ceiling design that would have been impossible using authentic timber – that length of beam simply isn’t normally available. What’s more, he could install it himself, in two days, using nothing more than a circular saw, knives and an electric drill.

That’s really the long and short of it – a dramatic example of how two different customers took two different approaches to using our faux wood products – and they both worked out brilliantly.

Do you have any thoughts on beam length? Or, better yet, some photos to show us of our beams in long, or short, action? Let us know at info@fauxwoodbeams.com. We’d love to feature them here.

Last week, we told you about Mary and Adam’s incredible New England home, which dated back 230 years. Since then, we’ve had a lot of people asking to see more pictures. Here they are!

Faux wood planks complement the authentic wood of this period fireplace

Mary and Adam wanted to have the same exposed wooden beams and wall planking that made other rooms in their home so striking. But it wouldn’t be easy to do.

Using real wood would not just have been expensive – installing authentic timber ceiling beams would also have required substantial structural alteration to the historic home.

Fortunately, they found an alternative with our faux wood products – and discovered that our faux wood planks, timber beams and simulated wood corbels perfectly matched the centuries-old wood used throughout their home.

The faux wood beams worked to give the look of real timber beams – and attached to the existing ceiling using wooden mounting blocks and regular screws.

Elsewhere, Adam and Mary used  faux wood planks directly on the walls – similar to the way colonial builders used to leave exposed planks through the traditional plaster or wattle. Again, these could be attached simply; using either construction adhesive or trim head nails covered over with colored caulking.

Perhaps the most impressive detail was the smallest – the use of corbels on real wood beams. Despite fake and real being right there for comparison, our simulated wood corbels blended in seamlessly; and gave a nice architectural detail to the stunning old beams.

Faux wood planks recreate the period look of exposed structural beams.

These faux wood corbels perfectly complement the real wood details of this historic home.

In the bedroom, faux timber beams match the real wooden beams elsewhere in the house.

By volunteering time and materials, FauxWoodBeams.com and our sister company, FauxPanels.com, have become frequent television stars. Check out ABC this Friday to see our products featured once again, on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Steve Barron said: "One neighbor had the mess hall pitched on his lawn. Another neighbor had tons and tons of supplies in his yard. It’s incredible to see all that energy."

This Friday will see the premiere of the twelfth collaboration between FauxWoodBeams.com and ABC’s hit TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Dedicated to giving deserving families the homes they deserve, Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition will this time be helping the Dunning family, from Delaware, by breathing new life into the headquarters of their “Jusst Sooup” charity.

Every morning, Dale and Ken Dunning get up to cook delicious soup for distribution to seventeen local soup kitchens; knowing that something as simple as a hot meal can make a real difference to those living on the streets, or otherwise caught short by the country’s dire economic situation.

Steve Barron: "The people you meet on these builds is amazing. You don’t hear enough about that. The volunteers are incredible.”

When he learned that the Dunnings were operating Jusst Sooup out of a converted storage facility, designer Ty Pennington and the crew of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition decided to help out; by giving the Dunnings a brand new home combined with the facility they needed to keep helping out the local soup kitchens.

To achieve a classic farmhouse look for the modern building, Extreme Makeover reached out once again to FauxWoodBeams.com; to help them create a classic farmhouse ceiling by building a towering king truss.

FauxWoodBeams.com was happy to help out.

“It feels good to give back,” says company president Steve Barron. “We’re a family business too — so doing something special for a family as great as the Dunnings makes us feel great.”

In addition to doing something great for deserving people, Steve loves working with the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition because of the truly innovative things his team get to accomplish with their artificial wood materials. For example, in Friday’s episode they’ll put together an incredible artificial timber wood truss that is practically indistinguishable from the authentic supporting beams that hold up centuries-old farmhouses.

Steve Barron: "Extreme Makeover could do another entire show on the volunteers and everything that happens behind the scenes."

“We wanted the Dunnings’ new space to feel homey. An old-fashioned ceiling design made with modern materials was the perfect way to do that.”

The episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featuring the faux wood truss and the deserving Dunnings family will air this Friday at 8pm EST / 9pm CT on ABC – and designers Michael Moloney and Paige Hemmis will also be appearing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Thursday and Friday to raise money for Jusst Sooup.

Check it out – and also check out the other TV shows FauxPanels.com and FauxWoodBeams.com have been featured on here.