Faux Wood Workshop

You may find yourself from time to time flipping through Architectural Digest and coming upon the most gorgeous, multi-million dollar home of your dreams, such as the 8,000 square foot house built for Lance Armstrong in Austin, TX. Maybe you wonder how you could possibly incorporate even a small piece of its décor into your own home.

You might be surprised to learn that this home’s luxurious kitchen, complete with state-of-the-art appliances, stainless steel pendant lights and slab stone counters, was also outfitted with faux wood beams on its ceiling.

Faux wood beams can be a considerable design asset for the any homeowner, not just for cycling superstars with a team of first-class designers and unlimited resources. A fraction of the cost of real wood beams, homeowners with even a very modest budget can achieve this look themselves with just a little time and a little creativity.

Faux beams – like our high-density polyurethane models – are popular among builders and homeowners, not only for their price, ease of installation and durable material, but also for their incredible imitation of real wood’s coloring and grain texture. Certified kitchen designer (CKD) and author of The Kitchen Designer blog, Susan Serra maintains that unless structural beams are required, even the most upscale design projects will include faux beams on their ceilings and walls.

So there’s really no need to wistfully put down the magazine and imagine what could be. Take a look at this huge range of beam styles available and start making that dream a reality!

Read more about Lance’s kitchen and the faux beams featured in Architectural Digest.

On the April 4th Beach Family episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the team ventured to build the “Tree Fort Room”, using our donated faux wood Timber Planks and Barn Wood panels on the walls. Many of us in our childhood have attempted to build a fort of some type or another, be it in a tree, a snowbank or even with blankets in the living room. This project took that idea a hundred times further for the ultimate fortress fantasy.

“When we opened the door to our room, it was just so amazing.
We immediately felt like we were at home…it felt like a fort.”

The designers wanted the room to look like it appeared straight out of a kids’ imagination, with a little Robinson Crusoe thrown in. To seem as if it was built by a child, our faux wood Timber Planks were positioned at crooked angles, each bottom and top individually cut and mitered to join perfectly with the wainscoting underneath (created with Rustic Barn Wood Panels from FauxPanels.com). Cutting each plank at a different angle was a time-consuming task to say the least, but totally worth it!

Watch the video to see the boys’ reaction to seeing the Tree Fort Room for the first time, or browse through more photos of the room here. Keep your eye out for our planks and panels!