Faux Wood Workshop

Some of our canny customers have helped bring a dynamic new element to their home redesign projects by combining our false beams with faux wood wall and ceiling panels. Here’s one recent example a customer sent us; demonstrating a dynamic faux wood combo that used rustic barn wood ceiling panels paired with false beams for a look that really brings his room design to life.

Neil's stunning Allentown home has an all-American look thanks to our faux wood beams and panels.

Forget the brick, steel and glass of the big city – everybody knows that America was really built on wood.

From the rustic log cabins of the early pioneers, to the cattle towns and cities that sprang up literally overnight across the Great Plains, each story was constructed from good, old American timber.

That’s why, for homeowners looking to add a touch of classic Americana to their modern homes, a wood element is an absolute essential.

Here’s one example of how a customer managed to achieve that look using our false beams in addition to our vividly realistic faux wood panels.

“The look I was going for,” wrote faux wood beams customer Neil Hughes, from Allentown Pa., “was the classic American cabin.” He’d already taken to one level by wood panel walls, a rugged brick chimney and a black iron stove that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Old Frontier.

But to take the look even further, Neil added our artificial timber beams across his ceiling; mirroring the way real wooden timber would have been used in the old days as structural support.

The combination of artificial wood veneer and our false beams is impressive.

And this is where it gets clever – because before the beams were installed, Neil used ceiling panels to enhance the design.

“They were really easy to install,” Neil wrote. “The panels are incredibly light, and slot together so you really can’t get the pattern wrong. The only challenge I had was cutting them to the right size – which I ended up doing with a regular wood saw.”

Neil installed them to his sheet rock ceiling with construction adhesive, and then added a few wood screws for extra security.

Next came installing our artificial wood beams, which was also easier than Neil had anticipated:

“The beams are hollow, in a kind of U-shape,” he wrote. “I screwed on a pair of mounting blocks, right on top of the faux wood panels I’d fitted, and then slotted the beam onto it. A few screws finished the job and then I was done.”

And the finished product looks amazing. By using wood panel walls and building out this faux wood ceiling, it’s impossible to tell that Neil’s rustic little cabin was actually built from board and sheet rock in the late 1990s.

“I love it,” he wrote. “It’s given me the classic American look I was going for, plus the pride of knowing I did all of it myself.”

Faux wood beams customer Chuck Conrad, from Gladwyne, Pa., has been the focus of the last couple of blog posts. He used a substantial number of our artificial timber products for a complete home makeover – and as you can see in this post, and this follow up, the results were nothing short of spectacular.

Now here’s our final post about the talented Mr. Conrad – and you’ll have to decide for yourself whether we’ve saved the best until last.

Faux wood beams really make Chuck's lounge stand out.

Perhaps the centerpiece of Chuck’s stunning home is his luxurious lounge, which features a dining area, a full wall of large, sun-drenched windows and a stunning stone fireplace reaching right up to the ceiling.

Incorporating faux wood beams so seamlessly took some serious thought with so many incredible features already present.

Chuck’s first inspired move was to keep the framing style he’d used in his faux wood beam corridor project, and with the false beams in his sitting room.

A carefully planned false beam frame matches the way Chuck has used our faux timber throughout the rest of his home.

That involved installing our artificial timber beams around the corners of the ceiling, then intersecting them with carefully measured cross beams to give the impression of real structural wood supports.

By using this same style, Chuck created a cohesive look to all his false beam additions; further reinforcing the illusion that these stunning faux wood beams were real.

The second clever decision, though, was more subtle – a “less is more” approach.

With so many striking architectural features already present in his lounge, Chuck needed to carefully balance just how striking his faux wood framework would appear. It certainly shouldn’t blend into the background, but nor should the first things guests think when they see the room be: “Wow, look at all these beams!”

Some serious thought went into this faux beam framework, the intersecting false beams meet seamlessly and rationally.

By keeping things simple – using just a few measured cross beams to give the impression of a real timber structure – Chuck managed to seamlessly incorporate faux wood beams into his design in a way that highlighted their appeal, without dominating the décor.

Clever details include Chuck’s use of our rubber beam straps; which seamlessly cover the joint between one length of beam and another. He also used our synthetic wood corbels to great effect; especially at those tricky corners where one length of beam intersected another and there was a challenge to make the end result look realistic.

So what do you think of this ceiling design? And which of the rooms Chuck decorated with our faux wood beams is your favorite? Here at FauxWoodBeams.com we’re pretty evenly split between the three of them (although my personal favorite is this room, the lounge.)

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Last week, we introduced Chuck Conrad, of Gladwyne, Pa., and the amazing corridor ceiling makeover he finished using our faux wood ceiling beams. Well; that was just the start. As you’ll discover in our next few blog posts, Chuck actually transformed his entire home.

BEFORE: A wide expanse of ceiling needed a focal point.

The next room on Chuck’s DIY home improvement list was the living room – which he framed with elegant faux wood ceiling beams.

Just like with the corridor, Chuck’s first step was to design a framework similar to how real wooden beams would have been used in home construction – but then a new challenge presented itself when he tried to install them.

While installing our beams is a straightforward affair – and can be accomplished in just a few hours with nothing more specialized than a wood saw, screws and an electric drill – Chuck’s problem was the sheer size of his room.

AFTER: The results are impressive; and the faux wood corbels and rubber beam straps help complete the illusion.

In order to have false beams spanning the ceiling as planned, he’d have to stick two or more beams end-to-end.

The good news is that our faux wood ceiling beams are designed to do exactly that – and, unlike real timber, are perfectly proportioned to give a seamless appearance. The bad news is that Chuck had a tell-tale crack where the two beams joined; which he was worried revealed them as faux.

Fortunately, the solution was to be found at the same place Chuck had found our beams. Designed especially to cover up where two beams join, our rubber beam straps look just like the iron straps that once held together real wood beams – except these ones are lightweight, flexible and easy to install.

Chuck used the beam straps to join each length of false beam together – giving the impression of a single length of wood running from one end of the ceiling to the other.

The next clever trick he pulled was using artificial corbels as accents. Corbels are structural supports common in older homes that feature real wooden beams. Chuck bought some of our faux wood corbels and installed them at strategic points to give the seamless impression of real timber framework.

As you can see from the before and after pictures, Chuck’s simple and understated project looks amazing; and the final details like our beam straps and corbels helped seal the deal.

We have more pictures from Chuck’s home coming up – but if you’ve got a DIY home improvement project using our faux wood beams that you think rivals his, don’t wait – email pictures to us at info@fauxwoodbeams.com and we’ll take a look.

At FauxWoodBeams.com, we’re always excited to see before and after pictures of customers putting our artificial timber beams to good use – but we’ve rarely seen a project quite as ambitious as that of faux beams customer Chuck Conrad of Gladwyne, Pa. Check out one of the many rooms in his home he transformed using our products!

BEFORE: An already beautiful corridor had scope for a more structured ceiling.

As you can see from the “before” picture, it’s clear that FauxWoodBeams.com customer Chuck Conrad knows a thing or two about DIY home improvement and design. His beautiful Pennsylvania home is the epitome of good taste – with luxurious hardwood floors, warm colors and clever use of accessories.

But when it came to adding the finishing touches, Chuck turned to us.

Over the next few posts, we’ll highlight each room in turn – but his entrance corridor is a great place to start. A long, broad passageway, Chuck added scope and depth in his ceiling makeover by creating a narrow false beam framework all the way from one end to the other.

Chuck demonstrated the three most important aspects to good use of our faux wood ceiling beams – research, planning and measurement.

In the research stage, he reviewed how real timber beams are used in older homes as structural features; and designed his faux timber roof fittings to resemble the authentic article.

AFTER: Understated, yet impressive, Chuck's faux timber framework adds a dynamic new element.

In the planning stage, he developed a visual impression of what the finished ceiling makeover would look like; which allowed Chuck to adjust the design depending on his aesthetic preferences. In this example – because our faux wood beams merely resembled structural features – he could build his framework around the existing light fixtures.

Finally, Chuck measured – calculating the exact length and width of his corridor and planning out a false beam framework that would be perfectly symmetrical once installed. The result is incredible; simple in its elegance, and beautiful to look at.

There are other rooms in Chuck’s beautiful home that use our faux wood beams, and we’ll be covering those in later blog posts – but if you’re looking for inspiration for transforming a corridor or hallway of your own, we can’t think of a better place to start.

Jenny, a Brit living in America for 30 years, is very particular about her home. That’s why she chose our faux wooden planks to help restore it.

“There’s no such thing as a ‘Tudor home’ in America,” says Jenny Raymond, whose British accent is still crisp and clear even after 30-years of living in Princeton, New Jersey.

Chester High Street, in the UK, is lined with authentic Tudor buildings. Jenny used our faux wood planks to recreate that look.

“Tudor homes were houses built in the Tudor period – when Henry VIII or Elizabeth I were on the throne. Everything that came after that is ‘mock Tudor’ or ‘Tudorbethan’. That includes every so-called ‘Tudor’ home in America.”

Jenny is very definite about that point – possibly because she’s a history teacher at a local prep school. Nevertheless, even while she argues that they’re not ‘authentic’, she still admits that she loves the look of ‘mock’ Tudor homes; and is passionate about the small Tudor style townhouse she shares with her husband in the center of Princeton.

“I love the Tudor style because it reminds me of home,” she explains. “I used to live in a town called Chester and the High Street was lined with beautiful Tudor buildings that dated back centuries.”

Just blocks from Jenny's house, on Nassau Street in Princeton, buildings mimic the Tudor style.

Her home in America isn’t quite so venerable; being built at around the turn of the 20^th century and only later updated with wooden planking and ledgers for a Tudor style. “It still looks great.”

Recently, Jenny and her husband noticed some of the wooden planks were rotting – and they reached out to FauxWoodBeams.com to help.

“As far as we can tell, all the wooden planking on the home is original,” she explains, “which probably means it’s at least fifty or sixty years old. Just last Autumn, we noticed that some of the planks on the front of the house were peeling off the wall and crumbling.”

Jenny considered all the different alternatives to repair the damage; and eventually settled on our faux wood planks.

“Our first instinct was to stick with real wood,” she explains, “but when we asked for a sample from FauxWoodBeams.com I realized that the faux timber really did look just as good as the real thing.”

In fact, our products are a popular choice for making Tudor style homes.

Perhaps this is because our planks are even cheaper and a more durable than the real thing. Made from molded polyurethane, our faux wooden planks, beams and other products are 100% waterproof and weatherproof – which make them a great replacement for actual wood.

Jenny found that out for when they install the replacements they’d bought from fauxpanels.com.

While Jenny just repaired her home, other customers have built entire Tudor-style mansions using our faux wood beams and planks.

“My husband installed the replacement planks himself,” Jenny explained. “He first removed the rotten wood and the nails that had been used to install it. Then he cut the replacement planks to shape with a wood saw, painted them and installed them with regular construction glue and nails.”

The fit was great; but did present Jenny with one final challenge.

“Our home was decorated in the Tudor revival style pioneered the late 1800s,” Jenny explains.

The front of Jenny's mock Tudor home was detailed with authentic wood. Once painted and installed, the faux wood replacements were indistinguishable.

“That meant the original wooden planking was painted gloss black. We did the same thing with the faux wood products we bought, but that made them stand out against the faded black paint of the rest of the house!”

To complete the project, Jenny’s husband hit the stepladder once again and gave all the Tudor style planking on the front of the house a new coat of shiny black paint.

“It looks beautiful,” Jenny beams. “And, more importantly, the faux wood planks are indistinguishable from the rest of the wooden detailing.” Following a coat of paint to match the rest of the wood, Jenny’s faux wood planks now look identical to the original.

“We’re converts to the brand now,” Jenny proudly admits. “When we next have to start replacing the wooden planks, we’ll definitely be using your product.”

To see other Tudor-style homes that use our planks, check out our online sawn planks gallery – and if you’ve used our products to create your own mock-Tudor masterpiece, we’d love to share pictures with other customers. Email them to info@fauxwoodbeams.com.

We’ve shown you some truly stunning home remodeling ideas using dozens of our faux wood beams – but here’s one that’s impressive for an entirely different reason. Caroline Collin-Jacques, from Quebec, sent us pictures of how she’d used just a single ceiling beam to totally transform her dining area.

AFTER: Caroline's dining design was transformed with just a few, careful details in place; like our faux wood ceiling beam

“Less is more” is a lesson we get taught from childhood – but not many of us take it on board. There’s perhaps no better example of how true that mantra is, however, than this example of minimalism. A dining room design project that uses just a single one of our artificial timber beams to deliver a stunning transformation.

In Caroline’s beautiful home, there is a beautifully arranged serving counter separating one side of the room from the dining area. This was the focus of her redesign effort; and it paid off.

She already had one design cue to work from – a beautiful bare brick wall running up one side of the counter space. In order to keep to that timeless aesthetic, Caroline invested in a gorgeous black granite counter top to replace the white Formica and that alone revamped the entire cabinet and counter arrangement.

BEFORE: Drab white counter space and a bare ceiling made this a practical, but unexciting use of the dining arrangement.

But it was a faux timber ceiling beam that really sealed the deal. Caroline installed it running parallel to the serving counter; making it appear as if the beam was just as structural a feature as the exposed brick wall. Then, to take her design to the next level, Caroline actually bored holes in the beam to install recessed lighting.

That’s just one of the many advantages to faux wood beams over the real thing. The beam Caroline used is molded from tough and durable polyurethane; and can easily be trimmed to size with a regular wood saw. A simple attachment to a regular power drill was all Caroline needed to make the holes for the light.

The faux ceiling beam is also hollow; making it ideal for seamlessly running wiring inside. Once again, that’s an advantage faux wood has that the real stuff doesn’t.

The result was truly stunning – and something that wouldn’t have easily been achieved with a real wooden beam. It just goes to show that the old mantra is correct – less is more, as long as you use it right. One of our customer service reps even quipped: “With faux wood beams, great design doesn’t need to cost an arm and a log.”

If you have a minimalist project that you think rivals Caroline’s, we’d love to hear about it. Send your details and some pictures to info@fauxwoodbeams.com

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

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.