home sectionhome section
Specialized, customizable lawn features allow home gardeners to step into a more advanced field of gardening, with greater aesthetic possibilities. Features for advanced lawn and garden design include keyhole and mandala gardens, raised beds and edging. Numerous types of edging exist for lawns and garden beds and features, including faux wood concrete edging. Understanding this material requires an understanding of the purpose of edging and the advantages of concrete as an edging material.
Faux painting is a huge category of refinishing that usually involves painting one type of material to look like another type of material (for example, a metal door painted to look like wood). Faux finishing also encompasses decorative patterns like stripes and sponge painting. Wooden doors that have a coating of paint on them are commonly painted back to wood.
Trim work bridges gaps between surfaces while also adding beauty and architectural interest. If you are adding trim to a new project or applying it to beautify an existing space, you'll find a vast array of moldings available at lumber yards and home centers. Sometimes, however, you'll need a hard-to-find specialty molding to fit an unusual space. If you are trimming a curved archway, for instance, you'll need to know what to look for and where to find it.
Painting a subfloor allows you to use the floor without covering material such as tile or hardwood, and still have an attractive looking surface. Applying the paint though, even a light paint like white, will cover the natural grain in the wood of the subfloor. If you still want the look of wood grain throughout your floor surface, you can still have it using a graining tool. The tool, when dragged along the newly painted surface, creates faux grain lines that look much the same as actual wood grain. You can even use the process to create the appearance of…
The appearance of a door can give an impression of the room behind it before it is even opened. For a non-traditional appearance or to blend the door into a room, a faux finish may be the answer. There are multiple types of faux finishes; select one that fits the surrounding decor. A marble faux finish and a solid color with crackle glaze are two options.
Painted faux wood blinds give your home the look of durable wood window coverings without all the hassle of a specialized care routine. While wood is easily damaged by moisture or any kind, faux wood stands up well to moisture in moderate amounts. As with all blinds, regular cleaning is the best way to keep your windows free of dust, dirt and grime.
As wood ages, it fades to a pale gray and eventually turns white due to exposure and oxidation. You don't have to wait for wood to age naturally, if you like the look and want it fast. Fade any piece of furniture, craft project, deck or building to a weathered, sun-bleached white color using household ingredients. The technique works best on wood that is naturally light in color such as pine and maple.
Metal doors are so slick and non-porous that making them have a faux wood grain appearance actually can be easier than making some other materials look that way. Because metal doors won't absorb paint, brush strokes easily appear on their surface when paint is applied. Paint your metal doors with a faux wood finish to give them a warm, homey quality.
A steel door offers protection, durability and security, though isn't always the most aesthetically pleasing thing to look at. You typically find steel doors in banks, public bathrooms, government buildings and comparable places. If a steel door is becoming a bit of an eyesore in your home, painting wood grain on it is a simple way to transform it into something more decorative. It's a fairly easy project you can complete over a weekend.
Wood floors are a solid investment in any home, with their warm, classic appearance and strong organic quality. At the same time wood floors aren't perfect: they swell in humidity, crack and even splinter. Luckily, you can create the look of wood floors in your home by adding a faux finish and painting wood lines directly on your linoleum or vinyl flooring. This way you can enjoy the hues and pattern of wood but with the durability of the floors you already have.
Painting a faux wood floor is often a cheaper option than installing a real hardwood floor. If you have a creative side, it's also an option to exercise your talents as an artist. Choosing the right colors is a crucial step to making realistic faux hardwood floors. If you choose your colors poorly, you won't get the desired effect of realistic-looking wood floors.
Wood dyes can be purchased in deep, vibrant colors, enhancing your natural wood product. Applying wood dye to your small indoor furniture piece can highlight the wood's texture, emphasizing the look that drove your desire to have it in your home. But using wood dyes are not without drawbacks. And the top coat you put over the wood dye can impact your final product look, too.
Creating a faux wood grain effect on a piece of metalwork transforms the piece into something totally different. The cold, industrial clinicality of metal is no more and instead becomes the warm, homely texture of wood. The random nature of wood grain and patterning means that you really have to throw caution to the wind with this exercise and draw the patterns freehand. If you make a mistake, use the methylated spirit to strip the paint and start over.
Wood paneling can become worn over time. In addition, aging paneling may make a house look much older than it is. Whether you just want to refresh a room, or you are putting your house on the market and you want to update it, you can redo old paneling by painting it. Most paneling is not thick enough to refinish with wood stain, and that process is rather laborious. Painting the old paneling is a quick fix.
Melamine, whether in generic form or as the well-known product Formica, is a form of plastic that is molded into a number of shapes, including countertops and cabinets. This material is malleable when forming, and also mixes with artificial pigment. This provides the homeowner with a range of colors that can match or complement many color schemes.
The days of a refrigerator with a single front door and cubbyhole freezer at the top are long gone, and homeowners can be thankful that there are now many types of refrigerators. Each style has its own advantages, leaving it up to the buyer to decide what features are most important such as cost, energy efficiency, storage space and accessibility.
No fabricated material can compare to the authenticity or timeless appearance of wood. While vinyl has the potential to retain its original appearance for far longer, many homeowners would rather see weathered wood than fresh plastic. The wood vs. vinyl shutter debate largely comes down to a matter of aesthetics vs. practicality and budget.
The two main types of wood are hardwood and softwood. There are advantages and disadvantages to using each, and certain projects like home improvements call for a specific type. It's useful to know different kinds of wood and their characteristics before you decide to use them for a project.
Nothing creates a warm, inviting home quite like wood. Unfortunately, not all modern furniture is made of solid wood, and not all solid woods have that striated wood texture that looks so good and evokes quality antiques. Specialized painting techniques called "faux bois" help create the effect of real, stained wood, even on furniture made of a different material. The tools needed to create this type finish can be found at most arts and craft stores.
Dark wood paneling can make some rooms look dark and dreary. Older grooved paneling also often has damage, such as scrapes, scratches, gouges and water stains. No matter the reason for covering the paneling, a fresh coat of paint can instantly give it a new lease on life. Unsightly grooved paneling is almost unrecognizable when painted. The trick to getting a professional looking finish when painting grooved paneling is to properly prepare the surface before applying the paint.
If you want to create a wooden effect on your walls but do not want to apply real wood, paint a faux wood finish to the wall. Faux finishes allow you to simulate the look of wood at less expense. Additionally, the wall can be easily repainted when you redecorate rather than going through the effort of removing the wood and repairing the wall. The treatment is applied using a base coat that resembles the wood tone of your choice. A second, darker paint is applied very lightly and wiped down with cheesecloth, and the wood grain tool is rolled…
Melamine is a kind of plastic-coated particle board or plywood used creating cabinets. Durability is one of the reasons people decide to use melamine. The material doesn't wear easily and comes in a variety of colors and appearances, which makes it practical for use in the kitchen. If you aren't satisfied with the available colors or faux-wood look of melamine, you can paint it.
Many homes are often built with little though given to the aesthetics of the design. It is more frequently cost rather than style that determines design decisions. As a result, the exterior supporting columns on a porch or entryway are often boring square posts, or perhaps thin round posts with little articulation. By adding outdoor faux columns, the style and interest of the home are taken to the next level, which can lead to greater enjoyment of the home, as well as higher resale value when you decide to move.
Faux wood is a common alternative to using natural wood. Faux wood products can either be entirely made of plastic or they can have a plastic, laminated surface adhered on top of particle board or wood chips that have been glued together. The surface of faux wood is usually very smooth. To hold paint, the surface needs to be cleaned, sanded and primed first.
White marbleizing (or marbling) techniques help bring the elegance of white marble to furniture and walls without the equivalent cost. The artistic treatments used to create stunning likenesses of marble stone are commonly applied to furniture such as dressers and tabletops and painted onto walls. Closed-grain woods like birch, maple and pine hold up to marbleizing. Even though each faux finished project is unique, the timeless elegance depicted by the look of white marble is universally classic.
Faux--meaning false or fake--wood shutters look like wood but are not made of it. Rather, they are produced from a range of new composite and synthetic materials not available in the past, when furniture and decorative treatments were made from products either cut or mined. Because of the numerous advantages faux woods have over authentic woods, they have become popular. They can be used indoors or outdoors and are available in a wide rage of colors and styles.
The secret of painting faux wood effects lies in using the right tools for the job and knowing what wood really looks like (it’s not all knots and long grain). Duplicate or imitate the grain patterns on different wood species and paint mottles, stipples, spots and lines to make a faux wood effect successful. Obtain the equipment easily and relatively cheaply. Learn the basics to make patterns with these simple tools.
Wood faux finishes provide a range of effects with less cost than installing genuine materials. Faux finish artists use paint to create the illusion of texture and surface quality, providing endless possibilities for styles and locations that may not be possible with natural wood. This provides you optimal design control for a percentage of the cost. You may also want to try your hand at faux finishing yourself. Read on to learn how to navigate this exciting decorating option.
Faux wood is a cheaper alternative to using real wood in certain surfaces of a home or office, or in certain aspects of a room's decor. There are a number of different advantages and disadvantages when using faux wood, ranging from efficiency to general aesthetic look. It really comes down to personal preference when deciding whether or not to use this material.
Across the country, many a home experienced the faux wood paneling craze of the 1960s and 1970s. This type of paneling not only looks dated by today's standards, but most of it is very dark. If you are looking for a quick fix that is relatively inexpensive, consider painting over faux wood paneling. Surface preparation is key to a successful result.
Faux wood, which can be made from any number of materials, is an alternative to real wood in many different applications. Faux wood blinds, veneers and paneling are all options for the home and offer certain advantages and disadvantages when compared to natural wood.
Whitewashing used to include the use of caustic lime to corrode the top layer of wood, giving it a rustic, chalky appearance. These days, we don't have to be that harsh to create whitewash finishes. You can even whitewash faux wood, if you do the proper amount of preparation. Whitewashing faux wood is simple, whether you are lightening an entire room or one small piece of furniture.
Faux wood is a manufactured material made up of products, veneers and adhesives, that looks like real wood. As it is a lot less expensive, more people are opting for faux wood floors. These can be painted over with designs that give them a really expensive and interesting look, adding glamour to a room. Painting them is not that difficult.
There are two ways to restore white-painted furniture back to a look of unpainted wood. The first option is to strip the white paint and reveal the natural wood underneath. But this is not always practical or desirable, especially if the furniture piece is made from inferior materials such as particle board with a veneer. In that case, you can repaint the item "back to natural" using faux wood painting techniques and tools.
When a household's television is upgraded to a thin, wall-hugging HDTV, entertainment centers find new uses around the home. Entertainment units are regularly repurposed for storage, decoration and other unconventional uses. However, in order to make an old entertainment unit fit into a modern decor, painting is often a must. Unfortunately, many people don't know how to properly paint an entertainment center, but the process is surprisingly straightforward given the right tools and know-how. If you follow the right steps, you can repaint that old entertainment unit for continued use around your contemporary household space.
Faux wood grain is sometimes necessary when the material you are working with isn't wood, but it is in close association with other wood elements and it needs to blend in. Achieving a wood look is easier than you think. In some ways creating wood grain is easier than painting with a brush. After all, wood grain is natural and imperfect so if you make a slight mistake it can actually make your project look better.
Painting furniture, doors and walls to look like wood is not as difficult as you might think. Faux wood is a beautiful look that can add luxury to your home without the cost. It's easy: All you need are a few materials, some time and maybe a little practice.
If you're looking for the timeless beauty of hardwood floors, but don't want to shell out all the cash for the real thing, laminate faux wood is a good way to go. You'll get will be a beautiful floor that looks like real wood (it's actually a photograph of real wood) and it requires less upkeep than real hardwood floors. And it's quite simple to install yourself. Faux wood flooring looks great in any room in your house since it can be dressed up or down, depending on the theme of the room. They're also great in rental homes, and…
Ceilings do not have to be plain, painted or textured drywall. There are varieties of ceiling panels that can bring attention to the ceiling. Different materials and styles can help create a room that is modern, rustic or elegant. There are options of heated panels or those that provide sound barriers. Depending on your needs and your overall style, you can find the perfect fit for any décor.
Painting faux wood can be a great way to bring a natural look into an area. It is also an inexpensive alternative to replacing the existing materials of your room, office or other space with real wood. The trick is to make the wood finish look as realistic as possible. One of the best ways to do this is with something you wouldn't normally consider part of painting: a potato. Using some basic paints, a carved potato and a little elbow grease you will soon be well on your way to creating a realistic and convincing faux wood look on…
Many people have carpeting or flooring down that they don't care for, but are unable to change. The answer to this dilemma is to finish the subfloor. It's a simple and inexpensive solution that can last years if you need it to, and will have no effect on any changes you decide to make later. Painting your subfloor to look like wood is easy.
