‘Featured Finishes’ Series: Episode 6
Living in beautiful Lake Tahoe, it’s hard not to incorporate the outdoors in our designs. This week our attention is directed towards the beautiful towering giants surrounding us at every turn. Pines, Firs, Aspens… so much variety to inspire faux finishes not only for furniture but also walls & wall art! Many older homes in Tahoe have wood walls and I don’t mean fake paneling. I mean real hardboard wood walls that could be outdoor siding! These are hearty walls that deserve special treatment! Never tear down these walls and drywall. With some creative thinking, your wood walls will transform into a design focal point, truly inspired by nature. Live life among an Aging Forest, inside and out!
This week, let’s get… Lured to an Aging Forest
If you have the lucky fortune of spending time in a mature, beautiful Aging Forest, your imagination & camera will go wild! Staring high up into the canopy & touching the intricate bark patterns adorning the trunks, the forest takes your breath away. Lake Tahoe is surrounded by the most beautiful landscape, filled with trees, plant life & animals that truly fill the soul. I am inspired everyday I venture outdoors for both work & play.
The walls in our home are real hardboard wood panels, heavy and prominent. They are expensive, quality construction and staying where they are! The thought of replacing them with drywall makes me cringe and isn’t on the design plan. As these walls were once trees in a past life, I must celebrate & highlight them rather than hide or destroy them. From our recent office loft renovation filled with natural colors of greens & browns, new carpet tiles, trees & plants and the refinished Antler chandelier, faux finishing the walls to mimic an Aging Forest is the perfect compliment.
Aging Forest
is a cracked finish, both labor intensive & time consuming but well worth it! Though I used it on entire walls, this finish would be amazing and more manageable as a faux finish feature wall art design mounted to the wall and to refinish furniture, cabinets & other decor items. It isn’t that the finish is difficult, but rather has many steps that each must fully cure before moving onto the next. The sample shown consists of eight layers – Dark brown primer, Dark brown paint layer, Crackle agent, Cream paint top coat, 2 Glazing layers and final top coat for protection! Phew… that’s a list!
Don’t shy away from a more complex finish like this one. It is stunning on anything and though it may seem like a big undertaking, if you plan out the steps and timing, when you’re done, you will not be disappointed! If you really love the cracked look but are unsure how to do it, let me help you! I refer to the details of this finish as ‘rivers’ and ‘islands’. We can control how big the cracks are and the size of the color islands that separate out. You have so much control and color options as this finish is custom every time. There is no replicating an exact design. Each application will be one-of-a-kind and unique to your space. Take it on yourself or let me do the work – either way you’ll love the result!
Want more details to recreate in your home or office? Stay tuned in the coming weeks where I will detail out the finish for exactly how I created my ‘Aging Forest’.
Check out the Finish Gallery for more inspiration.
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