‘Featured Finishes’ Series: Episode 2
This week we’re heading outdoors and getting ‘woodsy’. Living in the mountains and surrounded by nature, inspiration can be found at every turn. Today’s finishing techniques of aging wood and antiquing furniture and décor is no longer confined to only wood products. Just because something doesn’t start out as wood, doesn’t mean it can’t end up feeling ‘woodsy’. Don’t throw away a piece because it isn’t the perfect material. Transform it!
This week, let’s get… Woodsy Faux Real
Tattered Sail
is anything but worn out. This beautiful finish is inspired by land and sea. The cool blues reflect the deep waters while the natural browns symbolize the trees surrounding the shores. The color palette is fully customizable, allowing for creative control on the pops of color and staining shades used. This faux finish is a combination of paints and stains. Don’t be fooled by the texture! Certain paints have the ability to thicken when mixed with specially designed activators. The starting piece could be wood or not! By applying layers of paint, stain, ‘activated’ paint with brushes and light sanding, you can create a look of gorgeous old barn wood. This technique is amazing on molding, furniture, casing and even wood slats for a full wall feature.
Hiking through an Old Growth Forest is a unique experience. The age of the trees and maturity of the landscape can be breathtaking. This finish invokes the feeling of the aging forest, resembling the tattered bark but showing its distinguished qualities. The sample shown isn’t wood at all. The finish is crafted from the same set of materials, utilizing paint, stains, ‘activated’ paint and a few tools to create the bark texture. With its versatility of color, amount of texture and stain/glazing options, this faux finish can adorn most any fixture. You could create a grand wall piece, simulating a forested feature or apply this to something small yet noticeable in a customized side table. This finish is fun to describe to admirers as the look and feel is of wood, but underneath, it could be most anything. Keep it a secret or share the truth… it’s up to you.
The Weathered look once meant ‘old and used up’, but now it is a desirable finish to complete any rustic room. This finish is more monochromatic and simplistic compared to its cousin Tattered Sail. By using a subdued color palette, this faux finish is beautiful on more ornate furniture pieces or wall art designs. By controlling the neutral feel, the details in the underlying design will drawn out, accentuating and making them the focal point. If the piece itself doesn’t have a lot of detail, a stencil applied first with a textured medium will create the base intricate design for the Weathered finish to then complete. Don’t let the moderate colors fool you. Any design with this finish will stand out and get noticed. From gently whitewashed to greyed and even deep stains, this finish is stunning on most anything.
Check out the Finish Gallery for more inspiration.
