French Doors onto Garden The doors, woodwork,and garden are all painted on a flat wall. This was designed to mimic the opposite wall of windows and balance the space. Notice the vent in the lower left of the photo. The room was first finished in a simple 2-color faux finish. Contact Me about This Picture

The challenge in this family room was an incredibly high asymmetrical vaulted ceiling, and a wall of windows that let in almost too much light. The homeowners wanted the room to feel more intimate, keeping the focal point at a manageable height. The first step was a faux finish in a color that was complementary to the existing décor, but interesting and warm. It also needed to be simple, because the amount of painted wall could have been overwhelming. We created a basic two-color finish  which adds some textural interest to the space without dominating the room. The bonus here is that because the finish is simple and painted in only two colors, it is the most inexpensive finish we offer. This was one of our earliest uses of scaffolding to do the faux finish, and we found that it’s not as complicated as we had feared. Most rental companies can help with this, and explain how to use it.

We did a painting of a small window near the top of the highest wall (around 22’) to draw some attention to the dramatic height. The mural was then designed to mimic the window side of the room, using the same multi-pane effect and faux wood trim in the same proportions to create balance, and a counterpoint to the asymmetry of the ceiling line. The country garden painting was an easy choice, because it created an open feeling, and brought some color to the space, again without overwhelming the homeowners’ carefully chosen furniture and accessories. The colors are fairly muted, so they can blend in with any decorating changes that might be made, like throw pillows or flower arrangements. The trompe l’oeil effect of the faux woodwork is really fun and unexpected.

It can be difficult to look at the photo and tell what is painted and what is real, but if you find the two air conditioning vents to the left of the French doors, it helps you to see what’s happening here.  Also note the shadows painted on the woodwork, creating an even greater 3-dimensional effect. The painted brass hardware on the door, and door handles, match those in the rest of the house.