Creative Faux Panels

Our faux stone decorative columns make a great addition to a porch or garden; but are popular with customers for another purpose, too – as a good looking mailbox post!

Come rain or snow, our faux stone mailbox columns can weather it

Soggy letters, waterlogged packages and dripping envelopes are the last thing you want to find in your mailbox – which is why many homeowners want to invest in a letter depository that lives up to the unofficial creed of the United States Postal Service; vulnerable to neither “snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night.”

A popular choice is a  faux stone mailbox post. Molded from the same patterns as our popular panels, these tough and durable columns feature a built-in mailbox and a panel to display your house number or name.

They’re a great option if you have existing faux panels on the exterior of your home, because you can perfectly match the pattern of your panels or siding with your new mailbox; whether that’s dry stack, random rock or river rock. It creates instant uniformity; and the impression that your mailbox has been standing proud just as long as your home has.

These mailboxes differ from our regular columns in a couple of subtle, but important ways.

For a start, they feature a hinged mailbox built right into the column; for a safe and secure place for your mail man to leave your letters without them getting blown away, or soaked by rain.

Secondly, a large flat space underneath the mailbox gives you the flexibility to add your own house name or number. You can screw regular numbers straight into the tough, durable polyurethane.

And finally, the columns feature a subtle solar panel on the roof; lighting up the column at night so guests will be able to see your house number clearly when they come calling (and your mailman will be able to find your box even on his early morning rounds.)

You can install them easily over any standard 4" x 4" fencepost

These mailbox columns are easy to install. They’re designed to fit over a standard 4” x 4” fencepost, which you can cement into the ground for stability. Screw the base assembly onto a bottom ring, which drops straight over the fencepost, and you’re in business. Here you can find easy-to-follow instructions for installing our mailboxes.

One final advantage? In addition to being infinitely cheaper than building your own real stone version, these mailbox posts are built to federal crash regulations. That can actually lower your insurance liability, as each mailbox is less likely to cause injury or damage if somebody drives into it.

Take a look at some of the pictures from our galleries page and see for yourself how great they look.

DIY Network’s Money Hunters show always gives co-host and contractor Matt Blashaw a challenge; but in a recent garage makeover episode, he managed to stay within his deadline and his budget thanks to our Windsor Ledgestone paneling.

DIY Network's Matt Blashaw saw an opportunity to save money and add style to this garage makeover.

The idea behind DIY Network’s Money Hunters is simple – home remodeling projects intended to make more than their cost back in elevated property value. For hosts Matt Blashaw and Deanne Bell, that’s not always an easy task to accomplish; especially with home prices hovering at some of their lowest levels for years.

Which is why Matt was quick to turn to our faux stone paneling when it came to a recent challenge: The task was to turn a dank garage into a welcoming rec room – and do it for a third of the budget most contractors would charge. With just $25,000 to spend, Matt’s plans of adding a stacked stone accent wall should have been out of the question – but our panels made achieving that iconic look affordable.

“Look like stone? It does to me. But heavy like stone? No.” Matt picked our Windsor Ledgestone Panels because their low height made them easy and versatile for interior projects. “They’re made of high density polyurethane foam – the same stuff you see in car bumpers, dashboards… It’s durable stuff.”

“They look just like the real thing, and the best part about it is that they’re easy to install.” Matt was able to cut the panels to size easily, with a regular miter saw, and then install them with regular deck screws.

“They’re so easy to install,” he admits, “I feel bad. The cameraman is working harder than I am.”

Money Hunters ended up spending $2,000 on the faux stone paneling they used in the project – and compared that to a minimum of $6,000 for a real stone accent wall; not to mention the cost of hiring a mason to install it.

“That’s a steal,” Matt admits.

Check out the transformation yourself in the video below – and see our products featured in other home makeover shows on our videos and TV show page.

In Gillette, Wyoming, one FauxPanels.com customer wanted to make her home stand out from the crowd. Here’s how she did it with fake stone exterior siding.

Sherry Samuels, from Wyoming, loves the secluded street she lives on – with its quiet neighbors and cute little ranch homes. But while the lifestyle is great, the rows of identical houses don’t make for much variety.

Ledgestone exterior siding added a beautiful new dimension to Sherry's home.

Which is why Sherry decided to make her home stand out from the crowd; with our Carlton Ledgestone Faux Panels. She used them to replace the same-old, cookie-cutter exterior siding that every other house on her block used; and the results look incredible.

“The front of the house looks so terrific,” Sherry enthusiastically told us, sending in pictures of her home, and the neighbor’s houses for comparison. “I have gotten so many compliments!”

As we discussed before, pre-fab and modular homes make a great match for fake stone panels and the same design aspects that make those properties are shared with the ranches in Sherry’s neighborhood.

For instance, Sherry trimmed the panels to line the siding and wainscoting around the base of her porch – easy enough to accomplish as the Carlton panels are molded from durable polyurethane that can easily be cut to size with a standard wood saw.

Neighboring houses show what a contrast the new panels make.

The front of the home also features Ledgestone panels – which Sherry trimmed to size to suit the front door and large window. As a final detail, she attached contrasting window panels that finish the look and help give the seamless impression of real stonework siding.

“I’ve enclosed pictures of other houses in my street. These are my neighbors and the houses shown look just as mine did before I installed the panels.”

As a before and after, the pictures show what a dramatic improvement adding the panels made to Sherry’s house; and they whetted her appetite for further projects.

“Next spring we may finish and do the front gable,” she writes. Hopefully she’ll send us pictures!

Back in February, we blogged about how companies were able to create a truly incredible – and portable – trade show display using our stone veneer panels. Today, we’ll check out one Midwest wholesale company that’s taken that concept to a whole new level.

Willoway Nurseries have created a portable nursery garden as their trade show display

Willoway Nurseries are an Ohio based wholesale nursery that carry over 2,000 different plant varieties; all offered within an easy day’s drive of half the U.S. population.

For over half a century, they’ve provided some of the country’s most beautiful plants and shrubs to florists and stores across the country; and continue to seek out new business by attending trade shows across America.

Yet wherever the Willoway trade show team goes, they’ve found a way to make sure they bring a little piece of home with them. Their stunning portable trade show display looks as impressive and permanent as any garden center gateway; with sturdy brick columns and rustic cobblestone walls.

Willoway managed to achieve this with two types of our faux stone panels. For the cobblestone walls and flowerbeds, they used Carleton Cobblestone faux stone panels in beautiful Summer Tan.

For the towering columns that create the structure of their display, they used matching Carlton Brick Columns.

Stone veneer panels and columns have enabled them to create a stunning display that's entirely portable

The result, as you can see from these pictures, is impressive. Even more so is the fact that this sturdy structure can be dismantled quickly and easily and taken from one trade show to the next; something that would be impossible with real stone materials.

Check out our gallery of other trade show displays to see how other companies have used our products to create conversation-worthy showpieces – and if you’re a business owner yourself, make sure to send in photos of your faux panel trade show displays to info@fauxpanels.com. We’d love to feature them here.

Chic and timeless, red brick is a great building material for adding foundation and flair to your design projects; and FauxPanels.com has a new selection of products that perfectly capture that timeless look.

Red brick is one of the most iconic design materials in Chicago

During America’s golden ages of construction – in the late 19^th century, the “roaring twenties” and following World War II – huge quantities of red brick were used to build towering structures in major cities across America.

Perhaps nowhere was the use of red brick more prevalent than the Windy City, Chicago; where brick offered the perfect insulation against the bitter Illinois winters.

Today, as glass and steel become the building materials of choice, a thriving business in reclaiming red brick from demolished buildings has emerged; re-purposing these reclaimed building materials for use in the home, garden and for interior design.

The appeal of reclaimed brick is obvious. Beautifully imperfect – with color and texture earned through decades of exposure to the sun, wind and rain – reclaimed brick adds an instant air of timeless solidity to any surface it’s used on.

However, even though this brick is “reclaimed”, it remains a fairly expensive material to use and is labor-intensive to install correctly. Some walls may even need to be reinforced to mount reclaimed brick because of its weight.

That’s why FauxPanels.com recently added some great new products to the lineup intended to offer an affordable, easy-to-use alternative to reclaimed brick.

Their two new Regency panel designs, Old Chicago Brick and Regency Contempo, are both inspired by the beautiful brick surfaces found in historic American cities like Chicago. The brick veneer panels are stunningly realistic, because each design was molded from the authentic brick face itself; perfectly capturing every detail in tough, light and durable molded polyurethane.

Regency Old Chicago Brick perfectly captures the look and feel of reclaimed brick

These panels even offer an improvement on the authentic; that they’re are available in a variety of intricately rendered colors and hues perfectly matching whatever project you intend to use them for. You can also order them Class A Fire Rated, which makes them ideal for use as fireplace surrounds and on chimneys.

We’re already receiving before and after pictures of home design projects our customers have accomplished using our new Regency panels – keep checking back with Creative Faux Panels and we’ll post them soon. In the meantime, if you decide to add a little old Americana to your interior or exterior walls with our new Regency brick panels, don’t hesitate to send us all the details, at info@fauxpanels.com.

Millions of Americans were hit hard by Hurricane Irene last weekend; with some suffering devastating damage to their homes and properties.

Stone veneer panels are great for installing in a finished basement; even one prone to flooding.

Fortunately, many of us on the east coast escaped with relatively minor damage; losing shingles, water in the basement and other inconveniences that remind us of just how lucky we were.

While repairing roofing and cleaning out a flooded basement is a pain, many turn the inconvenience into an opportunity; turning simple repair and maintenance work into an excuse to start, or finish, a home remodeling project they’ve been putting off for a while.

Our faux panels, exterior siding and other faux stone, brick and wood products are great tools for making the most of these remodeling projects, as they’re affordable, easy to install and 100% waterproof; which is especially relevant as many of us are being forced to reevaluate just how vulnerable our homes are to water.

Even better, if a post-flood home design project is on the “to-do” list, this Labor Day you can instantly save 5% when you order faux panels online by using a special Labor Day sale coupon FauxPanels.com has created.

Labor Day sale coupon

It’s easy to use. Just shop for what you want online, at fauxpanels.com, and then enter the Labor Day sale code at checkout – SMP11.

This savings code is valid throughout September 5, 2011 – and must be used at the time of purchase and cannot be combined with any other savings or sale offer.

Let us know what you buy – and how you use them! And if you send in before and after photos to info@fauxpanels.com, we might even ask to use them on our blog!

See how Jessica transformed her fireplace with our stone veneer paneling.

“Our boring living room was begging for a focal point,” admits New Jersey resident Jessica St. Clair, writing to fauxpanels.com with details of her fireplace makeover project. “It was your faux panels that helped bring my vision to life!”

Jessica’s room lacked a focal point until she added stone veneer panels

The before and after photos reveal Jessica’s dilemma: Although beautifully decorated, with stunning terracotta walls and contrasting furniture, her room lacked a definitive focus point.

Her answer was a timeless addition that has helped bring focus to rooms for centuries: An electric fireplace.

Jessica chose a beautiful all-electric model built into a dark wood surround mantel; which gave the instant impression of a real log fire with fixture. The secret to completing that look, though, was the use of our stone veneer panels.

“With a quick rearrange of furniture and the addition of the electric fireplace, beautifully set off by a tall faux river rock chimney, our living room now boasts character and style.”

Jessica created the faux rock wall with a single column of Oxford Large River Stone veneer panels with Standard Ends. Using wooden caps on either end, she gave the instant appearance of a real stone chimney rising from wooden mantel to ceiling; and unlike using real stone, it was a breeze to install.

“The material arrived promptly, was easy to use, and made our weekend project a great experience!”

Our Oxford River Rock panels instantly gave a chimney look to a modern home

Proof once again that our faux panels often offer design possibilities that real stone and brick wouldn’t, Jessica finished off her chimney design with the addition of classical American five pointed stars and a flat-screen TV; mounted straight through the panels onto the wall behind. Jessica also had the option of mounting pictures on the panels. Learn how to do that here.

How does she feel about the results?

“I’m so pleased with the last project,” she admits. “I’m already looking forward to the next. I will be sure to shop fauxpanels.com again! Thanks for a great product and offering so many fantastic styles to choose from!”

If the results are as impressive as her fireplace makeover, we hope Jessica will be sending us pictures of whatever she gets up to next, too.

Homeowners love our decorative stone panels because they perfectly recreate the look of stone, rock or brick without the impracticality or cost. Unsurprisingly, TV and movie companies love our wall panels for the exact same reason.

In fact, a number of TV shows and film companies have made use of our faux panels to create set and set design projects that capture the look of stone or wood, without having to use the real materials.

For example, in this photo you can see an intricately detailed Parisian apartment, created by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition using our Cambridge White Brick panels. Paired with French artwork and accessories, it’s difficult not to believe that you’re stepping into a boulevard in Montmartre when you step beyond the doorway.

Brick veneer panels brought Paris to life

TV shows like Extreme Makeover have also used our products to turn their imaginative visions into reality. Here is one of their best-known home transformations – a “pirate” bedroom for kids created using our Oxford Rustic Barnyard Brown panels.

Shiver me faux timber panels!

As we’ve mentioned before, Renaissance Faire enthusiasts also love our decorative stone panels; using them to enhance their own homes, or create authentic looking medieval castles and keeps as a backdrop to their pageantry at Renaissance events all across the country.

Decorative stone is popular with renn faire designers

And even if you’re not producing a TV show or putting on a renaissance faire, you can still take something away from seeing these creative uses of our faux panels. The real benefit of our artificial wood and decorative stone panels is that their application is really only limited by your imagination. What could you come up with?

For some great examples of how customers have used our panels to create home improvement projects worthy of an Oscar, check out some of the other entries in the Creative Faux Panels blog. One of our favorites is a fairytale bedroom, created by John with our Wellington River Rock panels.

Stone veneer panels fit for a princess?

If you’ve used our faux panels in an especially imaginative or unexpected way, we’d love to see it. Send pictures of info@fauxpanels.com and we might even showcase them here.

Mobile homes and prefab houses are an affordable and practical way to live; but not always the most beautiful. Our faux stone panels used as mobile home skirting or in other applications can help give any trailer or prefab a unique and stylish look, and offer other practical benefits people might not have though of before.

Faux stone panels instantly transform prefab or mobile homes.

The eponymous prefab started to become popular in the United States following World War II, when returning soldiers sought to capitalize on the “G.I. Bill” to find their own slice of the American dream.

Produced cheaply and quickly in factories, these prefabricated and modular homes are normally transported to their final destination by flatbed truck; and then installed on foundations similar to regular homes.

Others are transported as trailers, with the wheels removed when they arrive at their installation site.

These days, modern building materials and standards make most prefab houses match up to regular building codes; which is why, despite being called “trailers” or “mobile” homes, only about 5% of them are ever moved after installation.

Faux stone or rock veneer panels are quick and easy to install

Faux stone panels can be used in several ways to enhance the exterior of a modular or prefabricated home; but the most common option is installing them as skirting or wainscoting.

This is a great way to cover any gap between the ground and the lower corner of a mobile home or prefab; plus has the added benefit of keeping animals, insects and pests out.

There are many stone and rock veneer panel options to choose from; but we recommend options that resemble brick or stacked stone; giving the impression that the prefab is built on a solid rock or stone foundation.

This subtle detail can often totally transform the appearance of a trailer or prefab; giving it a unique look which is a benefit amongst homes that notoriously “all look the same.”

Faux stone panels also have the advantage of being molded from weatherproof, light and durable polyurethane; making them tough and resistant to the elements.

Unlike a real stacked stone or brick foundation, installing stone veneer panels is a quick and simple job; accomplished with nothing more than a regular wood saw, caulk and screws.  Our  panels are also highly affordable; another good match for beautifying a modular home or trailer.

Check out the pictures we’ve posted of faux stone panels that were used in past customers’ projects. If you’ve used our panels on your own trailer or mobile home, we’d love to see pictures – email them to info@fauxpanels.com.

Check out how Mike and Chris Grace used our best selling Wellington Dry Stack  decorative stone panels in Tierra Gold to create a stunning final result for their fireplace remodeling project.

Mike and Chris' fireplace was set against an angled wall; making it ideal for a unique decorative stone panel treatment

“Our fireplace is on an angled wall all by itself,” wrote Mike Grace, when he sent in before and after pictures of his recent faux panel design project, “so we thought it lent itself naturally to a unique treatment.”

“We originally thought about simply painting it a different color, but then decided brick or stone would have a much greater visual impact.”

The problem, of course, was that brick and stone are not the easiest or most affordable materials to work with; especially inside.

“Since we were working on an inside wall, we were concerned about the weight of installing natural stone. This would have required more work and more money.”

This is why the Graces eventually considered other options: “We chose your decorative stone panels for several reasons, but the most important was simply ease-of-use.”

Unlike using real stone, which would have to be painstakingly hand laid and mortared, the Wellington Dry Stack panels that Michael and Chris chose could be installed on their interior wall with nothing more than trim head screws.

“We also liked the huge variety of finishes and colors there are to choose from with faux stone panels,” Mike admits — explaining that he and Chris bought samples to agree on texture and color before installation.

“The samples we were able to order ahead of time really helped us make the decision – and they’re why we’re still very happy about it!”

Installation of the fireplace surround was straightforward:

“We laid three or four of the panels out on the floor first, to make sure we liked the look before we hung it on the wall. Then we installed them using screws, just like the installation instructions recommend.”

Mike has some great tips for other people considering using decorative stone panels:

The combination of decorative stone and a faux wood mantel is breathtaking

“Make sure to put the installation screws in an inconspicuous location so they won’t be noticeable.”

The texture of the Wellington Dry Stack makes it easy to hide the screws beneath the crags and nooks of the panel; but you can touch them up with caulk if they’re too visible.

“Also, it helps to stagger each row of panels so you don’t have a telltale joint that’s really noticeable.” A final tip? “Purchase the matching paint. We used it to touch-up the outside edges where we had to cut the panels to fit our fireplace.”

The end results are really amazing – including the use of a faux wood mantel to complete the project. Mike and Chris are thrilled:

“Friends and family have told us that it has totally transformed our room and it looks much more intimate and cozy.”

Do you agree? Let us know – and also send in your own pictures if you’ve used our faux stone panels or artificial rock panels to finish off your own fireplace project.