Creative Faux Panels

A little tradition is starting here at the Faux Panels blog. Most of the photos of finished projects that are sent by our customers are beautiful, but once in awhile I see one that particularly tickles me as an ingenious use of the paneling.

This week the “Fauxny Award” is given to this striking patio couch, trimmed with Oxford Stacked Stone panels in Light Tan. The outdoor sofa-style seat was created by the Featherlyte Outdoor Furniture Company of Knoxville, TN and is a beautiful addition to our Spring Spruce-Up series.

This isn’t your boring old patio furniture. The paneling blends in nicely with the surrounding scenery and looks very cool and sophisticated. I can just see myself laying out on a fine spring day with a good book, the envy of my neighbors as they covet my patio seat. Well done!

It’s been a beautiful, sunny week. The daffodils and crocuses are all starting to peek out and the birds are getting louder every day. Nothing is better than all these sights and sounds – promising longer days spent in the garden or backyard.

These kinds of days really get me pumped up with ideas on how to get the outside of the house ready to enjoy spring and the summer to come. After being cooped up in the house all winter, I’m seriously ready for some fresh air!

With work and kids and day-to-day life, it’s amazing how fast your yard can start to look neglected. For anyone who owns a home, the house’s exterior is a constant work-in-progress, especially if you live in a four-season area. Raking, weeding and lawn mowing are the necessary evils – but it’s always nice to mix it up with a fun DIY project in addition to the more boring maintenance jobs.

Beautiful idea! A water/rock fountain installed in a patio area, surrounded by
Regency Random Rock faux paneling.

Little garden ponds or fountains can add a really nice accent to your garden, deck or porch – whether you’re aiming for that serene, Zen feel of a still-water pond, or prefer the pleasant murmur of water trickling out of a fountain.

Before you start, make sure to pick the right location – especially if you’re going for the pond. You don’t want to position it right under a tree and then spend the entire summer picking out leaves or other debris.

Another thing you may want to consider for your pond is adding some fish. A bunch of goldfish or koi swimming around can create a charming effect. Goldfish in particular can keep the mosquito population down – a nice bonus especially when you’re hosting an outdoor dinner party. If you decide to add fish, you may want to consider adding a water pump. Moving water provides more oxygen than still water.

If you’ve decided on a fountain, try putting some rocks on the bottom, as in the picture shown above. The water hitting them will make an even nicer trickle-y noise, and acclimatize the fountain to the surrounding nature. Store-bought rock in the same color can create a harmonious, uniform look. If you prefer a more rustic appearance and don’t want to spend the money, walk along the local shoreline or in the nearby woods with a sand bucket. After a few evening strolls, you’ll accumulate a nice collection of multi-colored stones of different shapes and sizes.

For another water-inspired idea, visit our post “And the Fauxny Award Goes To…”

Happy Spring!

Adding on to your house gives you more storage and living space while improving the value of your home. Anyone who has undertaken this kind of project knows that making the addition’s exterior blend with the rest of the house is super important. Otherwise you’ll end up with a patchwork monstrosity that will have your friends calling Ty Pennington and his crew for an Extreme Makeover rescue. Don’t be a DIY disaster!

Things to consider before you begin your addition:

• The materials on your current home’s exterior may no longer be available or prove too costly, especially on older homes. You may need to get creative on finding a similar-looking alternative.

• Your home’s current siding has most likely taken a beating over the years from various types of weather and climate. Keep this in mind when you’re selecting a color for the addition. Nice and bright probably won’t mesh well.

• There may be sections of the addition that are trickier to side than others. Be certain when choosing your materials that it can be relatively easy to install in ALL areas.

A good example of this conundrum is our customer’s addition to his existing brick building. According to Paul Reeves from Bethel, OH, installing real brick or rock in the space above the roof of the addition would have been logistically difficult. I would agree that schlepping heavy bricks or rock up a ladder and installing them above that sloped roof top would be precarious at best, not to mention costly.

Before

Luckily Paul was able to find a solution with forty-two of our Random Rock Potomac faux panels. Take a look at the final result photos below. We think they look great!

After - Close Up View

After - Full View

Many of us are looking forward to leaving the doldrums of winter behind and lifting our faces up to the promise of spring. With the new season comes inspiration for new design projects. What place is better to start than your own home?

Norwich Colorado Stacked Stone Desert Sand

The list of remodeling ideas in your mind’s eye can sometimes be overwhelming. Should we rescue the kitchen from its tacky 1970′s wallpaper and formica? Does the fireplace look crumbly and uninspired? How can I make the patio be more inviting for my guests?

We’re excited for spring’s arrival and to see all the new ideas and projects our customers come up with. To help them on their quest, we’ve stocked up on some new panel styles from the Norwich line. As we’ve said before, seeing homeowners’ final results with our paneling is the best part of the job.

We have samples of all the Norwich styles and colors to help pick out the best one for you. Go get some spring in your step…and your walls.

One of FauxPanel’s recent customers converted their attic into a romantic getaway using light tan stacked stone faux panels to cover the gas fireplace they installed. Take a look at their before & after pictures and get inspired!

Is your attic space a catch-all for those things you only use once a year or just can’t bear to part with?

Like Terry, consider affordably adding another usable room to your house by converting the attic – especially if you have a garage or basement that can house all your must-keep items.

A converted attic can serve as a guest bedroom, a playroom for the kids, a cool office space – the sky’s the limit. This can relieve the burden of having your kid’s toys strewn all over the living room, your spouse’s computer cables and paperwork populating the kitchen table, or your visiting in-laws camping out on the sofa.

The best part about converting an attic is that most do-it-yourselfers can complete most or all of the work themselves, relatively quickly and inexpensively in comparison to adding a room to your own from scratch.

Some issues to consider before you start are local building department codes/permits needed, wiring requirements, heating and cooling, insulation and stair access. You also want to ensure that the roof framing allows for enough usable space, and that the existing floor is strong enough to hold furniture and people.

While you’ll need to do some further research before you begin your attic remodeling project, here are a few tips to help you along the way:

• Choose flooring that is really easy to clean, such as a nice-looking laminate. This is especially important if the attic will be serving as a playroom – the last thing you want is to be dragging that big vacuum up the attic stairs every day.

• Make sure the attic is well insulated. This will keep it warm in the winter and prevent it from becoming sweltering in the summer. This is important not only for the attic itself but for the whole house. The attic is one of the house’s biggest culprits for energy loss.

• Buy some unfinished bookshelves to install within the eaves. This will save you loads of storage space and will look cool too!

• Install a couple of skylights. They’ll let a lot of light into your dark attic and will also help warm the room on sunny days. Add a small portable space heater for those really cold days.

• If you want the attic to double as a guest room and a playroom – try putting in a trundle bed. This will save space and can act both as a bed and a sofa for the kids to sit on.

Did you catch us on the recent episode of Curb Appeal, the home remodeling show on HGTV? It featured the home of John and Leann Rambeau, who chose to remodel their garage with our faux brick paneling.

We drove the panels down to Bethesda, MD, from our warehouse on Long Island, NY. (Road trip!) Producer David Sibila and the production crew were great. The host, Bill Duggan, wasn’t actually there for the taping – maybe that’s why I got a little camera time. In the video you can see me offloading the panels and showing Leann how they look up on the wall.

So why did they choose FauxPanels.com? The show lets the homeowners select the materials they want for the project. Leann found us on the internet and picked out our red faux brick paneling. They decided to paint it white to match their house – although these days we have a white brick panel available.

The interesting thing about the homeowner’s garage was that it was only 6-8 feet deep, so it couldn’t actually fit a car. They removed the garage door to make it into a nice outdoor alcove. They wanted it to blend in with the rest of house’s white brick exterior – hence the painted faux paneling.

After a long day of filming and paneling, I headed home with my empty van – leaving the homeowners happy and excited about their new converted alcove. Of course, it then took over a year for the episode to air on TV – but the best faux things in life are worth waiting for.