Creative Faux Panels

It’s no secret that our wall coverings and siding look great – often better than the real thing. That’s certainly what we hear from our customers, like Jared; who wrote “no one knows they’re not the real thing!” Dean, another customer, boasted: “Most people don’t realize that it is NOT real stone until they are either told or investigate with touch.”

But what’s the secret to our faux panels and siding? How do we get them looking so breathtakingly realistic?

Oxford panels are molded directly from real brick, stone and wood

The first step is to find real brick, stone, wood and timber to copy from. We start with truly beautiful examples of the material we want to copy, and then use state-of-the-art techniques to capture every intricate detail and texture perfectly: persevering them forever in very durable, high-density polymer.

Our techniques allow for an unprecedented level of detailing; right down to pits and chinks in each individual brick and stone. Our customers aren’t exaggerating when they say it’s almost impossible to tell them apart from the ‘real thing’ by looks alone.

Following molding, we color them in a variety of natural-looking shades that are practically impervious to color degradation. This allows you to keep exactly the same color and texture no matter how many square feet you intend to cover – something that’s not always possible or practical when using real stone or wood.

It’s this painstaking production process that results in the incredible realism of our wall panels – practically indistinguishable from the ‘real thing.’ What does set them apart, however, is their practicality.

Norwich panels are carefully colored to resemble authentic stone or wood

Ease of installation and affordability mean you can bring the classic elegance of stone, brick or wood to parts of your home you could never do with ‘real’ wood or stone. In addition, our panels are completely impervious to the elements – something that real wood paneling, and even some brick or stone, isn’t.

This gives you immense flexibility in where to install them – from the exterior of your home to a shower, bathroom or basement. To added piece of mind, our Oxford and Norwich lines can be purchased in Fire Rated (other lines can be Class A fire rated as well, depending on the volume you’re purchasing.)

So it’s worth remembering that our faux panels don’t just look ‘as good as the real thing.’ In many ways, they’re actually superior.

New styles, new colors, new projects, oh my! It was a year of creative abundance and renewal in all things Faux, and as the very successful year of 2010 winds down, we can only look forward to what’s in store for us and our customers’ homes and projects in the upcoming year. There’s so much that happened, it’s hard to encapsulate – but here’s a snapshot of what was a very merry year of Faux Panels.

New Lines and Styles

	Cambridge Panels
	Carlton Fieldstone
	Nailon Stone Wall Siding
	Raised Grain Panels
	Wellington River Rock Panels
	Windsor Random Rock Mailbox
	Woodland Panels
	Universal Accessories

New Colors for Old Favorites

New color choices were added to the ever-popular Carlton and Norwich lines, making it even easier to find the right faux panels for your design project, indoors or out. Harvest, Desert Sky, and Smoke are now available on Carlton’s Cobblestone, Ledgestone, and Castle Rock styles, while Norwich’s Colorado Stacked Stone is now available in Toasted Vanilla.

Ledgestone in Harvest

Cobblestone in Desert Sky

Castle Rock in Smoke

Stacked Stone in Toasted Vanilla

To see all the new customer projects, head over to our photo gallery and testimonials pages which just keep getting bigger! We hope the best for you in 2011 and can’t wait to see what you can accomplish with Faux Panels this year.

We write a lot here about faux brick and stone veneer, but let’s not forget faux wood panels. And while we’re at it, let’s not forget other coordinating faux wood materials like beams and corbels — which you can find at our sister site FauxWoodBeams.com.

Two of our newest panels are Woodland and Raised Grain, and they’re each part of a larger family of faux products. The Woodland family includes custom beams, corbels and mantels. The Raised Grain family includes beams, corbels and scrolled-end beams.
When you combine flat panels with solid beams and accessories in a single project, you can get really amazing results. The photo shows what one of our customers did with Raised Grain panels and beams to transform a high ceiling into an architectural feature that defines the entire room.

So today’s tip is simple: When you’re thinking about using faux panels for your project, think beyond the flat stuff. Think about solid, three-dimensional stuff like beams, corbels and mantels as well.

As we mentioned in our April 2nd post, our faux wood panels were featured on the April 4th episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover – building a new home for the Beach family

The  Rustic Barn Wood panels were used to create wainscoting in the son’s “Tree Fort Room”. Browse through the Tree Fort room photos and take a peek at the virtual tour of the finished house – you’ll see our faux wood panels, together with Timber Planks from our sister company, Faux Wood Beams, that helped create this fanciful, “Boys Only!” inspired room.

Click on the image to see more
photos of the Tree Fort Room

Click on the image to the take the
Beach Family house tour