Faux Painted Heating Vent on Slate

Faux Painted Outlet Covers

Faux Marble Pillars

The word “faux” means “false” in French and faux painting consists of an array of tools, techniques and materials used by painters to make painted surfaces appear to be made of something they are not. The techniques of faux painting have been developed over millennia of human history. Over time, the driving force behind the development of faux finishing has been the cost of the real materials or their unavailability/scarcity at that point in time. People resorted to paints to replicate nature’s master touch.

What are some of the materials faux painters have imitated in the past? The list is far too long to enumerate here. Here are some: marbles, wood species, skins like leather, precious stone like Lapis, stone, brick etc. For instance, Venetian plaster was developed to imitate the look and feel of marble. Egyptians invented gilding out of their love of gold and their passion to have things look like they were made of solid gold. Romans got into the act as well and gilded their walls and ceilings.

What are surfaces in today’s residences that sometime beg to be made less conspicuous”? Those are good candidates for faux painting. As shown in our picture, we faux painted heating vents on slate flooring. Heating vents are often found on marble floor surfaces, especially in bathrooms and foyers. Sometime, they are also incorporated into baseboards and can be grained to match the surrounding wood color. As shown by the other picture, outlet covers are also good candidates for faux finishing, especially on the stone or marble backsplash of kitchens.

Pillars, moldings and niches present the opposite opportunity: they beg to be made more evident! Marble or stone faux finishes add richness and class to those surfaces and any room they in. Before having any faux painting done in your house, make sure the painting contractor you hire prepares a sample for your approval. This year marks our twenty-fifth anniversary as a painting and decorating company in the Chicago area. It has been a pleasure to disguise and embellish so many things over the years!

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The French word “faux” means false or not real. Faux painting examples can be found all the way into antiquity. Scarcity of raw materials, the cost of the real goods and practical considerations were the motivating factors behind the flourishing of faux finishes through time.

Faux-Painted Limestone Kitchen Hood

As an example, Egyptians and Romans favored the art of gilding in order to make things and architectural features (even ceilings) appear as if they were made of solid gold. Another example is trompe l’oeil painting. Its intended purpose is to fool the eye in believing that something has three dimensions when it actually only has two.

Over time, painting techniques have been developed to imitate a myriad of materials. Most notably, different species of wood, marble and stone, as well as leather have been favorites of faux finishing painters.

Faux-Painted Fireplace Hood

Today’s decorative painter has at his or her disposal an array of modern new products to help in the never-ending quest to fool the viewers in believing that something they are viewing is the real thing when it is not!

The pictures included in this blog illustrate two examples of Painting in Partnership’s faux painting work in the Chicago area: one is a kitchen hood, the other is a fireplace hood. Now, a portion of these two projects included the real material. Are you able to guess what is real and what is not? First, click on each picture to examine them more closely. Here is the answer key:

Limestone Hood: The corbels and the portion between the corbels and the first crown are real.

Faux-Painted Fireplace Hood: The corbels are real.

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