Client: The House That Faux Built

Hundreds of top artists joined forces to transform a normal everyday house into a masterpiece using the art of faux and decorative painting. Internationally renowned artists from England, Rome, France, and across the U.S. have donated their time and talents to fund a New Orleans Habitat House. The conditions in New Orleans were impractical for the project at that time; therefore they concentrated on creating a "show/faux house" in Washington, DC. The idea behind this project was to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The finished product is presented in an outstanding book The House That Faux Built: How to Transform Your Home with Paint, Plasters and Creativity by Adrienne van Dooren. The book showcases the beautiful transformation of an ordinary home into an amazing work of art. Going beyond the traditional techniques of sponging and ragging, the show-house displays the incredible advances in faux and decorative painting. The artists' talents can be seen in every inch of the home. For example, a refrigerator and dishwasher painted to look like expensive built-ins and an old worn parquet floor painted to create the impression of inlayed wood and an oriental carpet. Trompe l'oeil murals made small rooms look larger and low ceilings appear taller. Landscape murals are also an excellent way to visually enhance a room.

The Italian landscape featured in the basement’s new wine cellar is Murals Your Way’s Uzzano image by Sambataro.

“It isn’t necessary to spend a fortune to have a lovely mural. Most visitors had no idea it wasn’t painted on the wall.” The mural was an easy inexpensive way to create the perfect impact on the room. Murals Your Way was happy to donate the mural and proud to be a sponsor of such a great cause. They were thrilled to play a role in creating such a stunning home décor makeover, while contributing to the hurricane victims.

The show/faux-house was open to the public and ticket sales raised over $30,000 toward the $75,000 needed to build a Habitat for Humanity House known as "The House That Faux Built" in New Orleans. The remainder of the funds must come from book sales, private donations and sponsors.

According to the author, Adrienne van Dooren, “Once funded, many of the artists and volunteers will also go to New Orleans to work on the Habitat house. It is also our hope that this book will increase public awareness of the incredible advances in faux and decorative painting since the sponging fad of the ‘90s, and serve as a catalyst for ideas and further advancement in decorative painting.”

(As seen in HGTV Magazine, Paint Magic, Decorating Solutions and the Washington Post)

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