American Painting Contractor

Vol. 87 no. 7 August/September 2010
Top Job Profile
Wall-to-Wall Decorative

This Florida villa receives the decorative finishing works.

About eight years ago, the Phillips family contacted Teri Althouse about a faux finishing job, but her busy schedule would not permit her to take on the project. However, the Phillips family never forgot her, and in June of 2008 they reached out again to see if they could land a place on her schedule.

Teri Althouse, the owner of Avani Studios, in Daytona Beach, FL., and her partner, David McKendry, owner of Axius Studios in Denver, CO., not only practice the art of decorative finishes, they teach it. The two decorative finishing gurus met at the Faux Academy, and through a series of events the decided to form a partnership. Today, even though close to 2,000 miles lies between their studios, they share talents, employees and resources. When not on the job site, they are teaching at the Oro Studios in Denver, CO.

This time around the Phillips were interested in a multitude of interior and exterior decorative finishes for they’re new home in Ormond, FL., which was in the process of being built. The design and architecture was inspired by Italian-style villa’s that had caught the fancy of the clients during their travels abroad. The home flaunts five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, wet bar, wine closet and basement (rare in Florida) commonly referred to as the “man cave” – all in a comfortable 9,000 square feet.

The Avani/Axius team geared up excitement for the project by presenting a custom portfolio of samples for the interior, with 12 different finishes for specified areas along with a large sample on the exterior garage wall. The Phillips’ approved all the samples and even asked for additional samples for the remaining rooms in the house. By the time the sales process was finished, the contract included a decorative or faux finish to almost every inch of the house (even the closet ceilings) inside and outside, totaling 23 different finishes in 28 rooms plus the exterior – close to double the original request.

The majority of the main house and common areas comprise of two finishes: a high-polish Venetian plaster for the formal areas and a textured Venetian plaster for the casual areas. The decorative trey ceilings in the dining room, wet bar, kitchen, family room, guest bedroom and master bedroom received specialty faux finishes. The remaining ceilings, even in the closets, received a soft glazed finish. The color scheme is rich and warm to compliment the custom carved wood, imported Italian tile and stonework that flows throughout the house. Metalwork frequently appears in copper sinks, decorative wrought iron work on the ceilings, and unique hardware for doors and cabinetry.

A total of 18 weeks with an average crew of six people was spent on the project. At the height of the project there were 10 artists and assistants working on various areas of the house. In the end all agreed that it was a TOP JOB indeed. “Even in the ‘ugly stages’ [the clients] always had faith and trusted that it would be spectacular in the end,” said Althouse.

COLOR WASH – The exterior began with a base coat of off-white Southern Supreme Elastomeric Exterior paint. The finish on the main body of the house is a three-color glaze that combines Benjamin Moore Tyler Taupe, Warm Tan and Chocolate Candy Brown exterior paints with Faux Effects AquaGlaze. It was applied with a Wal-Mart car wash brush. “It allowed the glaze to be really spread out and gave a soft, aged look,” said Althouse. The clients had difficulty choosing a color for the stone portions of the house that would be an adequate compliment to the faux finish already in progress. Althouse created a sample on a piece of the stone with a darker shade of the same three-color glaze used on the wall. After the clients saw the sample, the stonework was immediately added to the punch list.

VENETIAN PLASTER – High-polish Venetian plaster was applied in all the formal areas of the home. The Venetian plaster was Faux Effects Stucco Lux. Toasted Cognac, Goldenrod, and Vanilla Bean colors mixed to make a rich, warm gold. Three layers of plaster were applied, and the final layer was burnished to a high shine. In order to steer clear of a directional look in the rounded stairwell, they used the smallest trowels they could find and worked in very small areas. The contractor built in a full-floor, staged scaffold that helped tremendously in reaching the 24-foot walls in the stairwell. “Though you had to be pretty skinny to get to the top, having the solid floor was worth it,” said Althouse.

VERDI GREEN STUCCO LUX – The lower-level laundry room is where Althouse will tell you she earned the name “Teri 20 layers.” “The sample was certainly easier than the wall on this one, but it is one of my favorite finishes…now that it’s all done!” The combination of a small room and high ceilings made reaching over cabinets extremely awkward. Stucco Lux in Metallic Green and Copper are the main colors in this finish. To create the modern verdigris look on the walls, she layered the Metallic Green and Copper Stucco Lux until she was happy. A variety of browns, reds, and oxide and rust colors mixed in with the last few layers of Stucco Lux Sealer create the rusted and toned finish.

STAINED LUSTER GEM – A Stained Luster Gem was used on the master bath walls, master bedroom decorative trey ceilings and the guest bedroom trey ceiling. Venetian Gem Tigers Eye was troweled on the surface in two coats, leaving a little texture. The third coat was a tight coat of the Brown Luster Suede Stone, followed by the same color wash as used in the master bedroom. One cool thing about the bath in this bathroom is that the water fills the tub from the ceiling!

COPPER FOIL – Black Set Coat bas coated all areas that were slated to receive copper foil (wet bar dome ceiling, kitchen panels ceiling, small square on family room ceiling and bands on three vestibule ceilings). The crew used Faux Effects Designer Foil Size, rolling on a full coat, letting it tack up and then applying the copper foil, covering the entire surface. Even with full coverage o the foil, much of the black showed through, so this step was repeated three times. The result of all the layers leaves the copper with an almost liquid look. Originally an antiqued glaze was going to follow the last layer of copper, but everyone like the finish so much before its application that it was skipped.

REPTILE SKIN – This reptile skin finish was achieved using very loose-weave cheesecloth called rumple cloth. The cloth, stretched in order to distort the weave, was placed on the first “glue” layer of O’Villa troweled on the wall in sections that matched the size of the rumple cloth and then troweled over with a second layer. Pieces were carefully placed next to one another to make sure the seams flowed together. Each cloth was lifted out of the plaster after 20 minutes, leaving the weave marks that resemble reptile skin. Chamois Set Coat acts as the base color, and three layers of dark brown and rich brown glazes were applied and then lightly patted with sponges to lift some glaze from the surface and leave some in the recessed areas. The final satin clear coat gives the walls a soft sheen.

THE WINE CLOSET – The wine closet received a few different finishes. A dimensional look for the exposed brick was created using a Plater Tex and Venetian Plaster mix. The bricks were painted and aged using a mix of artist’s colors and highlighted and shadowed, giving them a dimensional look. Several layers of combined Sand Stone and Plater Tex create an antique, chunky texture over areas of the bricks. The placement of this finish over parts of the brick is the secret to the natural exposed look

Holding the wine bottles are old wine barrels cut in half. However, the frame holding them was made on-site, creating a conflicting look. The crew distressed the wood, and Faux Effects Stain and Seal Walnut finished the aged look that matches the barrels.

RAIN FOREST – For this bedroom the young girl wanted a rainforest theme but not a childish mural. The ceiling and walls are base coated with Chamois Set Coat and glazed in a soft parchment finish with Earth Brown and Dark Brown Faux Crème colors. With very thin translucent layers of artist colors, faux finishing techniques make the rain forest appear soft and misty. In the corners, bolder bamboo shoots tie in the dimensional bamboo motif in the attached bathroom. Around the window bolder, darker patches of banana leaves add even closer details.