A close-up of the columns and beams reveals how seamless they appear.

One of the reasons homeowners like to use our faux wood beams is that they project the impression of longevity and stability.

Perhaps its not surprising that retailers choose our products for their in-store decor for much the same reason.

A good case-in-point is the new flagship store of Walgreens, located in San Francisco, California.

Created by the prestigious W. L. Butler Construction company of Redwood City, this stunning new retail location features our Custom Aspen Beams as stylish ceiling fixtures.

The choice of our faux wood products was a smart and practical one. In addition to providing the look and vibrant detail of authentic wood, they offered a lot of practical benefits to the store’s designers.

The use of metal ceiling tiles is reminiscent of the style of early 19th century stores.

Check out the photos and you’ll see what we mean.

W. L. Butler used our Custom Aspen Beams not just on the ceiling, but also as covers around the structural beams.

Because our beams are molded from lightweight and durable polyurethane, it was easy to connect them together using a regular wood saw and standard carpentry techniques to create the “framework” effect used throughout the store.

You’ll notice that the faux wood columns feature lighting fixtures and sconces.

These are incredibly easy to install – simply drill holes in the faux wood with a power drill and you can screw them right in.

But the clever part happens an inch deeper. Unlike with real wood, our faux beams are hollow – created like a four-sided box or three-sided u-shape.

Although designed with every modern feature in mind, the style of this Walgreen’s shopfront pays tribute to the golden age of San Francisco’s department stores.

This gives contractors the opportunity to run wires and cables inside the box; making the power for the light scones totally seamless and hidden.

So in addition to getting the look and feel of wood at the fraction of the price of using real timber, the construction firm responsible for Walgreen’s new store was also able to add these awesome features using techniques that just wouldn’t have been practical with actual wood.

The result? A great looking store with an interior that most customers would never be able to tell apart from real wood.

One especially nice detail is how W. L. Butler paired our beams with metal ceiling tiles. Why? Because these are reminiscent of the style popular in San Francisco during the early part of the 19th century.

Arguably San Francisco’s “golden era” – before the infamous earthquake – the design inspiration helps ensure that this modern, flagship store does not look out of place even in historic ‘Frisco’s city center.

The post America’s Largest Drug Retailer Goes Faux! appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

Silver Jeans proudly announced their flagship store on a Times Square billboard!

They say of New York “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” Well, FauxWoodBeams.com might have just “made it” then – because our products are proudly being broadcast from the bright lights of Broadway, right in New York’s Times Square.

It’s through our partnership with the Silver Jeans Company – one of the hottest brands in America, that’s fast becoming known as “the” jeans brand for people searching for the perfect fit and feel.

Thanks to their increasing visibility in the marketplace, Silver Jeans is opening stores all over America – and our faux wood products are going to be a part of that!

Silver Jeans’ first brick-and-mortar store is opening in Woodland, Texas – and our false beams and faux wood planks are serving as an important part of the in-store decor – so important, that they were featured in the artists design sketches used in an advert Silver Jeans broadcast from a Times Square jumbotron.

Why go faux? Because despite being a hip and modern company, Silver Jeans has a long and storied history that they want to pay tribute to in their store design – and our products allowed them to do it.

The Silver Jeans Company started life as the Western Glove Company in the 1870s.

Silver Jeans is named for the Silver family, who started a denim and work-wear company in Winnipeg, Canada, in the 1870s. In the 1940s, they shifted their product range to focus exclusively on denim products – and Silver Jeans was born.

So while their flagship store is bright and modern – reflecting the company’s hip brand appeal – the decor includes wood details like planks and beams that hark back to a company founded on the North American frontier.

Because using real wood would have been too impractical and expensive, our faux wood products provided an awesome alternative.

Our faux wood products are made by taking molds of real timber beams and planks, and then using those to create molded polyurethane foam copies that perfectly capture every grain, knot and imperfection.

Finely detailed with rich colors, our beams are light and durable, yet practically indistinguishable from real wood.

As soon as the Woodland store is finished, we’ll work to get pictures of it – and with 4 more stores being built this year (and more than a dozen in 2014) we’re excited to be part of the Silver Jeans revolution!

The post Faux Wood Beams Take New York! appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

By staining these false beams and faux wood corbels, they perfectly match this kitchen’s wooden island.

Wood is an amazing material – and wooden furniture and fittings add richness and warmth to any home. That’s one of the reasons our faux wood beams are so popular; as they give homeowners the opportunity to add the look of real wood to their home without the expense and difficulty of using authentic wood and timber.

But if your home already has wooden features in it, adding faux wood beams might present a challenge – because while they’re available finished in a variety of real-wood colors, those options might not exactly match the existing woodwork. If that’s the case, a good move might be to order our faux wood products unfinished and stain them yourself to perfectly mimic the hue of the real wood in your home.

Staining faux beams is straightforward. Most of our products are available pre-primed, ready for the addition of a regular wood stain. Our sandblasted and timber beams come unprimed; but can easy be prepped for staining with an all-purpose primer like Benjamin Moore “Fresh Start” 100% acrylic all-purpose primer. We recommend a tan or peanut color for the best wood-look.

Once primed and prepped, you’re ready to stain. The best product to use is a water-based, semi-transparent acrylic deck stain like  Sherwin Williams “DeckScapes” or Benjamin Moore semi-transparent deck stain “Arborcoat”. Water-based products produce a nicer finish, and are much easier to clean up than traditional oil-based stains.

Choose a color that best matches your existing wood. You can control the richness of the stain by varying the amount you apply. For darker wood, use more – for lighter wood, use a wet rag or cloth to wipe off excess stain immediately after application. It’s not an exact science – which is why we recommend practicing on a spare section of faux wood beam prior to staining your actual product (if you don’t have any spare beam material, you can ask for a sample piece when ordering.)

For more details about staining and finishing your faux wood products, check out our page on the subject here: Painting, Staining and Touch-Ups.

Using this technique, you have complete control over the color of your beam prior to installing it – and using that, you can use faux wood to perfectly match existing wooden features and create a totally seamless wood-look to any room in your home.

The post Staining Faux Wood Beams to Match Existing Wood appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

Here are a couple we’re eager to share with you.

Stain Your Beams To Match Your Wood

Our synthetic wood beams are available pre-finished in a variety of vividly realistic wood colors – but sometimes that’s not enough.

Staining these Sandblasted Faux Wood Beams meant they perfectly matched the wooden framework already installed in this beautiful room.

If you’re adding false beams to a room that already contains wood features, you’ll want the flexibility to make sure the new additions match what’s already there.

Which is why many of our faux wood products are available unfinished; leaving you able to stain them exactly the color you’d like.

Our false beams are made from tough and lightweight polyurethane foam, which perfectly mimics the look and texture of real wood – right down to knots and saw-marks.

By the time you’ve selected the correct stain, to match any existing wood in your room, they look practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

We have a full guide on how to stain your synthetic wood beams here, plus a guide to detailing and staining the knots to make them appear even more realistic.

 Install Tracked Lighting

We’ve already written about how faux wood beams make it easy and seamless to install recessed lighting – but what about other forms of illumination?

Tracked lighting is a wonderful way to add a gentle source of rich, warm light.

One neat trick to showcase a cathedral ceiling is track lighting, which installs on top of beams and shines upward, for a flattering and gentle diffusion of light.

Our faux wood beams make installing track lighting incredibly easy, because you can run the wires that power each row of lights through the hollow channel in the center of each of our u-shaped beams; something you just can’t do with real wooden beams.

When it comes to installing the tracked lighting itself, you have a variety of options. Our beams our available three-sided, like a U, which means you can install the track inside and let the lights shine out from a recessed position. Alternately, you can order our beams with a removable forth side and install the lights right on top.

You can drill holes with a regular power drill to pass the wiring through, and once they’re installed, it’s impossible to tell that they’re not solid wood beams.

If you have any tips and tricks you’ve used with our faux wood products, we’d love to hear from you!

The post Tips and Tricks for Faux Wood Beams appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

Before: John’s stunning brick fireplace was missing just one thing – a mantel.

John Fitzgerald’s fireplace is a thing of beauty. One of the signature features of the home he’s recently purchased, it’s made up of hand-laid bricks and is the instant centerpiece of his front room. But John knew as soon as he saw it that it was missing something.

In his email to us, which included before and after pictures, John writes:

“The installation process could not be any easier for any DIY’er. It took three simple steps:”

After: The mantel looks stunning; and even though it’s molded from durable polyurethane foam, is still totally functional as a shelf.

“First cut down your 2″x4″ to fit inside the mantel pocket. Next, figure out the height you want the shelf and attach the 2″x4″ to the face of the fireplace with some good concrete anchor screws (I recommend Tapcons). Lastly, put the mantel over the 2″x4″ and secure it from the top with some long wood screws. The whole process only takes about half an hour!”

The post Fantastic Faux Wood Fireplace! appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

Rust is a problem for Martin’s ’72 Chevy, even though it’s stored indoors.

Martin from Lansdale, Pa loves the sound of an old American V8.

“They’ve been my passion since I was a teenager,” he admits. “My first car was a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

But like many classic car hobbyists, Martin has a problem – “a shortage of time and money.”

That’s why his latest project car, which he bought from a barn in 2010, isn’t going to be roadworthy for quite a while.

“She’s a ’72 Chevy Malibu,” he explains, “and she was a mess when I bought her.” The literal barn-find, Martin picked her up for $500 when a friend-of-a-friend found the car in her father’s barn shortly after his death.

“I couldn’t turn it down at that price,” Martin laughs. “But I couldn’t afford to fix her up right away, either.”

A metal air vent slots directly into our hollow beams.

Since then, Martin’s spent many hours tinkering away on his ’72 Chevy, locked away in his garage. But while he has the space – it’s not ideal for a classic car.

“It’s damp,” he admits. A low water table and the way his house is positioned means the right-hand corner of the garage even gets an inch or two of flooding when its not the worst weather.

Worried that months of exposure would be promoting rust on his car, Martin came up with a smart and affordable solution – a dehumidifier and extractor. The only problem? He didn’t have any windows to vent it from.

Which is why he decided to come up with a faux wood solution.

“We’d recently used a couple of your beams in our living room,” he wrote, “and I thought adding one of those in my garage would look nicer than just a length of metal venting stuck to my ceiling.”

Using a regular drill bit, Martin cut a hole to install a vent opening.

So Martin installed his dehumidifier and ran a metal vent out of a wall-opening, and then decided to hide the whole thing inside one of our faux wood beams.

They’re actually perfect for this sort of hidden installation, as our beams are all made from hollow molded polyurethene. All Martin needed to do was purchase the correct width of beam and the vent tube slotted directly inside.

“Your customer service was great for helping me with that,” he explains. “I told them what size my piping was, and they told me how big a beam I’d need to purchase.

To complete the process, Martin drilled circular holes in the beam and installed his ceiling vent directly into it. “It was easy – all I needed to do was use a 6 and 3/8 inch drill bit and a regular power drill, and it fit right in.

Flexible metal piping allowed a seamless join even in the limited space.

The beams attached to the ceiling using wooden mounting blocks and regular screws – and once installed, the only clue that there’s a dehumidifier running is the noise of the machine itself.

“And it’s made a huge difference,” Martin admits. “Even when the floor floods, the room itself is as dry as a bone.” So much so that when it rains, his wife even hangs sheets and laundry in there to dry.”

“It’s a great addition, and thanks to the faux wood beams, totally invisible.” More importantly, as far as Martin is concerned, “it means rust won’t be ruining all the work I do on my car.”

The post Breathing New Life into Old Cars with Faux Wood Beams appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

The foyer of Brio pairs our faux wood beams with a warm and welcoming palette of colors.

Texas isn’t known for its Italian food – but restaurant chain Brio is putting an end to that. Their new location, in the hip city of Austin, is bringing a bit of Tuscany flavor to the Lone Star State.

And because of the old Italian chef’s proverb “the first bite is with the eyes,” they’re doing it in style; creating an incredible Italian-inspired interior using our Custom Woodland beams.

Molded from tough, yet lightweight polyurethane foam, our false beams are almost indistinguishable from the real timber ceiling beams you’d see in eateries in the Italian countryside. The only difference? That they were installed in just a few hours; and at the fraction of the price of using real wood.

Brio’s ceiling design was carefully planned to mirror the authentic structural roofing of centuries-old Italian buildings; the difference being that these beams would be purely decorative; rather than a load-bearing part of the building itself.

Warm, welcoming and classically Italian, the Interior boats a faux wood ceiling that is understated; yet elegant.

The interior designers used two sizes of our faux wood beams, and connected them in a grid that resembled the thicker, structural beams of an old European building, criss-crossed with the smaller beams, which supported the floorboards of the story overhead.

That was an easy look to achieve, because our beams can be cut to shape with nothing more than a regular wood saw. To achieve that style of ceiling design, we recommend installing the longer, thicker beam (the ‘structural beam’) as a single piece, from one end of the room to another, and then connecting the smaller beam sections, cutting each to size beforehand.

Just remember the golden rule – “measure twice, cut once.” Once the smaller beams are in place against the larger one, you can cover up any gaps between them with colored caulk and voila! The joint between them will be seamless.

So what do you make of Brio’s interior? Are you a fan? And what do you make of it in comparison to the other Brio location, completed using Custom Aspen Beams? They’re both very different design styles; but perfectly capture the rustic charm and easy, family-friendly appeal of a classic Italian eatery.

The post Brio in Texas Gets Faux Wood Fabulous! appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

The Levitation Illusion is one of Thaddeus’ signature magic tricks.

What is magic? Some people define it as performing the illusion of doing something impossible; seemingly unnatural feats achieved through entirely natural means.

And in many ways, that definition could be applied to our faux wood beams; which provide the illusion of real timber in places in which it would be impossible to use authentic timber beams.

But it wasn’t until we met Thaddeus – better known as illusionist and showman Ted Plezia – that the two concepts were finally combined in one.

Two lightweight, but realistic pillars “support” Ted’s floating lady.

Ted and his wife Deborah run the South Shore Theatre Experience – a theater production company on the south shore of Long Island. Together combining over 60 years of stage experience, Deborah and Ted help bring the showmanship to life by helping kids and charities enjoy the thrill and majesty of theater like they’ve never seen before.

And that’s where our false beams come in. Ted Plezia is also known as “Thaddeus”  – and performs renowned shows Storytime Magic and The Magic of Thaddeus for thrilled audiences all over Long Island. One of his signature tricks is the “Levitation Illusion” and, to accomplish that, our faux wood beams come into play.

Because of their vivid realism, our faux wood products are the perfect option for other set design projects, too.

If you’ve ever watched a magic show, you probably know what to expect with the famous “levitating lady” trick – in which a beautiful assistant hovers in the air, seemingly unassisted. While we’ve all seen the trick countless times on television – and occasionally in real life, in shows like Ted’s – it’s one that never fails to impress.

And nor do Thaddeus’ faux wood beams – which he uses as set pieces, and slowly remove as his “levitation” illusion is revealed.

And much like the magic trick itself, our lengths of synthetic wood create a convincing illusion themselves; appearing to be solid lengths of timber, yet remaining light enough for Ted to lift, carry and store effortlessly. This is achieved by ordering four-sided lengths of our faux wood beams; each with seamless end-caps to appear solid.

This great shot shows the essential components of the “Levitation Illusion” – and how vividly realistic they are.

Created from light, yet tough polyurethane, these faux timber beams are molded from real timber; and vividly mimic each knot, grain, saw mark and imperfection – making them practically indistinguishable from real wood. Add in an intricately detailed finish in real wood coloring and the illusion is complete.

So much so that Ted and Deborah’s use of our faux wood products actually extends beyond just “The Magic of Thaddeus” – and has become a regular go to for other set design needs as well. Because they’re affordable, light and transportable and can be cut and connected using nothing but regular household carpentry tools, they are perfect for creating all sorts of stage-ready props and set pieces.

Do you know anybody else who uses our faux wood products in an unorthodox way, like Deborah and Ted? If so, we’d love to hear about it – we’re always looking for new stories and pictures to feature right here!

The post Making Magic with Faux Wood Beams appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

Brio, an Italian restaurant, was finished with a faux wood beam ceiling feature.

We recently received pictures of our Custom Aspen Beams in action – starring as the centerpiece of a nearly-opened Italian restaurant that looks mouthwateringly chic.

Their innovative designer has created an entire ceiling structure using our beams; perfectly recreating the sort of classic timber beamwork you’d see overhead if you tucked into pasta verde or spaghetti bolognaise in Milan or Rome.

But instead of being made from real timber, as the ceilings most often are in historic European cities, these beams are actually molded from light and durable polyurethane foam – making them incredibly quick and easy to install.

That’s ideal for a commercial setting; in which tearing down the previous storefront and installing the new one needs to be done quickly.

These beams can be cut to shape with a regular wood saw, and installed using suspension cables or just wooden mounting blocks and regular screws. They’re hollow, too – molded in a u-shape while allows easy installation of recessed lights, hidden speakers or vents – all vital components for a restaurant.

Looking up, you can see how perfectly these beams recreate the look of a real timber beam ceiling.

But the most important thing is that they look good – and from these photographs, you can see that this is something our beams are especially good at. Each one is created from a mold of a real Aspen beam; and features every grain, knot and imperfection vividly recreated in rigid foam.

Following the molding process, our beams can be finished in a variety of real-wood shades; intricately detailed so that they’re indistinguishable from the real thing. In this restaurant, that attention to detail is why the faux wood beams perfectly match all the other dark wood used to complete the restaurant decor.

As you can see, the finished design is perfect – seamlessly combining real wood with faux, and creating a fine dining experience worthy of the piazzas of Florence or Seville themselves. What do you think? Feeling hungry?

The post Restaurant Serves Up A Taste of Italy with Faux Wood Beams appeared first on Faux Wood Workshop.

These ugly, exposed pipes were a bathroom disaster, until Doug came up with his faux wood solution.

Doug and Carrie, from Wilmington, DE, love flipping houses.

“To us, the appeal isn’t just the money – although that’s nice!” Doug explains. “We also enjoy the whole process itself; the sense of achievement from turning something drab into something dramatic.”

But flipping houses isn’t always straightforward – as their latest project demonstrated.

“We followed the golden rule of flipping,” Doug explains. “We bought the cheapest house in the best neighborhood; and when it came to renovating it, we certainly got our money’s worth of challenges.”

Doug and Carrie’s 1940s ranch-style home hadn’t seemed to have been updated for decades; and what problems had been previously fixed were done with less than perfect solutions.

“For example, in the bathroom they’d replaced the old lead and copper water pipes with PVC ones a few years ago; but instead of running them behind the drywall, they’d left them running exposed along the ceiling instead! It looked terrible!”

Not only did it look terrible, but the cost of ripping down the drywall and replacing the pipes threatened to cut a big hole in Doug and Carrie’s renovation budget.

Fortunately, they had a solution.

Installed, the beams cover up the exposed pipes beautifully.

“In one of our previous flips, we’d used your faux wood beams in the living room – so we knew how light, affordable and easy to install they were,” says Doug. “What’s more – we knew they were hollow inside, and that gave us an idea.”

Doug and Carrie checked out the measurements and worked out that they could use our faux wood beams to neatly and easily slide over and cover the exposed piping.

“It wasn’t in our original vision for the home, but we purchased some of your custom Aspen beams to finish off the bathroom and they actually made a great addition to the ceiling.”

Pipes and vents fit seamlessly inside our u-shaped, hollow beams.

Because our beams are molded from tough and durable polyurethane, Doug was able to cut access holes for the t-shaped pipe junction using nothing but a regular wood saw – and the result was easy to slot over the exposed pipes and hide them completely. Using caulk and a saw, Doug was also able to connect other beams to create a ceiling framework that looked stunning.

“The beams attached to the ceiling with wooden mounting blocks and screws,” he explains, “and from start to finish the whole project took me less than a day to install.”

As a result, the ugly exposed pipes were hidden and for a fraction of the cost of reinstalling them and putting up replacement drywall.

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