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Gotta say I agree with the main theme of the post. Every home I'm in I get rid of the faux-stuff ASAP. My last house the previous owner was attempting to do the tuscan thing in the master bath. She slapped drywall compound OVER THE WALLPAPER at random trying to get that rough plaster-y look that hardly anybody ever gets right, and then a horrible paint job on top of that. Amazing. (shudder)
Painted-on bricks. Laminate "butcher block" countertops. Even vinyl sheets that try to look like ceramic tile. Those are the things that I think the OP is talking about. Cheap imitations that don't look or feel right. I completely agree: if you're using laminate or vinyl, FINE. But if what you really want is butcher block and you just can't afford it, don't try to make your countertops LOOK like butcher block. It's a sad second-place. It only draws attention to the fact that you don't actually have what you wanted. I put in laminate floors once because I thought they were a good, cheap alternative to the wood I couldn't afford. I wouldn't do it again: any time water hit them they were damaged, especially if we didn't know about it right away, and over time you really do pick up that repeating pattern, no matter how hard you tried to mix up seven boxes and carefully not put two pieces near each other. It wound up just being a constant reminder that I cheaped out. I HAVE seen good laminate jobs on floors, but they are few and far between.
I will say, though, that I had a neighbor once with a wood-burning fireplace. One day while hubby was at work she lit a fire, even though he really didn't ever want her to. She forgot to open the damper. While she was out of the room, smoke poured up the front of the fireplace and onto the brick. She was able to air out the room but the smoke stains on the brick were still obvious, so she got some paint. Before he was home that day, she'd used several shades of paint on the brick, and you could NOT tell anything had happened. They lived there for years after and hubby never noticed. She did several other things "right" -- changed the finish on her fixtures with spray paint, a beautiful painted bathroom -- that most people seem to lack talent for. So, if you're a true artist, you can make some of this stuff work. You just have to be REALLY good at it.
And the OP's vinyl siding made to look like wood -- I don't think it's the vinyl siding that's the problem. I think it's the "wood grain" that's irritating. It's vinyl, already, NOT wood. Fine!
My understand was that tin was the "solution" to a cracking, falling down plaster ceiling. The real deal in ceiling decorations was usually molded plaster detailing.
Anyway, There are plenty of things made of modern material that I don't mind (like appliances and electrical outlets). But I'm talking about a material used to mimick another, normally natural and otherwise perfectly suitable material. My fridge looks like metal and plastic because it IS. It does not try to look like a natural material.
It's just that modern construction (and interior accoutrements) feel so plastic and empty to me. Everything is a cartoon of an idealized "something else". Nothing in home decor or design tries to stand on it's own merits, just mimic something else.
Furniture stores only seem to sell pressboard furniture. Houses pretend to be tuscan villas or french chateaus but they do it so poorly; they are like comparing little kids dressed up as soldiers or ninjas in plastic costumes for halloween vs real soldiers and ninjas.
Is this stuff damaging to the soul? Because it hurts mine. I want to live in a REAL world, not a cheap Disneyland knockoff.
If the ultimate goal of home design is to make a pleasant place to live, why don't we do it?
That's the first Walmart I've ever seen that actually is somewhat attractive. Sorry, but it doesn't seem to be damaging my soul at all to see it.
Personally I like the fact that there are choices out there. My taste doesn't run to tuscan villas or french chateaus, but if some people like that style then so be it. It would be awful boring if every structure was a carbon copy of every other house out there. What may be a pleasant place for you may be completely unacceptable for someone else.
As far as furniture goes - there are legitimate reasons why someone may want inexpensive furniture. You can certainly find quality solid hardwood furniture out there, but not everyone's budget or lifestyle permits that. So should those folks sit on cardboard boxes in order to be more "real"?
I have an extreme dislike for faux stuff. Why do we have to lived in a world full of vinyl siding with that stupid "wood grain" pattern that is nothing like real wood, pressboard everything and cultured stone with the the same identical 6 "stones" put in random patterns, among other ticky-tacky stuff? Is America really that fake and superficial?
Granted, there IS a price difference, but any "survey of world architecture" course at a university will tell you the things a culture builds will say something about what the people who built them were like. What are we telling future generations by surrounding ourselves with faux-ness?
End Rant
.....that our culture was resourceful and creative? Okay, but seriously, there are some basic, sound reasons behind some "faux" stuff. That siding with the wood grain?....How about areas that get a lot of rainfall and wood rots like mad? How about folks who live in areas where little wood munchers make short work of real wood. The homeowners love the look of woodgrain, but do not love the upkeep of of wood. Why shouldn't they have the "best of both worlds"? I know it seems tacky to you and others, but why shouldn't a person on a limited income be able to have the "look" of marble, even though they can't afford it?
We are in the process of putting a metal roof on our 1932 home. This home has ALWAYS had wooden shingles on it. Exposed fastener, sheet metal roofing was customarily used ONLY on barns, sheds, and outbuildings. Are you saying we're trying to make our house look like a "faux" barn or a "faux" outbuilding? The bottom line is PRICE.
Would it be our first choice? Nope... our first choice would be metal FAUX shingles! Why? Because we heat our home with old fashioned (not faux) firewood, that may possibly send real (not faux), embers or flames up our real (not faux) chimney, thus igniting real wood shingles. Not only that, we live in the Pacific N.W., about 3 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Weather can be wet for long periods of time and we can get some pretty raging winds. Our decision is a combination of the most practical consideration coupled with the most affordable choice.
I think faux can be good.....as long as quality is taken into consideration. All things faux are not created equal.....course, I'm sure you're about to find out that there are a few people out here who feel the same way.....once they've given it a bit of thought. Believe me, I do understand what you're saying.....LOL... but there are many sides to the situation...just my opinion.
.....that our culture was resourceful and creative? Okay, but seriously, there are some basic, sound reasons behind some "faux" stuff. That siding with the wood grain?....How about areas that get a lot of rainfall and wood rots like mad? How about folks who live in areas where little wood munchers make short work of real wood. The homeowners love the look of woodgrain, but do not love the upkeep of of wood. Why shouldn't they have the "best of both worlds"? I know it seems tacky to you and others, but why shouldn't a person on a limited income be able to have the "look" of marble, even though they can't afford it?
Real painted wood siding is smooth. Putting little swirly divits in it does not make it look like wood. It makes it look cartoonish.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should ban faux products, but I do wonder why people settle for them. Is the supposed convience really worth puttin on the shallow facade?
Real painted wood siding is smooth. Putting little swirly divits in it does not make it look like wood. It makes it look cartoonish.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should ban faux products, but I do wonder why people settle for them. Is the supposed convience really worth puttin on the shallow facade?
Actually, as I've stated in previous posts....my home went over 40 years without being painted, therefore, it has all the swirly weathered grain showing underneath my paint. I love it. I think that's what some of those folks are going for....weathered but sound.
Real painted wood siding is smooth. Putting little swirly divits in it does not make it look like wood. It makes it look cartoonish.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should ban faux products, but I do wonder why people settle for them. Is the supposed convience really worth puttin on the shallow facade?
Not everyone who elects to use these products is "settling". I installed real solid hardwood in my living and dining rooms - not laminate, not engineered, but real wood. But I plan to install laminate that looks like stone tile in the kitchen, hallway and powder room. So I guess that would be "faux". But I'm not settling for it - this is what I want. I like the look of stone, but I don't want to put real stone in the kitchen. It's too hard, and would be uncomfortable standing on it for any length of time, and anything you drop would shatter. So I don't consider it to be settling at all. I'm getting what I want.
People have been doing faux graining (usually of soft wood to look like hard wood) for hundreds of years. Antique faux grained furniture, stone, paneling, etc. usually quite beautiful and desired by collectors. Today there are quite a few faux grain artists whose reproduction furniture and work is usually quite wonderful and pricey.
I recently saw a very beautiful antique couch that looked like it was upholstered in old leather but was in fact fabric - faux leather fabric that felt like cut velvet...the couch was $7,500.
For many generations throughout the world there have been artists in many fields who have used faux techniques to produce a variety of beautiful and sought after goods.
To dismiss faux anything is simply a result of lack of knowledge. Also please remember that most of our bad faux stuff is produced outside of this country.
Last edited by Cattknap; 10-29-2009 at 08:08 AM..
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