It can be hard to visualize...

how a special effect will look in a home. Sometimes it is best to paint a representative sample. Here, mahogany cabinet doors were faux marbled - each in a different colour and style.

When marbling cabinetry, consider the (painted) veining direction of the adjacent door. Most genuine marbles have a directional flow, so adjacent doors will look best when the veining of one complements the other. Veining all doors in the same direction will make the room feel off-balance.

While at work, consider making up display samples for future use. Because your colours and glazes are all on hand, there is never a better time. You may think that this is something that you can do later in your shop, but I am almost certain that you will neither find the time nor the passion.

Panels of 1/8" press-board (masonite) measuring 2'x2' make a good display size, but to carry more than a few of these around to clients will prove cumbersome. A more convenient portfolio size is about 1'x1', but the smaller format won't convey any of the broad loose effects (eg. colour washing).

Consider making the larger 2'x2' panels in any case. These larger panels can always be quartered on a table saw to yield four of the same: one for the architect, one for the client, one for the builder, one for posterity.

Don't turn the painting of sample boards into your life's work. I once made up 150 panels for a trade show display. When the smoke cleared, it proved of no use to have painted more than a few. Customers invariably think that what is shown them is that which is actually available. As with squares of carpet and flooring tile, painted samples are typically regarded of as products rather than ideas.

Here are photos taken in studio, showing panels at various stages of completion.



    


Framing panels with borders makes them distinctive...

    

    

Faux finishes can be dramatic, subtle, bold, subdued, realistic, or fantasy, and the colours are unlimited.

Here are more examples of my faux finishing, including this one of faux wall borders, and this example of a faux marble archway.

See this creative faux paneled wall, and maybe get my goat.