‘I could tell you my adventures
– beginning from this morning,’ said Alice a little timidly,
‘but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was
a different person then.
Like Alice in her journey through Wonderland, Paintin’
the Town Faux is a different entity today than it was yesterday, each
day transforming, changing, and growing. Susie Goldenberg started the
business in 1988 in a 1,000 square-foot rental space with a few shelves
of products and a very limited schedule of classes.
She soon outgrew the space and bought a 2,000 square-foot
building on busy Alpharetta Street in Roswell, Georgia. The business
thrived and grew even bigger and more successful. The inventory more
than tripled and the number of classes and students increased dramatically.
“I thought I was in heaven with all that space,” Susie says.
“We fauxed every wall, floor, ceiling, desk, you name it, and
moved in. Before I knew it, that 2,000 square feet seemed small. We
continued to order more merchandise, gain more students and customers,
increasing sales…and the walls began closing in.”
Like the scene in Alice in Wonderland when Alice grew
so tall she had to scrunch down to fit into the little house, barely
able to fit, Paintin’ the Town Faux outgrew this location also.
“Still she went on growing, and, as a last resource,
she put one arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney, and
said to herself ‘Now I can do no more, whatever happens. What
will become of me?”
What became of all this was that five years after opening
her second location, Susie plunged further “down the rabbit hole,”
into a land of imagination and creative adventure, purchasing and relocating
to her present 5,000-square foot “wonderland” with a prestigious
address on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell. After much renovation and
hard work, she transformed the former restaurant into a “faux”cility,
raising ceilings; knocking down walls; and adding three offices, a large
storage/shipping area, and an employee kitchen and snack bar. Susie
says the next phase of renovation is to refinish the exterior.
A licensed distributor of Faux Effects® Gold Label
and Aqua Finishing Solutions™ product lines, the company features
a full spectrum of faux design services and carries a full line of stencils,
tools, and supplies. It also provides client contract services and a
decorative arts school with a full curriculum from beginner to mastery
levels.
Where does one begin to describe this faux center?
‘Begin at the beginning,’
the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then
stop.’
As you open the glass doors and enter the showroom,
your eyes are treated to a feast of faux finishes, an eclectic gallery
of painted rooms, moldings, furniture, decorative accessories, floors,
murals, and countertops.
Susie says that before opening, she and her staff of
artists spent many weeks painting and fauxing every inch of the studio.
It was a labor of love. She envisioned and has created a center where
clients, students, and customers can come for ideas and creative inspiration.
And inspiration is plentiful.
Customers marvel at the magnificent 16-foot x 10-foot
mural on the showroom ceiling, an angel soaring through a clouded sky
surrounded by a beautiful garden. On the wall straight ahead is the
company’s logo faux finished with a texture and lime-washed in
its bright signature colors. A large modello stencil and stained concrete
overlay make the once drab concrete floor an elegant masterpiece. The
checkout counter, once a twenty-foot long plain Formica slab, was reconfigured
into an L-shape with a concrete overlay stained with greens and browns.
The cabinet of the counter was fauxed with an old-world crusted finish,
stenciled in a fresco technique, and antiqued to aged perfection. Shelves
of products and a full wall of tools fill the main part of the showroom.
‘That’s very curious!”
she thought. ‘But everything’s curious today. I think I
may as well go in at once.’ And in she went.
And in you go through the stone wall and two stone arches
(you have to touch them to believe they are not real), where you find
yourself in the sample gallery. Samples of each class line one wall.
The other walls display a variety of over 1,200 sample custom wall and
furniture finishes in individual racks for easy viewing. The floor in
the sample gallery is a concrete overlay with a variegated blend of
brown and green stains and a stenciled rug in the center. On the ceiling
above a coffee and snack area is a ten-foot by ten-foot mural, giving
the illusion of sitting under an architectural dome. Susie plans to
install a chandelier and table and chairs where customers can relax,
have coffee and pastries, and view samples.
As you proceed through the door from the gallery, you
enter the huge, state-of-the-art classroom. Each student has a four-foot
by six-foot glass easel along the wall and an individual work station.
Work tables are on wheels so they can be moved out of the way when not
in use, turning the space into a workroom for Paintin’ the Town
Faux’s artisans to experiment with new techniques and create samples.
Susie is thrilled with the huge classroom and the spacious areas she
can provide each student.
“The new studio is a dream come true,” Susie
says. “I’m so excited to have the room to expand and create
a space where faux finishers and clients can feel at home and spend
time browsing. There’s so much more I want to do.”
From the sample gallery, you walk through a wrought
iron gate under an archway with a heavy relief of aged grapes and vases,
gilded and lime washed. You enter a 1,200 square-foot space that will
soon be transformed into a furniture gallery, selling one-of-a-kind
hand-painted furniture pieces and custom furniture for clients. Students
will also have the opportunity to sell their hand-painted items.
If you’re in the Atlanta area, Susie invites you
to stop by for a cup of coffee and to take a tour through the illusory
world of faux finishing where what seems to be true may be only a fall
down the rabbit hole of your imagination.
“Anon, to sudden silence
won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast –
And half believe it true.”