<![CDATA[Ford Family Finishes | Jacksonville's Brick, Wood, and Plaster Experts

<![CDATA[Ford Family Finishes | Jacksonville's Brick, Wood, and Plaster Experts - News]]>Thu, 02 Sep 2021 11:27:27 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Artist in Dress Shoe's Wife]]>Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:04:40 GMThttps://www.fordfamilyfinishes.com/news/the-artist-in-dress-shoes-wife4756814The Love Of Venetian Plaster

You may have meet us buzzing around Jacksonville expressing our love for venetian plaster. If you ever had the priveilage to come in contact with venetian plaster, you may understand why we love it so much! Venetian plaster has already taken off in major cities like Miami, New York, and Los Angeles and here we are to bring it to the city we call home, Jacksonville.

Venetian Plaster has been around for thousands of years due to its high durability and low maintenance. Our ancient ancestors in Greece and Egypt even used it. It is made by crushing up lime-stone and marble and mixing it with water to create a thick putty. When applied to a wall with a trowel it is then exposed to carbon dioxide, dries, and turns into a durable rock-like finish. From there, it can be burnish by using a metal trowel and pressure. The heat from the pressure activates the lime to create a beautiful reflective shine.

Having a room covered in venetian plaster is like sitting inside a three-dimensional painting. We all know how art has the power to bring you to the present moment. It can bring us out of our day to day stressful lives and help reduce cortisol (the stress hormone). Now imagine just sitting in a room surrounded by an art piece. Could be pretty powerful....something about a beautiful space can turn the rainiest days into sunshine. (The rain has been hitting hard in Florida Lately)

We can’t express enough of our love for plaster! Venetian Plaster just plays off all your senses. The touch of it feels like glass. The shine and glisten of it is just stunning. The depth and the textures that can be achieved are on another level and if that isn’t enough for you just look at it from a different angle. The whole thing just changes. The textures are different, the color is different, and the sheen is different. Then let’s add some lighting! Natural and artificial lighting just plays even more on the beauty of venetian plaster. The Aesthetic combination of both will just change the feel of any room.

Yes, plaster may be more costly than paint, but once plaster is applied you never have to worry about your walls or ceilings again. Venetian Plaster is like having a stone wall that allows your walls to breath. It is naturally mold and mildew resistant which we certainly do have a problem with in Florida, with all the humidity.

Recently we had the honor of plastering a builder’s personal house on Fort George Island. With knowledge of Venetian plaster, he knew since he lived right on the water, that plaster over paint was the right decision. (He was also expecting several grand-babies any day now and needed something that would withstand a lot of children damage). His wife picked out gorgeous colors of Sea Salt, Steamed Milk, and Worldly grey. We called our disturbers as excited as can be (Eco Walls, who gets all of their plasters straight imported from Italy). With a few different textures and tones in mind off we went. The whole family was needed for this one due to the size of it. The results were unforgettable and would last a lifetime.

]]><![CDATA[The Artist in Dress Shoes’ Wife]]>Fri, 14 Jun 2019 15:17:24 GMThttps://www.fordfamilyfinishes.com/news/the-artist-in-dress-shoes-wifeFaux Cabinets in Broomfield

Sometimes the uniqueness of our techniques takes us away from our home in the sunshine state. This week it was into the snowy mountains of Colorado. After boarding our flight in Jacksonville, Florida our 1,481 Miles adventure of remodel had begun. With knowledge we were flying across the country to transform laminate cabinets into a stunning wooden finish, we accepted the challenge. Our personalized designed cabinets is not something that is found in every city and we were on board to bring our work to Broomfield. The air felt different, the time change was different, but home depot was right down the street so it felt like home.

Why fly all the way to Colorado? Faux wooden cabinets are a growing demand that our company goes above and beyond to provide. Certain Builders do not always provide you with enough information on what you are choosing with your home, the outcome is not always pretty and this where we come in. Laminate cabinets however, are not the worst choice. They are a lot easier to clean than real wood and are often more durable than solid wood. One may ask why not just put in new cabinets? Time and money are obvious answers, but most importantly is the outcome. We provide one of a kind custom cabinets you cannot get anywhere else. Everything about our Faux cabinets is custom and one of a kind. From the base color to the color of the grain, every vision is hand mixed to tie in all the colors of the rest of the house to the owners vision. The Broomfield home was no different.

We knew right away, when entering the Broomfield home, the original dark cabinets pulled from the whole room. We thought a more subtle color that blended with the house would do. “It’s Colorado! I picture blues/greens, snow covered mountain.” After creating a vision to our client’s liking we began mixing. Mixing up the colors with our clients is always half the fun! We love experimenting over and over until we get the color that makes them smile.

Details are definitely everything to us! The placement of the grain where the light hits is always important. The multiple shades of colors reflecting off the artificial and natural lighting makes them just glisten. There is nothing like seeing our art work at different angles. We make sure we get every angle just right!

After very many steps with a lot of sanding in between we finished. With a very happy client who couldn't stop raving about her new cabinets. We would say it was a success and had a blast along the way. The sight-seeing was mind blowing and the food was on another level. Chris is still talking about his breakfast burrito from Loco Hermanos (We all know how much he loves burritos). We just adored Colorado and are looking forward to the other jobs we have coming up around the country.

The Stanley Hotel (The Shining Hotel) Estes Park, Colorado

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