Fauxtopia Studios

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I had my house painted and the front door replaced by another contractor. For the front door my contractor told me think about the color I would like to have it painted and we would look at that family of colors on his next visit. When I met with him, he asked if I had decided on a color. I did - i wanted the front door to be painted in an antique style red. He looked at me and said "I don't do that". So since I had pretty much made up my mind I decided to turn to Angie's list and find someone who did that type of painting. I came across Heidi from Fauxtopia Studios. She had an inpressive portfolio for doing back drops for music artists, murals, antiqing funiture, and many other items in her extensive portfolia. Because she seemed to do things on a grander scale than my front door - I thought she might not be interested. Not at all - she accepted right away - sent me samples of her work to look over so she had an idea of what I had in mind. Unfortunately timing was not the best for us as I contacted her in Dec 2014 when the weather was getting cold and wet. She also had a prior commitment - which was OK with me as I was not in a hurry and my Mom was going to undergo back surgery. Heidi was very patient and kind during the time my Mom had her surgery and recovery period - and very willing to work around my schedule. Between my schedule with work and my Mom - and the weather not cooperating - Heidi and I were finally able to agree on a date to do the job. She is really meticulous in what she does - and OH MY - I never could have envisioned how the door would turn out - but it is more than spectacular. She was well worth every penny and I am so appreciative of her patience and understanding. If you are looking for something different than just a straight paint job - I would definately contact Heidi - there does not seem much she cannot do.

My family has used Fauxtopia Studios for years. Heidi is always honest, fair and upfront with her prices. The quality of her work is always top-notch. I have also used her painting services and decorative consulting for real estate listings and staging for years. She has never let me down.

Beware of Heidi's estimates, and never question discrepancies or she will dump you for ?nickle and diming? her. Heidi came to our house to give us an estimate for painting the interior of our house. The estimate says it is good up to 2 months. After again coming to our house and showing us samples (which she suggested and we agreed to pay for with understanding that she would paint our home), she submitted a new estimate. BUT the new estimate had increases for some of the same items and included new items, totaling approximately $570. When we merely questioned her about the increases and new items, she dumped the project and demanded $50 payment for the samples, and said in part: ?I just finished a project for the singer Rihanna, and I will be working next week for Taylor Swift. They never nickle and dime me like home owners do. Hence, I respectfully declined the job?.

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Heidi spent a total of three days (off and on) on our project. She first prepared the windows, painted a base coat, and then faux painted and sealed the interior frames of three master bedroom windows. The base coat was something of an organish color which shocked my Mother. Mom called me, and I said "Heidi knows what she is doing. Leave her alone." Glad we did. Over the orange was a dark greyish color to simulate the wood grain (vertical grain douglas fir). From there, she applied some other top coats. The result is fabulous - too good to be true. Sometimes I look and see a spot that could be better - but upon looking more closely, I am scrutinizing the REAL stained wood NOT Heidi's faux work. Very glad that we did this opposed to removing all the paint grade work installed by the original contractor in error. Thank heaven for Heidi!!!

Long overdue review.... Great experience all the way around. We made the job difficult due to some scheduling conflicts, but they worked with and around us and did an excellent job. Very happy with the results and will use them again without hesitation.

Heidi is absolutely wonderful. I had minor water damage in my kitchen/dining area and needed (among other things) new paint and cabinet fixes from where the drying company had damaged the cabinet faces. Her initial consultation was professional and personable. She looked at the damage done to my cabinet, discussed in detail the colors I wanted for my kitchen and dining room, and later came back with samples of what I might have on my walls with the three-color treatments. I changed my mind a couple of times and thought for sure I'd drive her crazy, but she was always patient, helpful and reassuring. We even played with the colors mid-job. She's resourceful and creative. When I found more cabinet damage -- this time to the veneer -- she handled that, too. Her prices are very reasonable. Everything now is so beautiful, I'm excited to be home in my new environment. Thanks, Heidi!

It went really well. She understands that painting is the easy part. The work is in the prep. This is the first time in my life that we have hired anyone to do our painting for us in forty years. We have really high standards and most contractors don't. But Heidi did a fabulous job. The living room has one red wall. She primed with a bright pink primer to make sure the red would cover and she gave it an extra coat. We have a huge pained front window and three smaller windows in the living room and she scraped, caulked and sanded all the window trim, just as we would have done. It looks fabulous. The hall had wallpaper that needed to be removed and she did it using vinegar. Easy clean up and no horrible smells. She scraped the walls, primed and painted the hall. It is carpeted by the way and she did a great job protecting the carpet. We love the finished product and would have her back in an instant to do further projects. She cleaned up every day. Left no mess. And as an added bonus was able to faux paint a repair we had to make to our hardwood flooring so that it fits right in. We felt she really earned her money. She has a great personality and having her in the house was a treat.

Heidi Luest came to my 2 bdrm/2 ba 1100 sq ft. condo to assess the work and make an estimate for painting the interior of my new condo which had the walls and ceilings painted white, with a dark red/brown laminate floor. I had originally thought to paint all the walls a light yellow color similar to another condo I saw, but she mentioned that she could paint the rooms different colors if I wanted and the cost wouldn't be that different. She explained about how lighting and how the sunlight hits a wall can change it's color appearance, which I was not aware of and then made suggestions as to what different pastel colors I might like the rooms to be painted. I decided to take a chance and have each room painted a different color. We decided on painting the living room walls a light yellow, with the wall not exposed to sun a slightly darker shade of yellow, the kitchen attached to the living room the same darker yellow, the master bedroom a light blue, the master bathroom/closet a light gray, the 2nd bedroom overlooking the courtyard a light green and the 2nd bedroom bathroom an off-white cream color. The ceilings did not need to painted as this was a new condo with new flat white paint. The crown moulding trim between the walls and ceilings and the floor to wall base board/quarter-round 3 in. high trim was painted a more glossy white. After buying the paint, she returned a few days later to work on painting the interior of my condo. She was able to complete the work in about 3 to 4 days, on schedule, even though I caused an interruption in her work, as I decided to have a contractor come in to replace the floor quarter-round while she was painting. When the painting was completed, I went back to take look and was a little nervous as I did not know how the place would look with each room painted a different color. But, nothing to worry about, it looked great! My mom and dad were here last week and they really liked it, too. After completing the painting, she did a good job cleaning up the work areas so I did not have to do any clean up. Heidi does great work, has a very pleasant demeanor and is easy to work with and I recommend contacting her for any interior painting needs you might have.

It's a one person operation. She got some help from others from time to time. I dealt with her from the start till the end. She came down and walked around and gave me an estimate. She also offered an Angie's list discount. She was timely and thorough. Her prices were very competitive.

One of the many reasons I hired Heidi was because I felt I would get highly personalized service, and I did. Heidi is incredibly professional and she worked with me on all of the details. She very quickly zeroed in on my style and needs and was able to suggest the perfect color combinations, and when I could not decide on a bathroom color, she had her arsenal of faux finish options, which ultimately turned out to be the perfect solution. Heidi was also invaluable in helping to decide what to do with a focal wall. I sort of knew what I wanted, but did not know how to articulate it. She took a lot of time to find the right style and examples and came up with a wonderful design and I knew it was right when I saw it. Heidi also did things like fixing my stairwell banister and other little things and had great tips and advice. I am thrilled with the work that Heidi did and will definitely call her for all of my painting needs in the future.

Heidi is amazing. The den in our house had an entire wall of AWFUL knotty pine cabinets. Tearing it out and putting in new cabinets wasn't an option and we didn't want to just paint the wood. Heidi figured out a way to refinish the knotty pine and turn it into a rich, dark wood. In addition, we had had a lot of plaster work done in the den to repair some damage to the ceiling caused by an old leak. Heidi prepped the den and painted it a lovely, rich camel color. Basically, Heidi totally re-did our den and turned it from an eyesore into a real asset.

I cannot speak highly enough of the owner/artist Heidi Luest. If I could give an A++ I would. She went above and beyond the call of duty by coming to our home when she and her family were recuperating from food poisoning. While most people would have stayed home in bed Heidi is a true professional. She came and she did a spectacular job! Not only did the faux finish match our fireplace travertine tile, she mixed in a touch of the paint from the wall color as the background so that it truly tied the great room areas together. She used to paint back drops for movie studio and music videos and that level of expertise showed in her work. She is not a painter -- she is an artist! I cannot thank Heidi enough. She really made our remodeled house feel like a home.

Our experience with Fauxtopia was fantastic from start to finish! during our initial consultation, Heidi helped us with color choices and walked us through our options. This was something my wife and I were very happy about. We found her and her crew to be professional, skilled, and flexible. My wife and I changed our minds about colors more than once. Each change was met with understanding and before we knew it the rooms were looking great! The attention to detail really showed in their prep work. I learned a lot about my new home as Heidi and crew pointed out areas that needed special attention. Rather than replacing the old door handles it was suggested that we paint them. This was a great way to save money and give new life to old hardware. The underwater and sky mural in our baby's bedroom was the place where Heidi's work shone brightest. We looked together in scuba diving magazines and talked about what we hoped to achieve with the look and feel of the scene. Every time I walk in the room I love it! We will definitely call Fauxtopia the next time we need painting!

I was very pleased with the detailed opinions and advice given for choosing just the right shade of peach for the walls, since I was unsure of the finished appearance. Mixing paints for samples and help in selecting the final choice was greatly appreciated. The new door fit was perfect, and I was very pleased overall. I was also given advice and assistance in correcting a few minor flaws in other areas of my home, as well as establishing a good rapport about cat ownership. The job was finished within 3 days and was a very enjoyable experience. The paint work was excellent.

Heidi was terrific!! I don't have enough to say about her!! She did excellent work. She was also conscience about the price, willing to work within my budget. I have a very old home, built in 1924. Heidi was recommended by a neighbor who had just used her. She actually pointed out that my house had a large number of cracks in it to my neighbor, for which I am eternally grateful to her! Heidi pressure washed, patched and caulked the holes and then painted over them in a color that looks exactly like my original color! In the mean time, her helper did most of the painting on the drainage pipes. They worked together to come up with a solution to drainage pipe that was going along side the garage roof. They also worked together on varnishing the garage doors, in that they required taking off one hinge at a time to varnish underneath, then letting it dry, then putting the hinge back on, and so on. I told Heidi of leak created by previous plumbers who had not done a good caulk job. She even took care of that!! Fantastic!!!

Heidi was amazing. I had received quotes from 4 different companies, all on Angies list, and went with Heidi because color consultation was part of the service that she offered. I have gone very wrong with colors in the past and lived years with the unfortunate aftermath so having a color specialist on board was a huge relief. Heidi gave me great guidance in selecting colors and when they didn't look as beautifull on the wall as on the chip for two of my rooms she mixed colors until it was right. Me " it looks like a jelly bean" Heidi "I think it needs a little brown and red" now I can barely leave my bedroom I love the color so much. The painting itself is expert and she used a 0 VOC paint without complaint as I have a toddeler and wanted no fumes. Heidi worked fast and efficiently, was gentle with our things when moving and was very pleasant and comfortable to be around. She was often in the house when I wasn't there, let herself in with the key and I never had a second thought about it. Heidi has an artists eye, and charges the same as the other companies with many bonuses. I would definitely hire her again and would say get her if you can.

It went great. Be prepared: it might take longer than expected. This is not Heidi's fault. She is very meticulous about getting the technique down. It isn't always easy to transfer from a sample board to an actual wall. So, while she did great samples, when she transferred the technique to the wall, the colors were too intense and it had to be toned way down. Once she got the right balance she moved really fast, but she had to get it right before she could move forward.

Heidi has done several jobs for friends and family and always does a great job. Pays attention to detail and always gives a list of options, pros, and cons. Latest job was a kitchen and laundry room update. She performed the tasks listed above and assisted with the countertop and electrician to make sure everything got done in the right order. I had a few minor touchups after everything was complete and she came over and did them w/o any problem. I'll definitely use her again.

Heidi was awesome! We had her paint our home office. She really knows her stuff. She knows color, and products. We had some water damage on the ceiling, and not only was she was able to deal with it, she recommended a product for the roof. We had her come back to work on our concrete floors. She is our go-to gal for all painting now.

My parents have been wanting to modernize their guest bathroom in a cost effective way. A family friend referred us to Fauxtopia Studios, a company they had used previously and had only good things to say. When they met with us at the house, they recommended simply painting the bathroom cabinets with a faux to match the maple finish on the kitchen cabinets. They also recommended removing an old medicine cabinet and an old wall mirror from the 80's. They said they could then patch the walls, match the texture, apply a primer and then two semi-gloss top coats...all for $1,200 dollars, including the faux. Which they did, in a timely way and professional way.

She is an artist. She was punctual and neat. She is a little slow, but pays a lot of attention to detail. She was nice to have in the home.

We have only the highest of praise and gratitude for Heidi and her work. Through her artistic mastery, she completely transformed our home from "ho-hum" to "wow!" We are thrilled with the color, technique and overall gorgeous appearance of Heidi's faux-paint work. We have had a lot of workers help us update our home this year and Heidi was unquestionably the most talented, conscientious and hardest working of them all. We have readily recommended her to neighbors and friends who want to bring new life and beauty to their home. She has fantastic ideas and suggestions, ranging from which colors will best compliment the home to how to save money through faux paint versus complete renovation. Our home underwent a perfectly performed face lift under Heidi Luest's professional care. We are thrilled! We are attaching a few photos -- the before and after fireplace, the blue sky ceiling in our exercise room and a sample of the faux paint in the living room.

Ms. Luest was a consummate professional. For the initial consultation, she brought with her at least a half a dozen samples for the living room and three sketches for the bathroom. Everything she brought was beautiful and far exceeded the quality of previous painters I had consulted with or used in the past. The work was not only beautiful and of superior quality, but she finished the job in half the time it took anyone I've contracted with before. She mentioned she has been doing this type work for over twenty years and has an expert knowledge of materials and methods. I would highly recommend Ms. Luest to anyone. She's been the most trustworthy and responsible contractor I've ever hired.