Interior Design in Naples Fl.?
Decorative wall art (faux finishing) or Wallpaper
Which is better for SWFL?
The question does concern home owners, Interior Designers a few Decorative Artists and Paper hangers but when it comes to the decorative arts and interior designs in Naples & Southwest Fl. most would agree that they all have their pro’s and con’s, but the who?, what?, why?, and how?, are of concern.
Here in Naples and SWFL it gets and stays humid for the majority of the year and even though most homes stay acclimated (air conditioned) there are still humid conditions that are created and present in the home from hot tubs, spas, hot showers, baths, pool baths, and a number of other sources that create these types of conditions that can have ill effects on wall papers and their adhesives and other decorative wall finishes depending on what is used where, when, why and by whom.
The reason I say this is because often times in interior design a wallpaper may be chosen over hand painted Wall Art such as murals, ornamental designs, decorative faux finishes, because of costs and/or other reasons seams of some wallpapers that are accessible to moisture to where mold and mildew can actually grow underneath the wallpaper itself..
The other unfortunate thing about wallpaper is the time and labor needed to strip and remove it which could lead to other issues (see To Prime or Not to Prime) when it comes time to replace it and add to the costs later. With today’s decorative arts and the innovation of recent water borne systems the majority of the simple faux finishing techniques can be just painted over without any extra costs.
I do know of course some believe that decorative wall art is more expensive than wallpaper but this is just one of the many myths about “faux finishing” that have come up over the last ten to twenty years. Ironically the term contradicts itself to the point of having some believe that the artists who label themselves as faux finishers has become demeaning and a lower type of art form which just anyone can do with a 2 or 3 hour class at the local big box or paint store (See article Not Faux Finishing?) and of course is not true at all.
There are many seasoned experienced artisans that paint decoratively who can accommodate Interior Designers and home owners with these cost effective wall designs without breaking the bank so to speak. However there are the less expensive and inexperienced installers who are of course not as versatile and as experienced in the color and/or design aspects of these lower cost type of wall art that are generally being done by painting contractors that are quite good actually but are limited to choosing and combining colors. After all knowing color theory is an art and like everything else takes years to master so you really have to know what your end needs are before hiring the right kind of artisan and/or painter for what you want for an end result. The less experience then of course the more they will not be able to fill your expectations.
You can’t expect a 5 year experienced faux finisher to give you a 20 year decorative artisans results at a lesser cost it just is not going to happen.
However the costs are going to be close to the same except the more experienced and trained artisan is going to be higher than if you were to just hire a painting contractor. This is where the market is at these days as more and more painters learn the simpler finishes however you will experience more inconveniences as you are not dealing with the more versatile artisan type of decorative artists either.
Hopefully I covered this well enough without creating a massive amount of hate mail bombarding my email account as I have been known to do on occasion but sometimes the truth hurts and needs to be said by someone, just don’t shoot the messenger.