How to Get the Job Done in a Fraction of the Time

(ARA) – Barbie Jennings-Tolchiner, 38, of Minneapolis, Minn., is a professional painter who specializes in faux finishing. Her canvas: all the walls in a room. Her goal: a look that creates a mood.

“About ten years ago, when faux finishes started becoming big, I had a customer who wanted a faux look that was different. Everyone was using rags and sponges back then. I decided to try sheep skin, and low and behold, I got the look he wanted,” says Jennings-Tolchiner. She started using the technique at more and more job sites, and before long, had people coming to her asking how they could do it themselves.

“One thing led to another and I came up with the Woolie.” said Jennings-Tolchiner. The painting tool she created allows both do-it-yourselfers and professional painters to create a faux look that is “bold and unique,” in about a third the time it would take through traditional methods. It can use anywhere from two to six colors at a time, so projects that used to take all day to complete can now be done in just a couple of hours.

Fred and Pam Stein of Cape Cod, Mass., say it took them just three and a half hours to redecorate their dining room, hallway and kitchen. “We wanted a dramatic color blended look,” says Pam. “We did two shades of white on the top of the wall and two shades of green at the bottom, then put a border in to separate the two. The Woolie made the project just as easy as they said it would be on the box.”

“It’s true what they say. Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Jennings-Tolchiner. “I got tired of the old way, where you had to put on a base coat, then wait for it to dry and add colors one at a time, and wait for them to dry.”

Jennings-Tolchiner says the Woolie is particularly good at achieving blended looks, such as Tuscany Old World, which has a combination of rich earth tones, beiges, browns and golds. It’s also good for color blending projects like the Steins did, and the mixed texture looks of suede and granite.

Pam Stein says she and her husband decided to use the Woolie because their walls weren’t in very good shape and they didn’t want to take the time to make repairs. “We had torn down wall paper and the wall had imperfections. We just painted over what was there and it came out great.”

Painting walls isn’t the Woolie’s only practical use. It also comes in handy for finishing projects in the kitchen and bath. “I’ve decorated shower curtains, furniture, cabinetry, fabrics and home accents such as picture frames and accent boxes with the Woolie,” says Jennings-Tolchiner.

The Woolie tool retails for under $15. There are also several Woolie Decorative Painting Kits on the market that sell for between $20 and $30.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site: www.woolie.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

Views: 1