Learn and see how faux finishing and good color placement can make a huge change in the way you feel in your own home. Let Sass guide you to make improvements and changes in your space creating the environment you have always dreamed of living in! Our company designs and installs a variety of faux finishes, faux plasters and natural plasters. We work with waxes, glazes, mica powders, metallic Plas
ters and many other mediums creating classic wall finishes as well as one-of-a-kind contemporary looks. We work in both residential and commercial settings. How many yrs in business
This spring we will celebrate 26 years in business! How did you get involved in the trades? I grew up in an artful family. My Father ran “Stiefel Painting and Decorating” and my Mother ran “D &D Design” making custom draperies. I got started in 1989 when my Father sent me to a trade school in New York called The Finishing School … no we did not learn how to walk and talk and set a table at this school, rather it was my first immersion into what would eventually become a way of life for me. Years later it was at one of such classes that I acquired my nick name … Sass, there were six Sandra’s in the class and one had to go! Six years later my daughter Sasha joined me in the business, and then a decade later I was joined by my husband Jeff who was previously a contractor. His skills fit perfectly within the business and I could then offer a more complete array of services to my clients. Any areas of specialties? Customer service is something I especially pride myself in and is the hallmark of our business. The top priority is representing our customer’s personalities in their own home, so I specialize in specific color coordination, implementing what the client already owns along with their goals for the new space. Additionally, we are happy to travel to other states to complete our client’s vacation homes. Any niche services? Yes! As a niche service and as a fabulous supplement I offer my clients design advice, color consultations and a full line of custom hand made Santambrogio Italian sofas and chairs to fully complete their new look. I am delighted to serve as the national sales director for the fine company in the U.S. and Canada. www.bestitaliansofas.com
Since you started the business have you seen a lot of growth? Yes, we have seen a market go from consumers not being aware of what a faux finish or plaster is to a very sophisticated market of well-informed consumers. This has led to increased growth as builders as well as homeowners are more informed and aware of what is available to them. We look forward each year with renewed enthusiasm and eagerly await the opportunity to try new and interesting techniques to bring personality to interior environment
What is the most interesting aspect to this job for you? In addition to meeting many wonderful people and having a very wide customer base it is most enjoyable to work with the client from the beginning and help them realize their vision for a space. I liken it to frosting a cake.... even though our work is quite hard physically we really have the fun part because we get to come in at the end and our finishes complete the space and make the house twice as beautiful as it would have been. Every time we hear "it is even more beautiful than we imagined" it makes our job and that project that much more satisfying. I’ve received more than one hug at the end of a job! What is the hardest aspect of the job for you? Timing, timing and timing! Completion dates tend to change towards the end of each project and running multiple jobs can be an extreme challenge giving each and every customer the personal attention that they need and deserve. Secondly, since many of the finishes we do are like art work on the wall, it can be subjective, sometimes a client sees color differently in a space when the project is complete then they did on the sample board or sometimes it is hard for them to project what a sample board will look like blown up in an extremely large space, but I generally find that good communication before and during the project helps alleviate most of these concerns.. What are your long-term goals? To continue offering the latest up to date cutting edge finishes, and providing our customer base with the excellent service that they have come to know us for. Growing both the cabinetry and furniture refinishing side of the business as well as my “Wall Candy” (custom art canvas offerings) that we make is also a goal for the new year. Always present is the endless goal of pursuing my art education, including further travel, (my passion!) Perhaps taking another workshop in Italy as well as continuing to complete projects in other states until we have touched all fifty states, and we are nearly half way there! Any closing comments? I see a strong future for Faux Finishes as well as natural plasters for interior and exterior walls in both residential and commercial spaces. While we are still doing many textured plasters I am excited about doing more stylized clean lined finishes that incorporate panels and other structured and linear shapes. Also motivating are the new offerings that modern technology brings to us in the way of new products every year.
