Volunteer Faux Artists Rescue Flop on Flip That House

Lake Elsinore, CA October 5, 2007 - The Brian Fisher family faced sudden devastation right in the middle of production for the popular TV show Flip That House. Fisher, Lake Elsinore, California, died suddenly from pneumonia and the episode came to a grinding halt.

After a few months of no activity on the house, author Adrienne van Dooren came to visit the widow and offer support. The author of "The House That Faux Built," van Dooren suggested to Jeanette Fisher a plan to turn the house into a Faux Flip.

In an interesting twist, the Fishers, longtime supporters of Habitat for Humanity, requested that produces of Flip That House film the usual shopping spree at a Habitat retail outlet where home remodelers can donate and buy quality used and new building supplies. This was filmed before van Dooren met Jeanette Fisher. Van Dooren rose over $50,000 for Habitat for Humanity with her book and home tours of her Faux House in Alexandria, VA.

Van Dooren arranged faux art supplies donations from Faux Masters in Yorba Linda. Local faux artists helped the Fishers finish the project, turning the flop house into "the house that love rescued." Besides the local artists, volunteers came from New York, Virginia, and Missouri to donate time, materials, and artistic talent.

Kim Schaffer, KimsKreations.com, Menifee, California, remodeled and faux finished a room that everyone thought was beyond hope. She ripped out walls, hung drywall, plastered, made frescos, painted, faux finished, painted a wall mural, put bamboo mats on the ceiling, and painted a wonderful Koi pond mural on the floor. Schaffer also worked on other rooms in the house painting murals, paintings, walls, and she even painted a design on the pool deck as well as the house number mural near the front door.

Evan Dahlke, ICPaint.com, Riverside, California, spent days faux finishing the living room ceiling to look like fine wood. He applied layers of plaster and lime paint to the walls. Evan changed the fireplace into a work of art and then he painted two paintings with Schaffer to stage the room. Dahlke also helped the other artists and helped rescue the kitchen.

Christina Johnson, ValleyFaux.com, Murrieta, California, created a fabulous waterfall bathroom that the radio interviewer fell in love with. Johnson faux painted the bathroom ceiling, walls, baseboard (featured on the book cover), and cabinets. She also hung a new shower curtain and arranged new hardware from HobKnob. Johnson helped rescue the kitchen with faux paint.

Camille Caballero, Orange County, California, applied layers of LusterStone® from FauxMasters Studio to the dining room walls.

Kari Barron, MakeASceneDesigns.com, Murrieta, California, came after the filming to transform the office into an old world wonder. She faux finished the ceiling, added a great stencil, transformed the white ceiling fan into a beautiful black and antique bronze beauty, added age to the walls with a special powder, and made shelves to display the artist flyers for the open houses.

Jennifer West, Orange County, California painted chickens in the kitchen making vegetable soup, a play on Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Although he would not call himself an artist, Dave Phillips, Super Floor Stores, Murrieta, California, mastered how to make small rooms look larger with tile design. He cut wood flooring to go around difficult, uneven walls—especially where the wall was cut out to make the opening between the living room and the dining room. And, he put carpeting in the bedrooms where the hard concrete made it almost impossible to put down the tack strips. Phillip's wife Vielka and their daughters Elizabeth and Sarah also donated time and hard labor.

Mark Mason, FauxContractor.com, Wildomar, California, a faux artist and a general contractor, worked all around the property. He jack hammered the concrete porch, supervised the new patio, cutout the block wall opening between the living room and the dining room, built a long buffet and faux finished it, helped Schaffer faux paint the dining room ceiling beams, and hung bamboo fencing. He worked all night hanging kitchen cabinets on the hard block walls.

Landscape and pond artist Chris Jackson came from Washington DC to move mountains of dirt, install sprinkles, create a barrier between the street and home, dig holes in had earth, plant vegetation from RZ Nursery, Fallbrook, California.

Robert Esch and Tim Grotefendt came from St. Louis, Missouri, to finish the landscape design and sprinklers. Esch studied landscape design and helps seniors with financial planning at WhiteMountainFinancial.com.

New Yorkers Tom Meli and Arlene Mclaughlin added laughter and love to the house. Tom worked all over the property and Arlene sent a gorgeous ceiling mural of the sky framed by bamboo flowers.

Jeanette Fisher, author of interior design textbooks and real estate investing books, wrote her first "color book" about the project featuring the artists and their faux finishes. "Flip That House with FAUX: How to Have Fun Fixing and Flipping Houses and Make More Money" was released on the same day as the show premiere: September 29. The show repeats on The Learning Channel (TLC).

Media Contact
Family Trust Publishing
Dan Woodward 951-678-3369
Jeanette Fisher 951-775-8780
http://flipthathousewithfaux.com