Preux and Proper - Los Angeles
Preux and Proper was born from a wild mash-up of over-sprayed, graffiti-covered brick. A classic site (part of the ‘historic core’ of Los Angeles)*, its potential beauty was hidden beneath layers of abuse. What began as a simple paint-and-coating project evolved into a Rubik’s Cube of intersecting challenges.
Frequent travelers to New Orleans, Preux and Proper’s owners were eager to revisit the eclectic French Quarter vibe. The exterior of the space was wonderfully suited to their vision, the decades-old brick beautifully worn. And terribly defaced by graffiti and graffiti ‘removal’, courtesy of the City (whose process consists of spraying over the graffiti with whatever color they have on hand).
Creating the look of ‘true’ distressed brick meant thinking far outside the common design ‘box’. While the build-out of the interior space went forward, the exterior was treated first by painting the sprayed-over areas with a color that matched the original bricks. With that coat, a secondary challenge became apparent: texturally, the unpainted section of brick and the painted section no longer matched. To solve this problem, each brick was hand-painted with a unique white-wash. This ‘veil’ of white-wash blended the brick colors and textures, also providing the ‘aged with elegance’ New Orleans vibe we were after.
The next challenge was the Oyster Bar. Originally built with red-toned wood, the bar was intended to have the silver-washed, pearlish appearance of an oyster shell. To eliminate the natural red tones in the wood, which were bleeding through the distressing, we bleached out and conditioned the bar, applying a custom, two-step stain to achieve the intended shimmering look.
Our final challenge was in the upstairs bar (the “Proper” section of the venue, its more modern-themed half). The bar itself is black, with light distressing, which was easily accomplished. Not as simple was the zinc bar top, which also called-out for distressing. Our team prepped the zinc for the distressing process by sanding it. An acid-wash was then applied. Finally, to give the zinc a rich, worn look, a chemical was used to bring out the patina, followed by wax, which deepened the luster.
With all the challenges, it was both a joy and a wonderful learning experience to bring Preux to Proper life!
Frequent travelers to New Orleans, Preux and Proper’s owners were eager to revisit the eclectic French Quarter vibe. The exterior of the space was wonderfully suited to their vision, the decades-old brick beautifully worn. And terribly defaced by graffiti and graffiti ‘removal’, courtesy of the City (whose process consists of spraying over the graffiti with whatever color they have on hand).
Creating the look of ‘true’ distressed brick meant thinking far outside the common design ‘box’. While the build-out of the interior space went forward, the exterior was treated first by painting the sprayed-over areas with a color that matched the original bricks. With that coat, a secondary challenge became apparent: texturally, the unpainted section of brick and the painted section no longer matched. To solve this problem, each brick was hand-painted with a unique white-wash. This ‘veil’ of white-wash blended the brick colors and textures, also providing the ‘aged with elegance’ New Orleans vibe we were after.
The next challenge was the Oyster Bar. Originally built with red-toned wood, the bar was intended to have the silver-washed, pearlish appearance of an oyster shell. To eliminate the natural red tones in the wood, which were bleeding through the distressing, we bleached out and conditioned the bar, applying a custom, two-step stain to achieve the intended shimmering look.
Our final challenge was in the upstairs bar (the “Proper” section of the venue, its more modern-themed half). The bar itself is black, with light distressing, which was easily accomplished. Not as simple was the zinc bar top, which also called-out for distressing. Our team prepped the zinc for the distressing process by sanding it. An acid-wash was then applied. Finally, to give the zinc a rich, worn look, a chemical was used to bring out the patina, followed by wax, which deepened the luster.
With all the challenges, it was both a joy and a wonderful learning experience to bring Preux to Proper life!
Country: United States
Zip Code: 90014
