“Just change the art and you’ve got a new restaurant.” At least that’s the concept Tim Dussault of The Color I in Anacortes, Wash., and his wife, Lorrisa, an interior décor color consultant, came up with for the opening of a local club called H2O.
The concept has been successfully applied, as Dussault swathed what was a former dive bar in water-related images printed on LexJet Poly Select Heavy fabric. “About once a year they normally break down and paint the walls to freshen it up. They wouldn’t have to do that anymore; all you have to do is change the art, which is a lot less labor,” explains Dussault.
To facilitate this, the majority of the prints slide into slots housed in the decorative metal header rails all around the club’s walls. There are five, 12-foot long decorative rails. Each print is about 64 inches long and almost 12 feet wide.
“The material prints really well, and I’ve been looking for other applications to use it in because it’s a sturdy, heavy products. It’s moldable, but it’s tough, unlike scrim banner that’s not as flexible,” says Dussault. “It also coated real nice when we sprayed it. Then I used our window shade product as a bottom rail to add weight to the prints. The material’s pretty thick so it’s tight in the bottom rail, but it still worked well.”
Dussault also created a gallery wrap with the Poly Select Heavy as a decorative 4×4 accent piece. “I really like stretching the fabric material; it’s easier to stretch than canvas and has a soft, tactile look to it,” says Dussault.
One problematic area that required the creative touch of the Dussault pair was the kitchen. With windows on the street looking into the bright white kitchen, it was a distraction from the adjoining club. So, Dussault teamed up with a friend who runs a sign shop and has a Roland SOLJET solvent printer to print a water graphic on LexJet Simple Adhesive Vinyl SUV – Gloss running along the windows.
“We wanted to allow light out, but wanted an eye-catching image that was consistent with the theme. And, we didn’t want to use words because we didn’t want to have to deal with sign codes. It’s really awesome at night when it’s backlit,” says Dussault.
