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by Diane Capuano, executive editor

Born to Paint
Sandra Lassley, fondly known as Sass, was destined to be a
decorative painter from the moment she opened her first can of glitter.
Did we mention she was only four or five at the time?

A closeup of the four-sided bar.


(Rec room, bar and kitchen photos
by Christopher Ruhaak, Heartland
Photos & Design)

If you ask Sandra Lassley what


inspired her to be a profes-
sional decorative painter, she
will refer you to her early
childhood days in Omaha, Nebraska.
Sass used four different finishes on this four-sided bar: a copper leaf for the top sof-
fit; a glazed bronze metallic for the second soffit; a saddle leather plaster finish look
with a custom copper leaf wave running the full length of the bar; and a copper leaf
ceiling on the interior bar ceiling (the latter, not visible in photo). Sass won a first-
Back then, she was little Sandra
place honor at the 2006 Fauxcademy Institute of Decorative Finish Awards for this pro-
Stiefel, and she thought her dad,
ject, which also features the saddle leather on the walls of the surrounding rec room.
Marlin Stiefel, had one of the best
jobs in the world. years old, and every day, I got to open she has known for many years what
“My dad was a painting contractor, up this big can of glitter. It was won- she was born to do: “I was born to
and he used to spray glitter derful, and to this day, I am paint,” she says.
on ceilings,” says Sandra, known as the glitter queen. Even more specifically, she feels
who is widely and fondly I love glitter and metallic.” she was born to own her own deco-
known in the industry as Her childhood days rative painting company. She’s al-
Sass. “I was four or five helped Sass formulate an ways had great entrepreneurial skills
early understanding of her and had run other businesses before
Sandra Lassley—fondly destiny. Some people are she ever started her faux-finishing
known as Sass—reports that born to write great novels. business, Fe Fi Faux Studios, Inc.,
the word “can’t” is not in her Some are born to compose which is based in Omaha.
vocabulary. She adores her inspiring music or direct To say that painting is in Sass’s
job and lives to create. epic movies. In Sass’s case, blood is certainly no overstatement.

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elaborate art projects,” she recalls.
“We would pull all of these great
things out of a closet and see what we
could do with them.”

Is it “Fo” or “Faux”?
Sass’s first exposure to decorative
painting occurred when she married
at a young age and her father helped
her paint her home. It was all done as
straight painting, and Sass could tell
immediately that her home needed
more pizzazz. “I knew something
was missing, so I began to read dec-
orating books—whatever I could get
my hands on,” she explains. “I start-
ed doing classical sponging around
my home, and then I really got into
Southwest. All of my shirts had tri-
angles on them.”
But Sass’s first real experience with
professional decorative painting oc-
curred sometime later, when her father
was asked to participate in a local Pa-
rade of Homes project. He requested
Sass’s help in doing the entryway, but
she had the smarts to recognize that
she would need professional training
to do the job justice. She convinced her
father to send her to New York to take
a class at The Finishing School, which
at the time was under the direction of
industry icon Ina Marx. Her sister
went with her because her father didn’t
The fine leather look on these staircase walls was achieved through a multiple
faux-finishing process. The crew completed 30,000 square feet of this finish.
want her to be alone in New York.
(Photo by Jeffrey Bebee) “I was literally at my first class
before I ever heard the word ‘faux,’ ”
Not only was her father a painter, but had entrepreneurial tendencies. She Sass recalls. “I remember writing in
her four uncles also became painting started out as a seamstress and cus- my notes ‘F-O-Question Mark.’
contractors as well. In fact, one of tom-designed many of Sass’s clothes That was 1989. When I came home,
her uncles was a partner in her fa- as a child, even making the patterns, Fe Fi Faux Studios was born, and I
ther’s business, Stiefel Painting & and then later went on to run her own never looked back.”
Decorating. Marlin Stiefel lived in custom drapery business. While Sass Sass did the entryway for the Pa-
South Dakota, but moved his family got her love of painting from her rade of Homes, creating a stunning
to Nebraska to start that business dad, she got her attention to detail fantasy marble. “Hundreds of people
with his sister and brother-in-law. In from her mother. “She was so fussy went through that home, and my
addition to opening cans of glitter, that she even washed our shoelaces,” phone started ringing off the hook,”
Sass has other fond memories of the Sass reports. she states. “Then, my friends would
business, including riding around in Adding to her well-rounded child- ask me to do finishes in their homes.
the company van and accompanying hood, Sass spent her summers with They would have parties, and more
her father on painting projects. her grandmother, who was a teacher. people would see what I had done,
Sass’s mother, meanwhile, also “We would do these unusual and and then I’d get even more calls.”

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Her father, who had already
been in the painting business for
25 years, was just as excited
about the faux phenomenon as
Sass was. “He saw all of this as
the wave of the future,” she re-
calls. “He helped me out so
much. He would send out his
guys to tape and clean up. I was
two years into the business be-
fore I taped anything myself.”
Tragically, Sass’s father died
of a heart attack at the age of
51—just two years after Sass had
started her business. “He died
just as my business was taking
Another of Sass’s Fauxcademy first-place winners for 2006, this kitchen has plastered
off,” Sass says wistfully. “He walls featuring an Old World Anaglypta relief finish.
didn’t live to see what it would
become.” Miss Congeniality
As part of her goal to better her Kelly also helped Sass dis-
business, Sass continued to educate cover the importance of indus-
herself. She went to some of the try networking. She attended
most prestigious schools around the the debut of Kelly’s innovative
country, including the Miller-Wage- awards program, the Fauxcad-
naar Art School of Chicago, and she emy of Decorative Finishes,
also took additional classes at The which was held in 2002 in Key
Finishing School, where she gained West, Fla. And while she
an important understanding of the wasn’t an award winner that
Munsell Color System. year, she still came home with
Coincidentally, one of the indus- the valuable reward of getting The kitchen project, shown in closeup: The
try’s most respected schools, run by to know many other decorative Anaglypta papers are colored, hand-torn and
applied in various areas, then plaster is skip-
Kelly S. King, was right in her own painters. She’s been an enthu-
troweled over the wall and some also over the
back yard of Omaha, Neb. “I even- siastic networking advocate
top of the papers, giving them a worn-with-
tually took all of Kelly’s classes, and ever since, and her bubbly per-
time, broken-away effect.
he has become a close personal sonality certainly makes her a
friend,” reports Sass. memorable personality in the
When asked about Sass, Kelly industry.
replies, “The best word you could “Everyone who knows me
use to describe Sass would be pas- calls me the Miss Congeniali-
sion. She is passionate about life, ty of Faux Finishing,” Sass
and that certainly comes through in says. “If I haven’t met you, I
the enthusiasm she has toward pleas- want to. Meeting other artists
ing her clients as well as in her fin- is so important. After all, art is
ished masterpieces.” all about sharing.”
As it turned out, Kelly taught Sass Sass also is enthusiastic
a few important business skills over about communicating online
the years. “He was the one who con- with other artists and being Another kitchen closeup, this one highlighting a
vinced me to show the next level of part of an online community. treatment on the oak cabinets, which were coat-
finishes, no matter where you think She is a frequent contributor to ed with two coats of brown tinted primer fol-
the client’s budget is. I grew my busi- KSKInstitute.com and also par- lowed by two coats of metallic bronze paint,
ness by 35 percent the first month af- ticipates in the Talk Faux/House sprayed by Sass’s uncles Ken and Nick Stiefel,
ter he told me that,” she reports. of Faux online community followed by a black embedded glaze technique.

SPRING2OO7 TheFAUXFinisher 9
Sass and crew elsewhere. “We’ve
done work in 11 states,” Sass reports.
“We recently completed two large
projects in Arizona. Sometimes I get
an out-of-state project because the
designers and clients I work with
have second homes in other states.”

A Family Affair
And just who are the members of
the “crew” that work alongside Sass
in the business? They are none oth-
er than her husband, Jeff, and their
daughter, Sasha. Sass is pleased that
Sasha has followed her footsteps—
and those of Sass’s father—into a
Fe Fi Faux Studios participated in this “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project,
involving the creation of a mural depicting intertwining trees to symbolize two
families coming together. (Photo by Alan L. Jackson)

(www.talkfaux.com, www.houseoffaux. Sass reports. “My clients are so


com). “This is a great way to share and pleased that they are always happy to
get quick answers to technical ques- refer us to someone else, and when
tions that inevitably arise,” she says. we leave, we always get a hug.”
But nothing beats those in-person Most of Fe Fi Faux’s work is resi-
contacts, and that’s why Sass was a dential, but the business also does its
return visitor to the 2004 and 2006 share of commercial, including day
These boots were made for
Fauxcademy events, both of which spas, doctor’s offices and other pub-
fauxin’…and that’s just what she
took place in Las Vegas. She enjoyed lic spaces. While most of the work is did. Sass created this imitation animal
working closely with Kelly in de- for Omaha and surrounding envi- skin and gets compliments every time
signing themes (Pirates’ Night and rons, sometimes a project will take she wears them.
a Masquerade Ball) for the
elaborate parties at the past painting career. “I’m a second-gener-
two Fauxcademy events. ation painter, and she’s third-genera-
It was in 2006 that she won tion,” Sass says proudly.
her first Fauxcademy of Deco- Just like Sass herself, Sasha grew
rative Finishes award, and then up in the business. “She did her home-
was delighted when she won a work in my workroom,” Sass reports.
second award just a few min- “As part of her training, I’ve been ask-
utes later. She also attended the ing her opinion about things since she
Faux Event for the first time in was 8 years old. I would show her col-
2006 and plans to become ac- or samples and ask which carpet she
tive in SALI. thought went with what sample and
Sass’s vibrant personality, why. She has her mother’s eye for de-
coupled with her interior de- tail and is now a master finisher who
sign and painting skills, are the enjoys designing finishes of her own.”
key reasons that she has earned Sasha has been officially part of
so many satisfied customers the business for eight years, whereas
for Fe Fi Faux Studios. In fact, Jeff teamed up with his wife about
repeats and referrals are what six years ago. “He has a background
drive the business. “We never Sass works in her business with husband Jeff in graphic design,” Sass reports.
have to do any advertising,” and daughter Sasha. “For a while, he had his own con-

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tracting business, and he used to
hang drywall. His skills match up
perfectly with our needs. He’s a mas-
ter woodworker and also a trim car-
penter. Now he works as a finisher
right along with me. It’s worked out
wonderfully, because where one of
us is weak, the other is strong.”
Sass’s son, Sage, isn’t a finisher,
but he does bring his considerable
computer skills to the family endeav-
or. He’s currently in college, but al-
ready has helped the business by de-
signing and maintaining the company
Web site (www.fefifauxstudios.com).
Whereas the business has had oth- Fe Fi Faux effectively uses the Anaglypta finish on a ceiling to crown this lovely
er employees at one time or another, master bedroom.
Sass is very happy with the current portion of the show called “Ty’s Se- out of the house all of the time. “It
family trio doing all of the work. cret Room.” Of course, the “Ty” in was November, so it was 22 degrees
“We’re big enough to move in a this case refers to the enormously outside, and it was simply freezing
timely manner, but still small enough popular host of the ABC-TV pro- because they had to keep the front
to get into a bedroom,” she says. gram, Ty Pennington. Sass and crew door open,” Sass states. “We worked
There also is another aspect of the didn’t work with Ty specifically, but in the house for nine hours, body to
working relationship that Sass en- they did work closely with the pro- body, doing detailed handwork in
joys, and that’s the ability to spend gram’s head muralist, Nancy Hadley. two colors. However, the people on
so much time with her husband and “We did the mural, even though the program treat you so well. They
daughter. “Everybody asks how you for the most part we do very little bring you pizza, coffee and Red
can work with your family, and I will mural work,” Sass reports. “No tape Bull. And eventually, of course,
admit that sometimes it can be chal- could be used, and we had to work everything gets done.”
lenging, but the rewards are definite- with flat paint over flat paint.” Of course, the project was com-
ly worth it,” she says. “Being a fam- Sass recalls that the project was a pleted for no compensation, but Sass
ily business, we have an inside joke bit of a challenge, given that there and her family do that type of thing on
about everything. We have a good were so many workers going in and a regular basis. “We try to do several
time, and my husband and I get to
spend much more time with our
daughter than we otherwise would.”

An ‘Extreme’ Experience
One of the most recent experi-
ences that the family enjoyed to-
gether was participation in a mural
project that was featured in the pop-
ular ABC-TV program, “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition” project.
The project took place in Lincoln,
Neb., just a short drive from Omaha.
A local manufacturer had recom-
mended the studio for the project,
which involved a painted depiction
of intertwining trees to show two
families growing together. Sass created this dramatic wine grotto for Gregg Classon as a surprise from his
The project was created for the wife, Sharon.

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Initially, she was surprised to learn
that not only was she born to paint, but
she also was a born salesperson—and
that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
“It came to me that when a client
wanted one room, I could sell two
rooms. When they wanted two rooms,
I could sell four rooms,” Sass reports.
“And the clients were actually happy
with me for doing that. I wasn’t do-
ing anything wrong. It’s called ‘sell-
ing,’ and that’s part of what we do.”
Sass also keeps in mind that a
client who calls her is already in the
mood to buy. “When I go into a
home, I keep my ears open,” she says.
“My mouth may be running, but I am
Sass was commissioned to create an explosion of color for this dining room dome. always listening, ready to interpret
their ideas into a fabulous finish.”
volunteer projects every year,” she re- happens to encompass…her entire Now in her 18th year of business,
ports, citing work she has done for the home! “Most of my clients are from Sass hopes to continue her decora-
Symphony Showcase House and “In- Nebraska, so they can tend to be tive painting career for a long, long
spirations and Innovations,” which conservative,” she says. “They have time. She realized that was possible
features a tour of designer homes. to see it to know that they’ll want it. after taking a course in Totem lime
With a sample board, they can’t nec- plasters at Scott Porter’s Twin Cities
Total Commitment essarily visualize how the finish will Faux Finishing Institute in Min-
Of course, most of Fe Fi Faux’s look on a wall with the corners, the neapolis/St. Paul. While there, she
time is spent devoted to the studio’s edges and the baseboards. When met Scott Porter’s mother (Eleanor),
paying clients. Sass reveals that one they walk through my home, they who is still an active faux finisher.
of the secrets to her business’ success can see all of that.” “She’s 77 years old, but she looks
is “total commitment to the client.” While some may lament the inva- 50 and acts 30,” Sass reports. “She
As she explains, “My ultimate goal is sion of privacy, Sass doesn’t see that started faux finishing at age 66, which
to guide them to the finish and the as a problem at all. “We consider it a is incredible inspiration for someone
color that is right for them. I could do full-size model that illustrates what in their 40s like me who is wonder-
a million things to make a wall look we can do,” she says. “The whole ing, ‘How long can I do this?’ Hope-
fabulous, but I have to be concerned house has a flow to it, and that’s an- fully, I can be an inspiration to people
about the entire room. I have to con- other reason why we get so many full in their 20s who are just trying to get
sider the whole scheme and consider, house projects.” their business off the ground, but peo-
‘It may be a great wall, but does it go Some of those full house projects ple like me who’ve been in business
with the rest of the room?’ ” can really be quite extensive. For in- for 20 to 25 years can take inspiration
As part of her total commitment, stance, she recalls one major residen- from Eleanor. She gives me hope that
Sass will even shop for accessories tial project that involved more than I can keep doing what I’m doing un-
to make sure the room has a com- 30,000 square feet of finishes. “One til I’m her age.”
pleted look. This is the type of thing ceiling in the home took just under If she puts her mind to it, there’s
that makes for satisfied clients. “The five hours, and since we had to keep no reason to think that Sass will fall
week that we are with them, they are a wet edge, no break was allowed!” short of that goal. “My motto is any-
the center of our universe,” Sass Sass recalls. thing is possible, and since the pos-
says. “This the kind of commitment Sass admits that many times she sibilities are endless, I think it’s im-
that has landed us so many whole will go to a client who wants to finish portant that we continually spread
house projects.” only a few walls and walk away with our wings and try new things,” she
Another key to the business’ suc- a commission to do several rooms and says. “That’s what I’m out there do-
cess is Sass’s full-size portfolio that not only the walls but also the ceilings. ing every single day.” TFF

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