St. Louis, MO - When plans were drawn up to renovate a branded hotel in Calabasas, CA, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles, into a boutique hotel called The Anza, the focus was on creating a modern design and contemporary decor with a casual vibe. They used phrases like "casual, but timeless" and "modern, but comfortable" to describe their hotel vision. They also called for a distressed, grayed-out wood finish to be used on the bar's millwork to achieve the desired look and feel.

Under the direction of California-based general contractors Comren, Inc., Merric Millwork and Seating implemented a defining grain technique, called cerusing, in the hotel's new bar on the panels, columns and die walls to create the distressed effect. A technique that opens the wood pores so that the wood grain stands out, Merric performed the custom cerusing process on each piece by hand.

The process begins by sanding each piece, then "scratching" the wood's surface with a wire brush, going with the grain, to create the distressed effect. Merric then stained, sealed, scuffed and glazed each piece before adding a double top coat. The process, while tedious, helped to achieve the owner's vision for a casual, but modern hotel.

"We are seeing an increase in requests for custom finishes like cerusing," said Merric CEO Dan Claypool. "There are also fewer and fewer woodworking shops like ours with the capabilities and the expertise to do this type of work on a large scale."

Merric also crafted the hotel's front desk, computer stand, sundries area, coffee/condiment station, cafe bar, wall panels, fireplace mantle and wood slat screen walls.

About Merric

Merric Millwork and Seating is a leading custom woodwork and seating manufacturer based in St. Louis, MO. With 24+ years of experience, Merric specializes in the design, manufacture and installation of custom architectural woodwork, millwork, upholstered booth seating, custom cabinetry, tables, podiums, POS fixtures and deco walls for the restaurant, hospitality, healthcare and education industries. Merric also fabricates all solid surface and plastic laminate countertops, toilet partitions and vanities from its 50,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, complete with two specialized finishing booths for superior finishes on all types of wood and metal. For more information about Merric, visit www.merric.com or call 314-378-8968. Finish with the Best!

Source: Merric Millwork and Seating