In these tough economic times, renovating one’s home is troublesome. So why go full-blown when you can go faux? The exterior paint design of one Pacific Beach house, located on two lots at Jewell and La Playa streets, is a mere optical illusion. Owner Antoinette Kiriaze wanted to improve the exterior aesthetic without paying a hefty price. Bringing back her European roots to the West Coast, she found fellow Grecian and established scenic artist Kleo Kourakli for the job. Kourakli’s work has improved the building’s property value with just a few brush strokes. “The house needed improvement and instead of making a real renovation that would cost them a lot more money, they decided to make this kind of faux painting that cost less [and saved them time],” Kourakli said. In San Diego less than a year, Kourakli had made her mark on restaurants, residential spaces (both interior and exterior) and bars all over Greece — imitating underground caves, seaside balcony views and stone walls with paint. Innovative and personal, her work on the Pacific Beach home features faux stone borders and hardware store blinds that were designed with Europe in mind. Kiriaze, another native Grecian who has been in San Diego for two decades, said the design paralleled those in her home country. “I always like to do something unique. It was an opportunity to do something that wasn’t just plain color,” Kiriaze said. She found Kourakli’s designs appealing when she sighted them abroad, and commissioned the artist once back in the States. With these type of renovations, home owners “can give their houses a fresh feeling in a few day’s time, without having all the mess that a real renovation would produce,” Kourakli said. Kourakli studied scenic art in Paris and Greece, and has seen her work face facades, store front inlets and homes all over the world. Find Kourakli’s work in other local spaces like Cafe Athena and La Jolla Costa Verde Plaza’s Apollonia Greek Bistro.