Hey There!
I've been wanting to share this with you for awhile.
So, We live and love our life in this 175 year old Church/School house here in Ohio. We love this place as I said, but there are just some things with an old place with lots of character that pose some issues.
We purchased this dwelling when it was just at the end of being renovated by the previous owner. He did a beautiful job of opening it up and creating some space, but I longed for some of the sweet character of a historic home that was edited out of the reno.
One of my loves is brick. I don't believe there was ever brick in this place but it was about to happen because well, we love it.
Here was where we began...plain gray drywall and cherry cabinetry. Neither of which I would have chosen, but, not wanting to paint these cabinets just yet, I knew that brick would warm it up and relate to the wood of the floors and cabinetry.
After researching, we felt that even doing a brick veneer could add some weight and create other issues so I began to do research. There is a lot of examples out there....Here is mine. I'll share what I discovered.
Supplies,
*Long Level *Painter's Tape (Narrow)
*Measuring Tape *Pencil *Spatula
*Drywall Compound (LIghtweight)
*White Latex Primer *2" Paint Brush
*Acrylic Craft Paint colors
Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, Brown, Black
*Paper Plate *Smaller Round Brushes
*Optional - Clear Sealer (Brush on)
First, I went out in the yard and got a real brick from the landscaping and measured it. It was about 8" long and 3" wide so that was what I went with.
*I began by creating a straight line using my long level. Don't trust that your house is level. If it's not, you can fudge a bit, but create a good level line visually. I started at the backsplash and went up. I measured up 3", marked it in a couple spots and drew a line with the level.
*I taped all the horizontal lines first....measuring each line from the previous taped line.
Once they were all done, I then measured and placed a vertical piece of tape every 8"
This created my brick pattern and when it's all taped, you can get the vision of the taped lines being the grout.
The next step was so fun
*Get your Lightweight drywall compound and a flat spatula and begin to smooth on the compound into the brick spaces.
Leave high and low spots, divots and peaks. The more texture gives the final result the character. You can use plastic forks and other tools of your imagination to create texture. It's kinda fun!
*After you have each brick covered (Just go to a zen place), You can begin to gently pull the tape off to reveal your brick while the compound is still wet. This gives you the opportunity to shape any edges etc.
Take a moment and just appreciate the look. I must tell you that I left it this way for a few days, but depending on the thickness, it should dry in 24 hours.
*TIP* If you touch it and it feels cold, it's probably not dry just yet.
*I primed my brick texture with a flat primer before moving on to painting the brick.
SO, Here is where I began to contemplate...Do I want red brick?, Whitewashed? A Farmhouse look? A warehouse loft Look? The possibilities are endless. All I knew was that I wanted to have the experience, being an Artist, of creating a realistic looking red brick, but I loved the whitewashed look.
Here's what I did...
*I put several primary colors on a paper plate to create a palette. I used Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Brown, White, and Black.
*A fuzzy little brush, even a stencil brush would work and I promise anyone can do this.
* I made sure the darker colors were dabbed in the divots and just dabbed in the paint and with a stippling motion, I covered a brick, then moved on to the next, doing a different color combo each time. The brick took on the reddish brown tones due to mixing all the colors together as I went along, but it still maintained variety in each brick. So fun!
Don't worry about that grout area.
Whatever your wall color is, you'll change that grout in the end.
In the meantime,
Just enjoy the journey. You will notice changing things up as you progress.
If you have any perfectionist tendencies, this should pretty much take care of that. lol
Don't forget to create darker and lighter spots and work with those deep divots with the darks, even black and high spots with the lighter brighter moments.
It'll begin to look like a real brick in no time.
You got this!
Now, you are ready for grout.
I even got crazy and added texture to that.
*Choose your grout color
I chose a darker gray that I had on hand and took a brush that would fit into the space between the bricks ,
I added some sand to the gray paint in a cup and brushed that mixture into the spaces even getting a bit messy and going up on the brick in spots.
I have to say that the brick, as it was, was a bit dark for my taste so I decided a whitewashed vibe would be good for us.
When all was dry, I took some white paint that I had leftover from another wall project. This was Sherwin Williams Alabaster wall paint.
*Pour paint into a roller pan
- use a regular roller, keeping the paint load on the dry side meaning just load it and roll it in the pan to make sure it's not drippy and get as much of it out as possible before going to your brick
*Lightly with little pressure, roll over the texture of your brick hitting those high spots.
I found that being a bit here and there with the transparent and opaque areas gave it more interest and I liked the look of the Alabaster paint so much, I carried it onto the walls.
Make sure you step back and treat it like the art piece it is and look for areas that might need a bit more wash.
*for those areas, I changed up the texture by not using the roller and picked up the spatula again, dipped it into the paint and troweled it on like you would plaster.
All in All,
I loved the whole process!
You can use your artistic license as I did and change it up and be creative as you go, but you really can get a good textured brick look and up the visual value of a room, an accent wall, or any little spot that needs a little somethin- somethin.
for very little money, I might add.
This is a lot of look for the effort and expense.
I even did this in a Client/Friend's home recently. See that post Here
It can take on any vibe you truly want.
*TIP*
Search Pinterest, get ideas, collect photos of brick that you like and spaces that have the brick that you are drawn to.
*Be flexible and know that, in the process, magic happens and just push through and create the home in which you want to live your best life.
*Never let the excuse of cost, weight of the project, or the word..."can't" stop you from giving it a shot.
Feel free to reach out at Tina@TinaLawver.com
and I'd be thrilled to answer any questions you might have.
P.S. We are more creative than we know.
Blessings, Tina
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