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Thursday, November 5, 2015

Faux Brick Wall Tutorial

I had a wall inside my space at Rusty Saturday that just did not make me happy. I didn't like the color or the lack of texture so I decided to change it. I love the look of old crumbling brick walls so I thought I would give that a try. Here it is all finished inside Rusty Saturday. I am really happy with the way it turned out and I thought some of you might enjoy doing this in your own booth space or even on an accent wall in your home.

 I started with panels that I purchased at Lowes. This is what they look like and let's face it... they aren't very attractive or real looking. I laid it out on a drop cloth on the floor. I needed to complete the panels at my home and then install at the store. If you are doing this in your house, and are going to need more than one panel width, I would recommend putting the paneling up first, and then painting.

 I just used the paint I had already at home. One was a semi gloss and one was a flat. Both worked fine. I think you will want a light creamy color. I also used black and old ochre (because that is what I had in house) but you will only use a tiny bit of those colors.

I painted a couple of rows with my light colored paints including the "grout" lines.

 Then I used a damp rag to remove a lot of the paint...

...and a dry brush to soften the lines left by the rag.

 As you are working your way down the panel, take another rag and further remove some of the paint on random bricks so that more of the red shows through. Let it dry. (It dries REALLY FAST)

 Then I got out my black and ochre colored paints.

 I started at the top of the panel again and added the black paint to random bricks.

 Then I used the creamy white or ochre to blend it a little bit.

I did the same with the ochre color, adding it to random bricks to give more variation of color.

Once the paint was dry again, I started adding the joint compound. You can find it at any home improvement store.

 I used a putty knife and just started smearing it randomly over the bricks. 

 Use as much or as little as like to get your desired effect. It's messy, but it cleans up really easily. I even used my hands to spread some it.

 This is the panel all dry and ready to be put up. The joint compound dries much whiter than it looks when it is wet.

After I hung the panels in the shop (with the help of my darling hubby) I decided they were too white and cool looking. I went back the next day and sprayed coffee all over the panel. Light in some areas and heavier in others. You can see the areas where I sprayed it on the left side of this photo. The water in the coffee made the joint compound soft again, but after it dried,  it was nice and hard again.

As I said, I am really happy with the finished results.

If you decide to try this, let me know if you have any questions.I'm happy to help if I can!

15 comments:

Sandi Magle said...

Great job, and yes coffee=warm tan or tea=yellowed with age---will make anything look old. I used to sell tons of already spotted linens, tea dyed...to make them look old, why not walls. Grins, great post, Sandi

Sandy said...

Adore this look, thanks for the how-to. This might just solve a problem I have with an area I wanted to cover in my camper! Can you tell me if the panels are heavy or are they more light weight?

Mari Mora said...

Espectacular, me parece una gran idea y con un resultado magnífico.
Un saludo

Lady Locust said...

It looks great. Love that mirror too:)

Jacqueline~Cabin and Cottage said...

A ton of work, but what a nice result! Makes me want to give it a go.

Lesley UK said...

Wow! What a wonderful result. I love it, (don't know if I'd have the patience to do it) but it looks just great. Well done. Blessings

Christine LeFever said...

What a cool idea, Karen. A lot easier than stenciling bricks onto a surface, which I have done. Thank you for sharing your wonderful how-to!

This N That said...

That looks great..W0nderful job..Where have you been???

Burlap Luxe said...

Love the brick look, and have been looking into trying this in my home. I am up for the challenge when it's a great creative look.
Love the back drop for your vignettes.

Have a great weekend.
Xx
Dore

Tins and Treasures said...

Hi, Karen,
I love the finished look! Take care ~Natalie

Karen@Southern Gal Meets Midwest said...

Very Nice, what a creative way to add warmth and texture to a wall. Thanks for sharing with us.
Karen

Maria Elena said...

Beautiful project. Looks gorgeous!

Heidi said...

Love this, and it looks like a lot of fun and ability to create something personal.

Rhonda said...

You are SIMPLY amazing! Fearless and inspiring!

Tea in the Library said...

Great idea. I'm thinking this would make a good backdrop of a faux fireplace at Christmas.

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