Faux Brick Wall

Redecorating, it can be fun and also overwhelming with all of the options and decisions. My living room is small and the walls are pretty boring, aside from the bright teal. I’m done with teal and ready for a shabby country cottage. It needs character and charm, something fresh but aged. The room really needed a focal point, other than a television. I love the look of painted brick, preferrably shades of white, maybe a whitewashed look. I’m in the mood for a creative challenge, so we’ll see where this ride goes.

After checking on some of the faux brick panels, I didn’t like the repetition in the pattern and I was worried about the seams being visible. I also wanted the edges to wrap around the corners of the wall. I saw the brick wallpaper and that was a bigger no than the paneling. There are some great painting techniques that have the illusion of dimension, but I wanted to be able to touch the wall and feel brick. All applications have their place, but I wanted this brick wall to be believable.

I found the technique that would give me all of that and at half the cost of the brick paneling! It’ll give the look and feel of brick and the textures and color will not be in a pattern. Basically, all that’s needed is 3/8″ masking tape, joint compound and paint. First, I needed to figure out what size bricks I would like to see and what layout was appealing. I looked up brick walls online and scrolled until one jumped out at me. I loved how one row had longer bricks and the next row had shorter bricks. After deciding on two different sizes:  8 1/2″ x 2 1/4″ and 4″ x 2 1/4″, I used a tape measure and level to mark the grout lines. I wanted to make sure my lines were fairly straight and level. I carefully place my tape. This was the most tedious and time consuming part of the project, but I was really happy with the pattern I chose.

The next step is spreading the joint compound. I used a metal flooring trowel, because that’s what I had on hand. You can use whatever you’re comfortable using. I’m comfortable not spending more money if I don’t have to!

You can play around a little bit with the texture you want to achieve, whether you like your bricks to look rough or smooth. You can also use a wet sponge to create a different texture. You can even press leaves or shells into your compound at this point. Get as creative as you like! Mine resembled stucco and I liked it. Once your joint compound is completely applied, you can carefully pull off the tape. This is a bit messy, but fun!

Now you play a waiting game and let the joint compound dry completely. This can take several days, depending on how hot and humid it is. I knew by the sweat dripping down my back it was going to take a few days for mine and it did. The really fun part is painting the “brick and mortar.” You can use whatever colors make you happy. I started by giving mine a coat of country white to cover the teal lines. It needs another coat. As you can see, this technique using joint compound allowed the bricks to wrap around the corners of the wall. I’m already in love!

I like the rough look of the “bricks,” but I decided to clean them up with a chisel to give them a softer look and feel. I pass these corners often and I’ll be straight, my elbow caught the corner a few times and it burned like hell. If I left it as rough as the above pictures, my elbows would be skinned on the daily. If you just want to clean them up a little bit, you could use sandpaper. Do whichever you desire!

After using another coat of country white, I was then going to dab shades of gray and terra cotta onto the bricks with a sponge, then whitewash the brick with watered down country white. But once I stood back and looked at the solid country white, I decided to wait and wear it for awhile. Maybe I’ll add some color later, but for now, I’m calling it done. It adds texture and character to a boring wall. I love it!