I’ve always been a sucker for exposed brick. I don’t know if its my love of old homes and buildings; but it was those little things that gave them character. I always knew I would have exposed brick in my home I just didn’t know when until a happy accident.
**This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you**
But first, a short commercial break:
Before we bought the house the living room was originally a carport. The previous owners closed it in for the grandmother so she could teach ballroom dancing….yes I said that. So, the main wall is actually an outside wall hence the brick.
Back to our scheduled program:
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that my dog was wanting exposed brick as well since one night we came home to a HOLE in the wall. To this day we don’t know why she chewed a hole in the wall. She never did it before and she not so much as a scratch at the walls after.
Like I said… She was rooting for mama and mama secretly gave her treats as a thank you after.
And so it began. Let me start off by saying we did this project over 4 years ago so the pictures are not that great.
We tore down the sheet rock; studs (but I left my husband standing LOL); and all the screws that were underneath down to the bare brick and that’s where my husband bowed out. Leaving me with a fresh canvas which I knew exactly what I was going to do.
First, I scrubbed down the brick with a wire brush to get any left behind debris; washed the wall with soap & water; and a damp rag.
LET IT DRY COMPLETELY. This is very important!
I knew I was going to use plaster so I used Structo-Lite plaster:
When you mix up Structo-Lite it has the consistency of wet concrete but just a little firmer. It applys grey in color but turns white when it dries. Make sure when you apply it you apply it spotty; you want it to look as if it was broken off and left behind. I also made sure and applied it heavy around the edges of the doorway, the window, and flooring.
This is being an outside wall I had to bring the plaster up higher from the floor to cover the grates and where the brick stops since our house has a raised foundation. I let that completely dry for about 24-48 hours (till it was completely white).
**I’m sorry to say that I can’t find anymore pics of the rest of what I did (as I said the project was done a few years ago); so I will have to explain the rest without.**
I then diluted Kiltz paint and did a wash over the entire wall; I did a 2:1 ratio of water to paint.
Once dry I proceeded to take a wire brush and scrubbed over the entire wall lightly not hard. I also picked out a few bricks that I scrubbed the wash almost completely off of that I wanted to stand out. This is where you are going to give your wall the character you’re looking for; do this a few times and stand back as you do a little here and there.
Once you have the look you’re going for you will give it another once over with a soft brush (I used a dry paint brush) to get the dust off. THIS IS ALSO IMPORTANT. If you skip this step then when you wash it again with water and a rag it’s just going to give it another whitewashed look and all your scrubbing will be for nothing…crying will ensue. I actually washed it down a couple times for good measure. Then clear coat it; any clear coat will work (I used a shiny finish) it gave it character and that’s what we’re after isn’t?
I finished it off with pieces of family pictures and art I’ve collected. I’m still going to add some plants to some of the open spots once the plant holders come in but other than that I think it turned out beautiful!
I must say it’s one of my favorite things to date in my home. I’m sure that will change as we finish more projects but it will definitely be at the top of the list!
Beautiful job! So inspiring!