How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall
Sam Lutz • June 17, 2014
Faux brick can be used to dress up any room a classic, old-world appearance. The method described here is the sponge-stamp method. With this method, you’ll use a brick-shaped sponge stamp to form a pattern on your wall.
Gather all your materials before beginning, so you can work uninterrupted until the project is finished.
Materials:
- Painter’s tape
- Tarps
- 4 or 5 Rectangular sponges
- 1 Natural sponge
- Scissors
- Cutting knife
- Latex house paint (colors and quantities vary, but when choosing standard brick colors, we recommend two or three shades of dark brown-red for the brick, and at least two shades of gray or beige for the mortar)
- Paint brushes and paint rollers
- Paint tray (two is best)
Instructions:
- Prepare the wall. Start by wiping down the wall and removing any dust or spider webs. Clear the area around the wall by removing furniture in the immediate vicinity, and cover the floor with tarps. Use painter’s tape to secure the tarps and block off the portion of the wall you plan to faux paint.
- Paint the wall the color of the mortar, using a roller and paint brush. If you picked two shades for the mortar, paint the wall in whichever shade is darker. When the wall is dry, use the natural sponge to lightly dab at the wall with the lighter shade you picked for the mortar. This will give the mortar a natural textured appearance. When the wall is sufficiently dappled with two shades of paint, allow the wall to dry.
- Use the scissors and the cutting knife to make the rectangular sponges into brick-shaped stamps. This will take some experimentation. Start by cutting a sponge stamp that has a rectangular face 8 inches wide and 2 ¾ inches high.
- To find out what this stamp will look like on your wall, try dipping the sponge into the paint and applying the stamp to a sheet of scratch paper. Remember to wipe excess paint from the stamp before applying it to the surface of the paper. Then, examine the stamp on the paper and adjust the stamp based on your observations. To achieve the look of an older brick, try rounding the edges of the rectangle. Then, subtly shave the edges of the rectangle so they appear to be irregular and time-worn.
- Make more than one brick stamp to use on your wall. You’ll want to switch back and forth between two or three full-sized brick stamps to give your pattern a varied and realistic appearance. You’ll also need to make a half-brick to use at the edges of the wall.
- Stamp the wall with your sponge stamps. This is the fun part! Use your sponge stamps to apply the pattern to the wall. Do this in an organized fashion, stamping row after row of brick in the same way you would read lines of a page. Start from the right edge of the wall and move to the left edge. When you get to the left edge of the wall, move down a line and begin again. Some tips:
- Leave about a half inch between bricks and between rows
- Remember that every other row of brick will begin with a half-brick shape
- Wipe off excess paint from the sponge before applying the stamp to the wall
When this is done, the brick wall should be nearly finished. Wait for the paint to dry, then use your natural sponge to add some texture to the brick by dappling the stamped shapes with lighter or darker shades brown-red paint. For further reference, please watch this helpful video:
Other Methods
Like so many things, there’s more than one way to paint a faux brick wall, so you can pick the method that sounds right for you. If you’re interested in exploring other methods, this blog called Master of None has an excellent step-by-step record
of how one person used blue painter’s tape to form brick shapes on an interior wall. Alternatively, Craft Passion describes a much more complex textured brick wall project, wherein the artist used polystyrene foam and wood panels to create a three-dimensional faux brick wall.
Not sure if faux brick is right for you? Houzz.com has some wonderful examples
of the ways that other people use faux brick in their homes. If you’re considering painting faux brick in your home and would like more ideas and advice, stop in at Ace Paints. We’d like to help you with all your house-painting projects.
There are all kinds of wooden furniture: modern, antique and everything in between. We’ve talked about style differences, but what about how it’s made and what it’s made of? Is there a large difference between the wood furniture of today and yesterday?
Colors are so fascinating. They make us feel, they help us express how we feel. The right colors can really set the mood in a room, or on an outfit. There’s a lot to color theory and what each of the colors mean. This St. Patrick’s Day we thought it’d be fun to explore a little about green.
One of the wonderful things about good wood furniture is that it doesn’t have to be merely functional. It can be beautiful as well. We’ve seen some amazing pieces made with wood stains that are more than just furniture, they’re works of art. So if you’ve got an old table, desk or other piece of wood furniture that needs jazzed up, why don’t you consider using some of our great stains to try one of these ideas.
What's your furniture style? Here’s a few of the more popular styles and the kind of look they give your home.
Wood is our most basic raw material used for creating furniture. Wood furniture is timeless, and the aesthetic options are endless. Let’s talk about a few today, shall we?
The 2010s saw an uptick in modern interiors, bringing in clean lines to decor and furniture, so what does the new decade have in store? Restyle your home for the new year with the latest trends.
Are they bright and bold? Wild and wacky? It’s a thrill for our industry to learn what the latest “in” colors will be each year, and they never disappoint. The color trends for 2020 include shades of green, blue and pink, and each have an inherent welcoming quality.
Holiday parties are part of the magic of the season, but the cleanup is a pain—especially when furniture is involved. Prevent disasters with a few tips on how to protect your furniture during holiday parties.
The holiday season has arrived, and soon every corner will be decked out in red and green. But have you ever stopped to think about what holiday colors mean?
Restaining an old piece of furniture with a new varnish color can go a long way, but first you need to remove the old stain color.