DIY: Painted Faux Brick Wall

I may like all shiny things of the world...but another design weakness I have?..EXPOSED BRICK! I go crazy for it! However, that can run you some SERIOUS $$$$$. Since I'm cheap and on a budget...I needed to figure out ways on how to decorate my empty entrance hallway. This wall really holds no purpose and is basically a bore, as you can see below.

I researched relentlessly for the best and cheapest solution. Wallpaper was a no-no (since I'm a renter)...Faux Brick Panels were too expensive....so with the help of Youtube, I decided to PAINT! Below are a few videos I borrowed some tips from. 

Examples of Tape prep:

Valerie Loveless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt_wtZrOShU

Examples of Painting Techniques:

Vaughan Baker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi3_xc8RrXg

Since I had tons of red and blue paint left over from previous DIYs, all I needed was a few more items.

Items Needed:

(all items can be purchased at Home Depot or local hardware store )

1) 1/2  gallon of Red Paint of your choosing (I had left over from before)

2) 1/4 gallon of Blue Paint of your choosing (also had left over) - this is to mix with red to get different shades of red/purple.

3) Small container of black paint. (a nice man at HomeDepot helped me out with which one would mix well with the red paint above)- to get darker shades of red.

4) Small Paint Rollers

5) Long Leveler

6) Pencil

7) Painter's Tape 1 inch thick ( I used about 3 rolls for a 12' x 12' wall )

8) Rags to clean up emergencies

9) Plastic or anything to protect your floors.

10) Empty containers to mix paint

11) Painting stick, or something to mix paint with.

STEPS:

1) Start by putting down what you will use to protect the floors.

2) Tape ALL edges of anything you don't want paint on!

3) MATH TIME: Measure out your wall and divide accordingly. An average brick is about 3-5/8" x 2-1/4" x 8". Since my bricks are flat against the wall, I rounded my bricks to about 4" x 8" to make math/life easier.

Now you can measure and calculate everything out, or be lazy like me and draw it as you go along. LOL. I suggest starting at the bottom and on the side where people will pass the most first. Make your horizontal line height 8.5 inches from the bottom, and draw a vertical border line every 4.5 inches in that space (The extra .5 inches added will be explained in the next step).

4) The 1 inch painter's tape will be ripped through the middle like in the pic above (this will be your borders/grout lines. If you saw the first youtube clip by Valerie Loveless , I semi copied her technique. When you place this 1/2 inch tape on the lines you previously drew out, you will end up with a rough looking 4"x 8" rectangular shape. The tape doesn't have to be perfectly cut. Remember, bricks are rugged and have different shapes to their edges. So free-hand that rip! 

5) Keep repeating that process of drawing lines and measuring out bricks. To make things easier, you can even cut out a 4" x 8" rectangle out of paper as a model stencil and draw the borders from there. However, TRUST YOUR LEVELER NOT YOUR EYES! 

And yes this process is quite tedious. It took me three whole days to draw out and place tape down! Bricks are laid down in a specific pattern. The row on top is always shifted from the previous row. So always measure the vertical border from the middle of the brick below it.

6) PAINTING! (LEVEL 1)- Bricks are rugged and not perfectly painted. They have stains, spots, weird looking blotches....you name it! If you take a brush and roughly paint on the red paint, the wall can show it's texture underneath the paint, like below. This is good! This is called a dry brush techinque.You want to add some texture and unpredictability to your bricks. This step is fun...just go wild and carefree! Luckily, the wall was already beige, so this will act as my highlight color and my "grout lines" in between the bricks.

PAINTING (LEVEL II): Once you have completely finished the wall in red, select a few random bricks and drench it in red paint to cover it completely. You are now starting to build up color in stages. We are building from light to dark.

7) MIXING COLORS: (Painting Level III): In two separate containers, pour in red paint. Add a mixture of the blue paint into each container. One will have a 4 (red) to 2 (blue) ratio and the other other container will have a 4 (red) to 3 (blue) ratio. Mix well, and you should get darker plum reds.

8) PAINTING (Level IV): Grab your little paint roller and wildly paint in different directions. This technique is explained in the second youtube clip by Vaughan Baker. 

This is supposed to be random and carefree painting strokes. Use both colors different times to add on a darker feel.

Your wall should be sort of similar to this.

9) Select other random bricks and paint it entirely in the darkest red color.

10) Allow to dry completely over night.

11) Peel off tape - - not the most fun...ugh.

12) Once dry, you can even add a shadow line  to give it a 3-D effect.

THERE YOU GO! 

DIY PAINTED FAUX BRICK WALL!