I have been thinking about how to make a DIY faux brick wall for a while. I had this little toilet with a wall behind it that was incredibly boring. As a matter of fact, the whole bathroom was (and still is, but it’s getting better). I decided to start small with this little wall by turning it into a DIY faux brick wall. Here’s how I did it.
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Equipment
- Sponge, cut in half
- Joint Compound (I used DryDex, because it goes on pink and dries white)
- Acrylic paints in varying shades of the color you want your bricks (I used 4 different grays and recommend Apple Barrel or Americana brands)
- Paint for the base of the wall, a color slightly darker than your acrylics because it acts as the “mortar”
- Putty or drywall knife
- Painter’s tape
You start the DIY faux brick wall by painting the wall a base color. It doesn’t have to be loads darker, but you don’t want it to be a completely different color as it will end up serving as the “mortar” for your “bricks”.
Once you have painted your base color, the DIY faux brick wall fun begins. It’s handy to have either an obsessive personality or a friend with OCD for this part. I say that because this part requires LOTS of measuring and taping. I measured once, taped, got all the way to the bottom and then realized my measuring had become off about halfway down. So I had to pull half of the tape, remeasure and tape again.
What’s that saying? Measure twice, cut once. The same goes for this.
MEASURE TWICE, TAPE ONCE.
Now it’s time for joint compound. I used this really neat kind DryDex was pink and turned white as it dried. You apply it with a putty knife or drywall knife, but don’t make it smooth. The more “rough” it looks, the more realistic it will look.
It’s important to not let it dry too quickly, because you’ll want to use your sponge on it to texturize it. Just tap the sponge over the area in as many places as you want. Don’t worry about keeping it off the “mortar” either. It only adds to the realness. The good news is it doesn’t dry too quickly. I got my entire wall “painted” with compound and was still about to go back and texturize it.
Here’s one place I messed up. I pulled my tape at this point, before the joint compound was dry. That in itself wasn’t a bad thing. However, I didn’t have anything to keep the paint off the “mortar, and I ended up having to go back and repaint it to make it stand out. Just an FYI.
Once that is done, the DIY faux brick wall paint party begins. To make this easy on myself, I cut 4 red solo cups down and used those, especially while I was standing on the ladder towards to top.
This part is so fun. I worked in rows of 2 and each brick was a different color. I only used one paint brush, because mixing the colors gave each brick a unique color.
When I got to the end of about 2 or 3 rows, I went back with my sponge and tapped all over. I mixed the colors together. Sometimes I dipped the sponge in paint and added it to bricks of a different color.
The good thing about this is your faux brick wall DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT.
If you don’t like something, you can go back over it with another color until it’s something that appeals to you.
After the bricks are painted, I would pull the tape at this point. Then I would add some joint compound and paint on my sponge to some of the areas of mortar to give them some texture. Just my 2 cents. I pulled my tape before applying any paint and I still love the way it turned out.
From start to finish, it took me about 2 daysto make this DIY faux brick wall. That was only because I had to wait for the compound and the paint to dry.
