Brick laying 101 (Minus the mortar!)

      One of the most glorious things about this house is that I get to have my very own work room. Pure luxury! As you might imagine, I am brimming with ideas for this lovely little room of mine. I'm actually only here today to discuss one wall of it. This end one, that began like this...

     As you can see, the two side walls have cinder block (left over from it's garage days) and the end one had wood on the top and paneling around the bottom. Paneling is lovely and all that, but I decided it need to go, and took a crowbar to it. Unfortunately, on the end wall, the wood did not continue all the way to floor all the way across. The gap had to be covered, and the easiest way would be to use paneling again. Ugh. Fortunately, I had already had my eye on this brick-like paneling I had seen at Lowes.

     I figured that with a bit of imagination with paint, this stuff could be made to look half decent. And so, up it went. I caulked all the cracks to help even them out. I should have sanded over the caulk after it dried, but I did not. Learn from my mistake, and don't skip that if you try this! It would have helped to make the caulk less obvious later.

      Next, I painted all the mortar lines with white. If it happened to drip at all, I just smeared it over the brick.

      Next, I dry brushed over all of it, first with white, then cream, then grey. I did it as randomly and unevenly as possible.

     At this point, I decided it was looking a little flat and dry brushed over it with just black. You can get a nice affect if you wipe off most of the paint from the brush, and then sort of scratch it sideways across the bricks.

     The black helped define the bricks, and added some depth to the lighter paint.

      I think I still might go over a few spots with the black again a little later. Anyway, I quite like the rustic affect it adds to the room. So...just in an effort to keep things real...here's what that room is looking like at the present. Please try to use your imagination, it has great potential, I promise.

     Here is an interesting post I found that is very similar to mine, only her's is on a larger scale. Click here.
I'm really excited about getting this room set up for use! I plan to make it as functional as possible, yet pretty to look at. Here are a few of my inspiration pictures, which might help you see what direction I am headed here.

16 House

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Oh, hello friend

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Anthropologie 

79 ideas

     So there you have it, lots of work in the works! =) So far we have a light, and one wall. Well, it's progress one step at a time. Hope you have a grand start to your week!

Psalms 119:73   Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. 

Linking to:
Someday Crafts
Crafty Confessions
Kammy's Korner
My Girlish Whims
Home Stories A to Z
Suger Bee Crafts
Not Just a Housewife