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In this post: Want to know how to create old brick wall advertising? We did it in our 1970’s suburban back split and we’re showing you how!
Several of you have been messaging and leaving comments asking when I was going to post the tutorial for our Old Brick Wall Advertising. Well, today is the day!
Finally decorate your own home – with confidence!
You’re so much closer to a beautifully-decorated home than you think. You just need a little help to get there!
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but a look I’ve loved for as long as I can remember is the urban hard loft; filled with wall-to-wall windows, soaring ceilings, and oh-so-perfectly-aged exposed brick walls. If only we were all lucky enough to have such natural character in our modern homes!
A similar look I find myself hoarding photos of on Pinterest (many of which were on a secret board while I was planning this project but are now on this board) is old outdoor signage painted on the side of brick buildings.
Our suburban back split, as much as I love it, didn’t come with high ceilings or brick walls inside. But after Katie Bower used faux brick paneling in her son’s nursery, my wheels began turning thinking of a unique way to come up with a way to make it work in our house.
This is of course when I started Pinning and Googling old brick wall advertising!
How to Create Old Brick Wall Advertising in Your House!
The first thing I’d recommend is to choose a wall space that is about four feet wide. Honestly, that’s just because I’m lazy and four feet by eight feet is the size of faux brick paneling. So if four feet wide is your wall width and your ceiling is eight feet tall like most, one sheet of faux brick will be perfect.
Of course, if you only drive a Civic as we do, you may have to have the four-foot by eight-foot sheet cut down into three pieces just to get it home. And then put it back together on your wall. Or something like that.
You could also choose as wide a section of the wall as you’d like and buy more paneling. That’s totally up to you.
(By the way, all the stuff in the pic on the right isn’t always there in real life! That would just be awkward!)
Supplies
- Faux brick paneling
- No More Nails (or another similar construction adhesive)
- Caulking
- Pencil
- Small paintbrush
- Black craft paint
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Projector and computer
- White paint and water to create whitewash (if necessary)
- Primed MDF for framing (optional)
Instructions
1. Affix brick paneling to the wall. How you go about this first step depends on the size of your wall. If you’ve gone with a four-foot wide section and your ceilings are eight feet tall, then you can just apply the adhesive and affix one piece of paneling to your wall. If you’ve chosen a bigger or smaller section of the wall, you will have to measure and cut your paneling to fit.
2. Caulk the unfinished edges and seams. You can frame the paneling with MDF as we did. It is optional of course, but it adds a nice finished look. Whether you frame your “bricks” or not, caulk all the edges to make a nice clean edge.
3. Whitewash if necessary. We were actually able to buy our brick paneling already white-washed. But you may only be able to find the orange-y color. If so, just whitewash over the orange until you’re happy with the look. Let dry.
4. Create graphics (or use ours). If you love the graphics we used, you can just use ours below. Just click the image and download it. It’s not huge but doesn’t need to be for a projector. If you want to create your own, go ahead and do that!
5. Project your image and trace. If you’re creating your own graphics you don’t need to worry about making your image really huge. The projector will do that for you. Then just trace onto your brick wall with a regular pencil. If you don’t own a projector (we don’t), borrow one from a friend.
6. Fill in pencil lines with paint. Use a small flat brush, fill in pencil lines with black craft paint. Let dry.
7. Lightly sand with fine-grit sandpaper. This step can be skipped if you like the sharp dark paint. But if you want a more vintage-aged look, a light sanding sort of does what years of weather would do to an outdoor sign.
While it’s not quite as exciting as finding a real old-time advertisement behind the drywall, the texture and whimsy a faux brick wall ad can lend a space is a statement itself!
