If you want to add some urban flair to your space on a budget, you might want to try installing whitewashed faux brick paneling! You can easily do this in one day by yourself.
My boring entry hallway desperately needed some character, so I wanted to add a brick wall. Since my budget didn’t allow for the real thing, I went with faux brick paneling. These were at Home Depot and they came in a 4’x8′ sheet, which made them light enough for me to load and unload by myself. They were $25 per sheet, which is fantastic considering the texture of the faux brick looks just like the real thing! I grabbed an employee and had him cut the top of each panel to fit under my crown moulding and above my baseboard, saving me a step.
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I brought in one panel at a time and lined it up against the edge of my wall. Then I applied construction adhesive in a serpentine pattern, separated by roughly 3″ to the back of the panel and stuck it on the wall.
I used 2″ screws to attach the corners of the board and used my Ryobi 18 gauge Air Strike gun and 2″ brad nails to attach the panels to the wall at the studs (which I marked on the baseboard) where needed.
On the second panel, I used my Dremel multi-tool to cut out a rectangle for the electrical outlet.
Here’s what the paneling looked like before I whitewashed it:
I wanted the grout lines to be brighter, and the brick to be lighter, so I used a paintbrush to paint each grout line with Revere Pewter.
Once the grout lines were dry, I whitewashed the brick, using a 1:1 ratio of Revere Pewter paint to water. I lightly brushed it on and then wiped it with a rag. After the base coat was dry, I went back and dry brushed some of the bricks with full strength Revere Pewter, achieving an urban loft effect (before and after shown below):
I’m thinking of finishing our basement in an urban, rustic loft style, so these panels are definitely on my list for an accent wall!
I had some leftover brick panel scraps, which my kids used to create their very own piece of art using Sharpie markers! They turned out so cute and I hung them above their backpack and chalkboard area in the everyday entry:
I would LOVE before and after pics if you decide to add a brick accent wall. Have fun!!
