Disasterous home project saved! Create faux textured brick

Here's my story:

I was snowed in for about a week during a terrible snow storm. My husband was out of town and I had a brilliant idea to create a stone design out of Plaster Paris over two arched entry ways into our kitchen. I was ga-ga for the whole Tuscan theme everyone was so wild about at the time.

One wall turned out perfect with roughly seven carved stones made of Plaster Paris. It looked and felt like REAL stone! I was so proud.

A couple of days later, I tackled the other side of the wall. I didn't realize it was doomed from the beginning because it was not properly primed and there was no way the Plaster Paris was going to adhere. I tried 3 different applications and once all the plaster dried, it was easily removed with a slight pull.

I was beyond frustrated. I decided to remove all the stones, prime the walls and then try a brick pattern technique. Well, there was no way I could easily remove the stone on the one wall that came out perfectly. Those stones were there to stay. I had to chisel them off with an ice pick, sometimes in chunks, leaving big spple size gaps in the drywall. Yikes!

I knew my husband would have thought I had lost my mind (to put it mildly). I had two days to remove this and get the brick pattern up and installed...beautifully!

Okay...this story will have to be continued in Part II, tomorrow. I have to show you pictures of how it turned out..once I figure out how to upload them. (technically challenged over here). I'll also share my technique for creating a brick texture wall pattern.

In the meantime..I would LOVE to hear your story.

I find, the most interesting and creative designs are produced when we have to rise to the occasion, unexpectedly.

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Thanks for the directions on posting pictures Frank! It really does help to READ the instructions. Ha! (Next lesson will be on adding smilies.)

Anyway, on with the story. Yes, I was finally able to chisel all the plaster off the wall, patch the holes and then prime it for the next adventure...faux brick. All within a pain staking 2 days!

I had some Behr Textured Paint already but I needed some painters sand to create the gritty part you feel on real bricks. Lucky for me my neighbor was making a trip to Home Depot, so he picked up some sand for me. (Remember, there's a snow and now ice storm going on).

I know it's a little late, but long story short...it turned out wonderfully! I am attaching photos with notes on the technique I used.

I hope you enjoy them. I want to hear about your projects too!

This was the stone application that turned out beautifully. Unfortunately, I could not achieve the same effect on the opposite side of the wall.

Instructions for creating faux textured brick on a wall:

1)Use actual brick dimensions as a guide for sizing.
2)Draw in the brick and grout lines with a pencil.
3)Place painters tape (and a lot of it) on top of the grout lines and edges. Tear the edges of the tape to make sure it does not have straight edges. That would be too perfect to resemble grout lines, once removed.
4)Use a trowel to apply a thick solution of Behr textured paint with a touch of sand.
5)Once this starts to set, remove the painters tape.
6)Then prime, as you see in this image

7)Use paint and grout colors that resemble actual bricks. Although I received tons of positive feedback about the colors I selected, I knew they were off...A LOT!

The final result, two years later...is perfect!

Ultimately, I knew I wanted the brick to resemble the brown tones of the light fixture in my kitchen; so I hired a professional faux finisher to complete the job once and for all. Now I love the faux brick pattern!

In case you're wondering, I also changed a lot of other things in the house since the original photos, paint colors, lighting, furniture, etc...