I have an obsession with marble and brick. I’ve pretty much clad as many surfaces with marble in my home that I can think of and now I’m moving on to brick.
Brick can be tricky though.
You have to be careful where you put it or it can look out of place.
Brick is typically used on fireplaces or outter walls…or older buildings or lofts but that doesn’t apply here.
I would put brick on every wall of my home but that would be overkill. Plus I live in a 1970’s rambler and they didn’t typically do interior brick walls back then. I like to try and stay within some kind of character style of the home (most of the time). But because my home has an all brick exterior I figured applying brick on an outer wall wouldn’t be that much of a stretch. Capiche?
If you follow us on Instagram I showed a little teaser pic…here’s how the application went…
This is the outer wall of my son’s room (and me trying to duck out of the way for the picture). On the other side of the wall (outside) it’s all brick. I wanted to carry that theme as if it were one big thick brick wall to the interior. I found an online company called Brick-It which carries reclaimed brick from old buildings. They cut the brick down so it’s 1/2″ thick veneer. The back is smooth and the front has all that old worn character. I ordered their New York Used brick veneers to apply to this wall.
The application process is SOO easy. You first apply these Designer Metal Grids to the wall.
It was pretty straight forward and my 10 year old helped out a lot.
We first tried to cut down with some nipper scissors. We then found that using a metal cutting blade was a lot quicker.
Once the whole wall was covered with the DMG system we were ready to apply the bricks.
Using a caulking gun you apply a line of glue (which they sent) on top of the grid then lay they bricks right in the panels. I’m telling you it was SO easy. This little man did a good majority of the brick laying (I mean it is room, he should do some work in there, right?). 🙂
Doing this much brick took just under an hour. I’m loving the perfectly imperfect look.
We need to go rent a wet-saw to cut the bricks around the window then put the mortar in. Stayed tuned for that step but all in all it has been a pretty fun project so far. I’m still debating whether or not to white wash them which was my original plan. I’m leaning toward doing it because the room is starting to feel heavy with the navy wall and now red brick. Three people who have seen the wall say “NO” but we’ll see. We’re hoping to wrap things up and have the room completely done in the next two weeks. Yipee.
*I received product to try with no obligation to blog about.*
Wendi says
Michelle, I love this idea! And teaching your sons to be DIYers from a young age (while they still see it as fun and not work) is a good thing! 🙂
Michelle Hinckley says
Thanks Wendi! I hope it sticks with them! 🙂 Michelle
Lyndel says
Love seeing this! We live in a late 1960s rambler in Atlanta and have two red brick interior walls and we LOVE it. It’s been such a great conversation piece and one thing we plan on keeping while we renovate.
Can’t wait to see how this bedroom turns out!
Michelle Hinckley says
Brick is like the cool factor for any room. I’m envious! 😉
Jonathan Pound says
Way to teach your sons how to be do-it-yourselfers. My dad was a civil engineer, and we did a lot of projects around the house and yard. It’s super fulfilling to see the results of your hard work. We never did work with brick, though. A little sad about that.
Beth says
I can’t find anything online that mentions the cost of the brick it system – I’m guessing it depends on the type of brick and obviously how much square footage you’d like to brick but can you give me some sort of idea how much it was? If you’re comfortable sharing that is. Thanks!
Michelle Hinckley says
Gosh, I really can’t remember. It is different depending on which brick you choose. If you give them your sq footage, they’ll give you an amount.
Karen Hill says
This is so beautiful! There’s nothing I love more than an exposed brick look! I’ve always wanted to live in a loft with exposed brick but this might be my next best option since I live in the suburbs. Did you ever consider a wall paper alternative or do you think the texture would not be correct? Thanks for sharing! Excited to see the final project. 🙂
Michelle Hinckley says
I almost went for brick wallpaper but I wanted the real thing. Might do it again with wallpaper on a different room.
Pete says
I am considering this exact same Brick It system, but want white brick on the interior of one wall of my house. How did you cut the metal guide tracks and then cut the bricks to fit around windows? Also, do you have pics of the finished room? I see in some corners the metal guide doesn’t go all the way touching the window to the wall…is that okay and you can lay brick partially on bare wall/partially on the metal guide? Thanks so much!
Michelle Hinckley says
The guide is there so when the bricks are put on the wall they don’t slide down the wall while the past is drying. As long as the brick is partially in the guide you should be good. Hope that helps!