Doesn’t this brick wall look real?
Historic and authentic and brickalicious.
Like maybe back when the settlers were a thing, the masons carried dozens of bricks bleached by the sun up from the river and carefully laid them in place, stack after stack, row after row.
To quote a famous american, Cher from Clueless, “As if.”
It’s removeable wallpaper.
Yep.
I kind of can’t believe it either.
And I’m living with it.
It took about an afternoon to go up and here’s the 411 on how we did it.
(total aside: does anyone even call 411 any more?)
Step 1: Start with a blank wall
I think this project works best on an accent wall. It eliminates the challenge of matching the brick on the side walls.
You want to make sure your wall (and the molding) is scrubbed down and clean. You don’t want any cobwebs caught up in the sticky side of the wallpaper.
2. Unroll the package of wallpaper and lay out the pieces
It comes in a small tube.
You want to look for the number on each piece because they go in order.
Each piece has a removeable back (it totally reminds me of contact paper that worked out a lot and got big and strong).
Step 3: Start with first piece of paper
It’s a good idea to start in a corner and use a level.
This is the crucial piece.
If this piece is straight, the rest of the pieces look amazing.
If not, your bricks will look sea sick.
We taped it in place to make sure it was level and added little pencil hash marks as a guide.
4. Peel away backing and trim
All you do is line up the paper on the hashmarks and peel off the backing.
Use the hashmarks as a guide to keep it in place.
Go slowly and evenly, to prevent bubbles from forming.
You could even use a sponge or something with a flat edge to go over the paper once it’s in place.
Once you have it exactly where you want it, trim off the excess around counter tops, etc.
5. Repeat for remaining pieces of wallpaper
We put the next piece up and the next piece after that in the same way until the entire wall was finished.
Then we went back and pieced in any gaps (around countertops and cabinets) and trimmed away the excess.
6. Trim at the bottom
One quick tip. We waited until all the pieces were up until we trimmed the bottom.
It was easier to get a straight line across the bottom next to the molding if all the pieces were in place.
That’s it.
Here’s a few additional facts:
1. It only took about an afternoon to put up the entire wall (which measures about 12 feet by 8 feet tall).
2. It really was as easy as it looks to put up.
3. It’s the perfect project for homeowners or people who don’t really like the permanancy of wallpaper or renters (or people who change their mind a lot like me).
4. Ask me any questions in case I forgot to mention something in the post.
5. We put up the wallpaper in partnership with Walls Need Love and you can find the brick wallpaper here.
6. I hope I made the settlers proud. 🙂
And now for some other tips and projects from some of my favorite bloggers:
How to use Gold Leaf
I love it! ♥
Do you think this would work as a temporary solution for an accent gas fireplace wall? Eventually, we will add stone to the wall, but right now we are in Dave Ramsey mode to pay off the house, and my hubby wants to wait on big projects. The fireplace is ventless and is on an angled wall in the corner of my den.
I love it!! I only wish our wall was less than 93" wide as hubby thinks I've lost my mind wanting to spend $400 to do one wall. Sigh. This "one wall" is a unique one in that we just removed 3/4" mirrors that were 12' long and 8' high. Yep. Master bedroom. And for more gasps and giggles - we also removed two walls of mirrors in our master bathroom that surrounded the 8-person hot tub. Yep. 8-person. Not sure if the former owner had wild neighborhood block parties or what. We're not askin'. To top it all off. Yes, there's more. For several nights after moving in, I thought maybe I had gone a bit crazy so I kept quiet as I lay in bed starring at the ceiling. Ya see, I was seeing remnants of glow in the dark stickers. Mind you, I was in my bed in the master bedroom. Not a child's bedroom. This isn't normal. So I kept quiet until I knew my sanity wouldn't be questioned too much. Funny thing is my hubby was doing the exact same thing - starring at the ceiling in silence. LOL. No worries. Mirrors, sticker goo, and hot tub are all gone. And I'm not crazy (at least in my opinion).
That made me giggle. Bless your heart, as we say in the South. haha
Soon so funny! Thanks for the laugh!
Oh my goodness! I needed that snicker this morning! And I thought the home we are buying was quirky... (giggle)
Your post brings me back to my younger married days when we had a faux brick linoleum floor, then in our very first home we did a faux brick wall in the kitchen. Slices of thin brick like composition were placed on one wall. So loved at that time, but years later when we sold that house , the wall was said to be " dated". I am now at an age when I see not only design but fashion and beauty styles as well repeat itself ( but with a little tweak) , thus holds true "what goes around, comes around", and "whats old is new again". I loved brick walls then as I do now. Your wallpaper wall is beautiful.
Who said "faux"? What? Huh? Where? This looks absolutely incredible!! Love!!
Awesome post Karianne! Amazing what we can do today with digital printers. Right? Love ya.
Would a moderately-textured wall show nubs through that beautiful faux brick? Apparently, someone in 1960 thought all wall and ceiling surfaces should be textured. I wasn't born then, so it's not my fault!
Hmmm....I'm not sure. I think the texture would show through. The paper is really thin (kind of like strong contact paper) and so I think the texture would show through. karianne
Thank you, Karianne. That's what I was afraid would happen. Nobody wants a cheesy-looking brick wall!
So this is the Wall Mural you used? Not their Removable Wallpaper, which doesn't seem to come in white? Too bad, as it is way more affordable! Thanks.
BRRRRRING!!! Hi!! Is this 411? I have a question about the wallpaper wall? Do you measure and tape up first and THEN remove the sticky back? Did you have a hard time getting the bubbles out? Contact paper and I just don't get along - it has something against me, I know. Anyway, I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you. May I call you back with another question if I have one? Thank you -- you're very nice!! Have a sunshiney day :-)
I love me some painted brick ♥ This looks phenomenal! My sister and I put up wallpaper in my first house 25 years ago....I was hoping it was washable wallpaper because we were going to end up killing each other before the project was completed. I think I'll forward your post to her and see if she accepts my offer Ü
Looks really cool!
I'm so sorry about the flood/water damage. Will pray it gets resolved quickly and as stress-free as possible.
Beautiful, KariAnne! I can't wait to try this at StoneGable! xo
Looks fabulous.
Love how that wall just makes that room! Yup, gotta say it again: brickalicious!!
Karianne, I LOVE this! I am going to try this in my mud room. Thank you!
So far I have resisted putting wallpaper up in any of my homes...this is because I am all thumbs and would probably wind up with more wallpaper on me than on the wall...I just can't take that kind of stress! :) Your brick wall is sooooooo sharp looking that I'd be tempted to try it, though...that is, if my kitchen wasn't teensy-tiny with zero wall space. I'll just have to come back here once-in-a-while and ogle your wall!
Is the wallpaper textured in any way, or does it just have the print of the bricks?
It looks textured, but it's actually just bricks printed on paper. You can tell up close and when you touch it, but other than that it looks like a brick wall!
Thank you for the tutorial! Always good to know how to do things right the first time. Not that anything ever goes wrong for me when I work on house projects ...
Your wall looks great. I really thought at first glance, it was real brick. You always have the best tips! (Puffing up sofa pillows is a favorite)
Hi KariAnne, The faux brick wall looks so authentic! The settlers would be proud of you! I love iced tea with lime, too, from the first time I tasted it in Mexico! Thanks for sharing your great tutorial and photos! Blessings, Janet
Love the new and improved type of wall-paper! Along those lines...... I received my July/August 2016 House Beautiful Magazine in my mailbox today! After sifting through it......I noticed on page 100 in the back of the magazine....your wonderful, most awesome Frog Tape make-over project/picture!!! I couldn't have been more excited as I pride myself in being one of your biggest cheerleaders!!! Also, how fitting to be on page #100....as your frog-tape makeover hit the ball out of the park... and if you were still in school...your project would have merited a 100%!! :) Just Sayin!! :)
Wow!!! That looks awesome and SO real!! Tania
Remember I can't believe it's not butter? Well I cannot believe this is not brick! Truly fabulous KariAnne. Thank you for linking up to Thoughts of Home on Thursday. We really appreciate you! Have a wonderful weekend!
Could this be used as a backsplash? Will the bricks line up correctly? Love the look.
I did something similar in my kitchen as a backsplash with a stone-looking wallpaper from Lowe's and it worked beautifully, Carla.
Beautiful, Kari! I love how real it is. Wall paper gets a bad reputation in homes sometimes, but this project will totally redeem it. Thanks so much for sharing this with us on #shinebloghop this week!
I actually adore wallpaper...but one of the reasons I stopped using it was the removal headache. I think removable wallpaper is brilliant. :) I would love to try something like this in my bathroom. Hmmm...
It looks so real! I am amazed. I once used some of the "brick" look paneling that you get a Lowe's and seriously. It never looked good. Although, I do have some of that stuff in my house right now.... oh, but I gave it a makeover. LOL :) gwingal
Wow, this looks so real. I keep looking for where your seams meet! Love it.
That is amazing!! It looks real and it looks fabulous!!