How to Create Faux Bricks

Cover the edges of all woodwork and trim and where the ceiling meets the wall, with the painter’s tape. Press the edges tightly to seal the tape.

Pour the gray paint into the paint pan. Using the roller and brush, paint the entire area where you want to paint your faux brick. Wash out the paint pan. Allow the base coat to dry completely.

Pour brown paint into the paint pan. Dip the round sponge in the brown paint and tap the sponge on the cardboard to remove any excess paint. Pat the entire wall with the paint-covered sponge, adding paint to the sponge and tapping off the excess as necessary, to stipple a thin layer of brown over the entire area. Allow the brown paint to dry.

Dip the paintbrush into the red paint, the brown paint and then the white paint. Brush a light layer of the mixture of colors onto the 8½-by-2½-inch side of the larger sponge. Wipe excess paint from the paintbrush onto the edge of the plastic container to clean the tip of the brush after the third dip.

Press the sponge onto the cardboard and twist it clockwise and counter-clockwise to mix the colors even more. Lift the sponge from the cardboard.

Press the entire 8½-by-2½-inch surface of the sponge onto the wall leaving 1/2-inch of space between the edge of the wall and the ceiling in the upper left-hand corner. Remove sponge. Continue applying paint and pressing the sponge along the entire length of the wall leaving ½-inch of space between the edge of the ceiling and between each faux brick, using your smallest finger as a ½-inch guide.

Brush a light layer of the mixture of colors onto the 41/4-by-2 ½-inch side of the small sponge. Moving down one brick width, leaving ½-inch between the upper row of faux bricks and the edge of the wall, press the sponge onto the wall. Save this sponge for the end of the rows to fit in small bricks as necessary. A small brick at the beginning of every other row will allow you to stagger the faux bricks so they look real.

Apply paint, as before, to the larger sponge. Stamp a long faux brick ½-inch to the right of the short faux brick. Keep stamping long faux bricks 1/2-inch to the right of the last brick. Leave ½-inch of the gray base coat showing around all the edges of each faux brick to create the look of mortar joints.

Repeat the painting, spacing and pressing process until the area is filled with rows of faux bricks. Allow the paint to dry. Remove painter’s tape.