Painting Playroom Bricks!

While the new house is really exciting and I'll have lots to share, I wanted to share the playroom painting project we did. Bryan would tell you I probably spent too much time deliberating what to do in there, but I think even he would agree that it turned out fabulously :) (Personal bias admitted.)

So first I wanted a faux brick wall (using the thin paneling you can get at home depot), but then I decided no. Then I wanted to paint a brick wall, and decided I wouldn't be able to make it look realistic enough. So then I decided to paint obviously fake looking bricks in fun colors - and this was the winning idea! Bryan even got on board, although I think he was a little bit nervous at first.

So first I needed to pick a color for the other three walls in the room. I decided on Pineapple Cream because it was a "yellow" without being in-your-face about it. As mom and I painted the room that color I was having a few moments of self doubt because it seemed more yellow than I thought it would be, but once it dried I was IN LOVE! Bonus: It makes me think of my Grandma Jessica.

 

I did the cutting in around the trim, switches, outlets, windows, and ceiling while my mom rolled. Together we managed to knock out a solid first coat in a few hours, taping before we painted. 

Bryan doesn't like painting, but he was willing to do some math for me. I knew I wanted the rectangles to be about 24" long, and somewhere in the 12-15" wide category, so we measured the walls and did some number crunching to figure out how big each rectangle should be to make it come out with the same sizes. Our top row is actually 1/4" bigger than the other rows, but you can't tell unless someone points it out, and then I still think it's just mind games. When doing your calculations make sure you're measuring from the top of your base board to the ceiling, AND take into account the "grout lines" that will be between the bricks. I wanted smaller grout lines, so we used the thinner .94" Scotch Blue kind, hence the top row being slightly different because who wants to calculate .06"!?! Save yourself the headache and get the 1" kind. It's what we would have done if we could have found it at the store at 9pm :)

Anyway, we opted to only do one coat on the wall that I was going paint bricks on because only the grout lines would show, and I figured I could touch those up as needed. The other walls got a second coat of Pineapple Cream courtesy of my mom. 

Don't forget to get help ;)

Dry brush! don't panic :)

Bryan finished up the taping process after we finished that wall. We used a pencil and a level to make sure the lines were completely straight. It would look extremely wonky if the bricks were crooked or different sizes, since this was meant to be such a graphic statement. 

 Once all of the tape is up and you've double checked it, then take the base coat (in this case Pineapple Cream) and brush over the paint strips lightly, especially the edges. This will help "seal" the tape from leaking the colors that you paint over it. It's not fool proof, but after peeling the tape off I'd give it a 97% success rating. I was impressed!

Halfway "sealed"

Don't be scared to use more than I did - I wish I had been a little more detailed on this step

 Then while waiting for the paint to dry on the tape, I admired the pretty colors :) I agonized for a little while over the color choices. I didn't want them to be primary OR pastel (I know, I know, what's left!?) And I also wanted it to rather gender neutral. Yes, we have two girls, but we also have a lot of little boy friends and we haven't ruled a 3rd child out of our future. While I think my selections may lean a smidgen on the girly side, I think I was relatively successful with the neutrality.

These are the colors I selected in case you'd like to reproduce the same look:

The "pink" pop

Has yellow and orange in it

Yellow and green in this one

A "blue" with a purple tone

Teal

Since we are moving into a new house and I don't live there yet, I realized I'd have to get creative because I couldn't just grab a paper and colored pencils to plan my strategy. So I made it work with what I had - a box! Sophisticated, I know. 

I checked and rechecked constantly as I started applying paint to make sure I was working in correct rectangle. I'm happy to report that I didn't mess a single one up!

Part of what helped was that as I went, I used my finger to dip in the paint and put a dot of color on the spots I was planning to paint. This made the double checking process easier. 

This is NOT the correct pattern that I used, but so you get the idea (this was try #1 that didn't work out very well):

So then I picked up a color and got to it!

I did one color at a time to avoid washing and waiting for brushes to try as much:

My mom ended up helping me with a few of the purple bricks in addition to the rolling because my poor neglected children were feeling very unloved by their mommy.

Thank you Mom :) Always above the call of duty!

I confess that I was terrified to pull the tape off and see what was underneath, but Ta-Da! 

It worked!

Then today I had a chance to go back and touch up a few places, screw the switch and outlet covers back on, etc, and check it out!

It's still a work in progress as we move, but I'm so happy with it and can't wait to see the girls playing in there! 

For those who have asked, the teepee was a Nutcracker Market purchase, and the cart was an At Home (formerly Garden Ridge) find.

Thank you Bryan and Mom for all of your hard work too!!!

I ADORE how it turned out!