The fellow that owns his own house
is always just coming out of the hardware store.
-Frank McKenney Hubbard
Oh, I am so excited about sharing this project, even though it did require several trips to the hardware store! It is such a great home improvement project for a beginner. And I have a feeling that brick accent walls will be trending for quite some time into the future.
Most of my crazy ideas turn out to be ten times harder than I envision, but not this one. This was easier than I first thought.
Our 1906 farmhouse is heated with a wood stove.
Charming, you say?
Yes, you could say that.
It does require 16 trips a day out to the porch to get the wood and my dear husband works really hard finding wood, then splitting, stacking, drying (two years of “seasoning” is best) and bringing it to the house with the tractor. Then, stacking it again on the porch.
I got tired just typing that!
HOWEVER, the ambiance afforded to us is unparalleled. Wood heat, they say, is the most comforting of all heat sources, even your bones feel warm. Then, there is the glow that I swear can cure seasonal depression in the winter and that faint campfire smell. The popping and crackling sound you can hear from your bed in the morning makes every morning feel a little like Christmas morning.
We have heated the old house with that wood stove for almost six years now and it is definitely the heart of the home.
The “fireside room”, as we affectionately call it, does have its decorating challenges, though. The angle of the chimney, while necessary for excellent heat distribution up the stairs, has always baffled me a little and the sheer presence of the stove can be overwhelming.
For a long time, I have just ignored this room because other rooms were screaming for my attention.
We finally got to a place where we could start to focus on this room by celebrating the wood stove and letting it be the focal point that it is.
Here is my favorite inspiration picture for this room makeover. . .
So, as you can see, a brick accent wall was definitely on order.
Here is what we learned as we brought our little dream to reality. . .
(Notice the nerf gun bullet on the wall.
My son shot right when I took the picture and he thought he was hilarious.)
How to Install a Rustic Brick Accent Wall
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Our accent wall is 6′ x 8′.
Installation time was five hours and the grout took three hours.
Dry time was 2 days for the brick and 1 day for the mortar.
Materials Needed
- Slimbrick
- we chose the “Ashland Used”
- Unfortunately, Mutual Materials is a company located only in the Pacific Northwest. Amazon.com carries a similar product.
- Omnigrip
- Trowel
- Level
- We liked using a smaller one better, about the size of a brick
- Tape Measure
- Saw
- Diamond Blade
- Grout
- We used 25 lbs of Snow White
- Be sure to get the sandable kind if you want a messy, rustic look
- Grout Bag
- Clean 5 Gallon Bucket
- Paint Stir Stick
- Brick Jointer
- Gloves
- Be sure to wear gloves that are your size and have several pairs, I think I went through seven pairs.
- Painters Plastic
Tutorial
Warning: this project may bring out the cake decorator in you or at least make you hungry!
- Apply some Omnigrip all along the bottom of the wall, make it about three rows high, two if you covering a larger wall. It is just like working with frosting. I kept thinking about eating sugar cookies and icing cakes.
- Create grooves in the Omnigrip with the toothed edge on the trowel.
- Apply your brick and check each one with the level. We spaced ours about a 1/2 inch all around the brick and made sure that each top brick was a little off center compared to the brick right below it.
- Let this dry for 48 hours.
- Put your painters plastic down on the floor before starting to grout, it is unbelievably messy.
- For the grout, don’t worry too much about measuring, its the consistency that matters. At first, I followed the directions on the bag exactly, then started tweaking things. Now I say ignore the directions and do what I ended up liking. What worked best for me was to dump about eight cups of powder into a clean five gallon bucket. Then, I added about 1/2 cup of cool water and stirred with my paint stirrer. Once it felt like the consistency of cool whip I put it into my grout bag and piped away.
- You can collect the drips off the floor and reuse them, adding water as needed.
- Every 20 minutes or so, take the brick jointer and shape the grout by pressing it into place.
- Allow to dry for 24 hours.
Now go eat some sugar cookies, you deserve it!!
Sharing at these parties.
That looks awesome! Great job.
Author
Thank you, Pamela. You are always such an encouragement to me! xoxo
Your brick wall looks beautiful. It is the perfect accent to your wood stove. When you talk about your wood stove it reminds me of spending time at my grandmother’s farmhouse. There is just something special about a wood stove in the Winter.
Author
I so agree with you about the winter time. Your grandmother’s place sounds amazing!
Wood stoves are the best! We have a cooking wood stove in our house and the food tastes so much better. Your brick wall looks like it’s been there since 1906. Amazing job!
Author
Oh good! That is what I was going for! We love cooking on our stove, too. Lots of yummy soups. 😉
I love that wall! You and your husband should be very proud of yourselves.
Author
OH, thank you, my dear. I will pass that compliment on to my husband, as well.
It’s beautiful Sarah. Like, really beautiful!
Author
Oh, Kristine, that means so much to me! Especially coming from someone as talented as you!
These are great instructions, Sarah! I’m waiting awhile to see if I want to keep our bricks red or white wash them, but I really love how yours turned out. Bravo!
Author
Your brick is perfect, I don’t think I would change a thing!
That looks great!
Author
Thank you so much, Victoria. You are so sweet!
This looks incredible! When I saw the first photo, I swore the brick was original to the house!
You did such and amazing and it suits your old farmhouse perfectly!
Author
Ok, Meg, that is a huge compliment! Thank you for saying that!
What a difference! Great job! We have a similar project that needs to get done before winter. Looking forward to sharing pictures as we get started. Hope all is well!
Author
I can’t wait to see, I’m sure it will be lovely, my friend!
It looks amazing, Sarah. I just love the texture and character that the brick adds and it’s so perfect with your stove!
Author
Thank you so much for all your compliments! That is what I was going for texture and character!
This turned out fabulous! I love it.
Maria
Author
Maria,
You are a dear, that means so much to me!
That really turned out beautifully & it’s perfect for the space! Great work!
Author
Thanks, love, we are so enjoying it! I really recommend brick accent walls. So easy and so stunning!
Wow, it looks so beautiful! And the nerf bullet cracks me up too!
Tania
Author
Haha! Little stinker, photo bomber is his speciality! 🙂
Boy, that sure made a huge difference! I love it. I have been wanting to do a brick wall in my house, but I haven’t completely decided where I want it yet.
🙂 gwingal
Author
We are loving it, I hope you get your plan figured out soon! It is so much fun to go forward on house projects.:)
Wow! What a huge difference and you did an amazing job! I will be pinning!
Author
Oh, thank you, dear! I really appreciate that!
Sarah, this is such a beautiful way to add more charm to your adorable home! Thanks for sharing at my Creative Ways Link Party!
Blessings,
Nici
Author
Oh thank you for saying that, Nici! And thank you for the feature, you are such an encouragement to me.
Looks great-perfect for your wood stove wall!
Author
OH, thank you. What a sweet thing to say, I’m so glad we did it. I feel like it fits the house.
I have been spending lots of time on your blog today and just love it so much! So beautiful and unique. We have a brick wall that I would like to make look like this. Any recommendations on how? I’ve contemplated either whitewashing or something I recently read about called the German smear…what would you recommend? It’s a small brick wall. Pretty standard looking. Thank you!
Author
Hi Christiana, Thank you for all your kind words. I would look into the German smear idea, I love that look!