Add Old World Charm in Under an Hour and for Under $30.00

Finally giving my kitchen island the old world charm it has always wanted! Do you have that place in your house that every time you see it you get that UGH feeling in your gut? I do, every time I sit on my couch I can see all the unfinished trim under the Island and after 2 years I don’t think anyone is going to come back and finish it. I live in a very small 1974 ranch home. The character is nonexistent so it is up to me to create it! I love the challenge most of the time but it gets expensive. So I decided that being broke and having limited skills was no reason for me not to at least attempt an improvement to this eyesore. Budget: Under $30.00 Time: Under an hour Material 1 Sheet of Embossed Red Brick with Black Grout Hardboard Wall Panel from Lowes. $25.97. About 4 oz. of Shabby Paints Chalk-Acrylic Paint in White Ice 1 oz. of Shabby Paints Texture. (Find your local stylist here) The Plan Cut, paint then install. So I measured then marked the back of the wall panels and used my Circular saw to cut. Being able to lay all the wall panels out on my work bench made painting much easier. Paint It Aging the faux brick: This only took about 20 min to paint. I painted the grout lines in small sections, working fast so it wouldn’t dry out. Then I used a slightly damp VAX applicator sponge to thinly spread the paint out. I adjusted the pressure in areas so it was very random. Don’t over think it, let some of the brick color show through and remember the point is for it to look like old weathered brick. Video Below Install I personally used what I had, nails would have been easier to hide but I used drywall screws. I was to excited to wait on nails. Hiding Seams & Screws To minimize the seams, I butted the boards as close as possible, lining up the grout lines then applying a mix of White Ice and our Texture to those areas with my finger. Before it started to dry I used the applicator sponge to lightly smooth and blend. This will give you a gritty realistic finish and help camouflage gaps, screws or nails. That was so easy and has inspired some new ideas for this space! My husband is going to be thrilled with all my new ideas :) PS. I found the Corbels at Lowes…I’ll post on that later.