Restoring old brick walls is no easy task. However, you can do this and trust me you’re going to be so happy with your finished results. When thinking about taking on a project like this you need to prepare yourself for all the do’s and dont’s. Do get ready to spend a lot of time, energy, and elbow grease. Don’t expect perfection. Do prepare for the extreme mess your about to make and don’t give up, because your results will amaze you. In this project, my husband and I are restoring the brick walls in a 100-year-old building. We are trying to bring back some of the originality that has been hidden away for decades.

If you have been reading our downtown renovation stories then you have seen what we started with. Below is a picture of where we started in our journey. We have just completed the ceiling restoration (click here for details) and now we are ready to work on restoring the brick wall.

So let’s get started. First, we had to remove the paneling and wood. Once again, we had no idea what was waiting for us behind the paneling. As you can see in the picture below, the brick was not looking promising.

Once everything was removed we were able to get a better idea of how we wanted to restore the brick. Behind the paneling was a thick plaster that covered the brick. A lot of it was cracking and loose in areas if you touched it would simply break off and fall. Not to mention we now had tons of holes in the mortar from where the wood/paneling had been attached to walls.

We decided to leave some of the plaster with exposed brick, but first, we had to get rid of any loose plaster. We started out using hammers and chisels, but did you see how big this wall was? And this plaster was at least an inch thick. So we switched out to the power tools. If you decide to tackle this job make sure to wear a respirator.

Now that we removed all the plaster that was loose and exposed the brick in the areas to bring out the details and character. This is what we were left with.

Here is a picture gallery to show you how amazing this brick was. The details and variations were stunning. After hours and hours of labor to remove the thick plaster that covered the brick I could see my visions coming to life.

After we removed the rubble from the floor we took our shop vac and vacuumed the wall. The issue with the 100+ year old brick is that the mortar used at the time was comprised almost entirely of lime. Fast forward a century later and all that was left between the bricks was dust. My husband had to remove all of the mortar by hand between the bricks where the mortar had completely degraded and crumbled and repoint the wall with new mortar. Once that daunting task was finished we cleaned the brick with muriatic acid and then diluted the brick with water. Now it was time to seal the brick and mortar. We used 5 gallons of original old Thompson Water Seal. We applied several coats. We used a sprayer and a paint roller to apply it. We added custom baseboards and painted everything white to finish. What do you think about how it turned out?

There are a few things that I would like to share with you about having old brick walls. First, while they are beautiful they do take some upkeep. It is very important to ensure the integrity of the bricks. Replace grout lines with a mortar and seal the bricks to help reduce dust. While sealing the brick will tremendously reduce the dust, it will not eliminate it completely. And you may have to reseal your brick and mortar at some point. But in my honest opinion, I would do it all over again.

So what do you think are you ready to tackle your brick wall project?

Did you see where we started with our Landmarked Historical Downtown
Building? If not you can check it out here.

Do you love hidden history, well I have the perfect restoration project.
Check out how we tackled our original metal ceiling tiles here.

These pictures still amaze me. WOW, what a difference. It reminds me of where we started and where we ended up. This renovation was so worth it. Let me walk you through our metal ceiling restoration project.

Let The Renovations Begin

First things first, that drop ceiling had to go. I could see through the missing ceiling tiles that there were old metal tiles hidden away above there. Oh, how I couldn’t wait to expose them.

Look how gorgeous these beauties were. Why would anyone ever cover these up! Well, let me show you why.

As it turned out, this building had been vacant for decades before the previous owner’s bought it. When they purchased it the roof had been damaged. In a combination with the building being abandoned, and having a flat roof that started to hold water the roof leaked causing water damage to the metal tiles that were beyond repair. So they had no choice but to repair the roof and cover the beautiful tiles.

And here is what we were left with. Gaping holes in the ceiling.

If having missing tiles wasn’t enough there was the issue of the roof drain pipe, right in the middle that had to be dealt with along with the HVAC system.

Ya’ll I could seriously hear my husband saying “I told you so”, without ever uttering a word. What he did say was, what now? Hmmm, now we pick ourselves up from total disappointment, dust ourselves off, literally and find a solution.

Well, that solution took tons of research from one end of the internet to the other and shopping old antique malls and anywhere I could potentially find tiles that matched. To no avail, I had no luck with my search. I found plenty of old metal tiles, however none that matched. Did I mention we not only had one type of tile but four different kinds on our ceiling? Lord help me, we just purchased this building and the first project just hit a major roadblock.

The solution, I will find someone to replicate the original tiles and replace the missing and damaged ones. After tons of research and phone calls, I finally found someone that sold replicas of old ceiling tiles after months of searching. I couldn’t wait to tell Garrick (my husband) the good news. All we had to do was take a picture of the existing tiles so the company could find the match. Easy enough.

Well, roadblock and decision time again. The tiles in our building are unlike any they had ever seen and very unique. All I could think was, of course, they are. Why would anything be easy? Here were our options.

1. We could pay to have dies made from an original tile and they could replicate as many tiles as we needed for a hefty price or
2. We could replace all the tiles in the building with replicas they already had dies for at the same price.

I wanted option 1 of course. How could you restore something if you took everything out that was original? Well, my husband wanted option 3. Wait, what, there’s no option 3 I told him. Option 3 was to have never removed the drop ceiling in the first place. Lol too late now, no turning back and were defiantly not paying money to replace the drop ceiling. Guess which option we went with.

That’s right, option 1. After six long months, the tiles were finally here. I have to say, my husband gives me a hard time, but truly he’s the best. He also reminds me when I tell people about our ceiling tile renovation how many tiles there were missing. 78 to be exact, he’d say, as if that was a difficult problem or a strain on our sanity, marriage, and finances during that time.

Here is a comparison of the original tile that we sent to the company. They used it to cast a dye to make the replica tiles. Wow, what an amazing job.

So now let the work begin.

This was such a long process and so much work, all to bring the originality back to this beautiful building. And it was worth every penny.

Now that the ceiling tiles had been replaced, we were ready for paint. This decision was also a tough one. Ultimately we choose to go with the color from Benjamin Moore called Cheating Heart.

Well, that’s it. The ceiling was completed and it turned out amazingly stunning I must say. Now on to the next project, restoring the brick wall. Check out that story here.

A perfectly imperfect building

This story is about the journey for the love of all things old that came before us. The money pit, roadblocks, and realities of working with your spouse. In the end, the diamond in the rough revealed to be a beauty through blood, sweat, and tears. As we embarked on this journey, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We dove feet first with a passion to bring back some history and do our part in helping to renovate downtown.

This is what I saw and I just knew this old building was meant for me. The facade of some of the old buildings was being restored in our little town to help revive downtown. The building to the left and ours was redone, however, what you don’t see to the right was a condemned building boarded up with a collapsed roof and overgrown trees in front of it. Talk about an eyesore, but we went full speed ahead, or should I say I did, dragging my husband with me.

Just a recap, my husband and I had been remodeling homes for years, however, it was mainly for ourselves at that point. From our first townhome on the lake to a turn of the century-old Victorian home on the Florida-Georgia line. How hard could this be? Well, we will get back to that question.

Cant, you just see the potential and possibilities, I told my husband. Even though the front of the building had already been previously restored, my husband was not as thrilled as I was about to purchase yet another money pit. I must say for good reason.

A little history. This storefront was downtown with hardly any foot traffic at that point, and like many downtowns in America, they had been run down and abandoned to malls and big box stores uptown. All that was left was old buildings with remarkable architectural details and dusty empty display windows where thriving businesses once were.

You think the obvious reality would stop me from making a huge mistake, right. No way we’re doing this. Even though my husband did not agree with me, he did what he always does. He supported my dream and helped my visions come to life.

Let’s take a look at what was inside before renovations.

The inside of the building wasn’t bad at all, however, I had a vision and couldn’t wait to transform this space into something more my style, while trying to bring back some of that original history.

My husband and I worked on transforming this building every second we had between both working full-time jobs and raising three busy kids. Honestly, it took us two years to complete our renovations and I thought we would never get finished. In the end, I couldn’t be any more excited about how it turned out and proud that we accomplished this together.

Would you like to see our renovations? To see the metal ceiling tiles restoration click here.

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Literally, opening day of our store I realized I didn’t have an opening sign. I mean yea, I had thought about it several times in the past few weeks, but unfortunately it got push back in my long list of to do’s and was clearly forgotten about. So I had to improvise and fast. Off on a mission, searching for something, that would temporarily let people know that we were open. At this point anything would do that wasn’t paper taped to the door written in marker. Thats when I spotted this sign in the basket of flowers.

Chalkboard yard stake sign

Yep, this sign was also suppose to serve as a useful purpose, that clearly wasn’t written on…did I mention my to do list was long? Either-way, I grabbed it up, cut out an open vinyl decal and suck it to the chalkboard front. So proud of myself, I headed to show it off to my husband and ask him to cut off the wood stake. Thats when I heard a voice and it dawned on me, make the backside “closed”, or maybe that was my husbands voice, nevertheless this is how it looks.

Front of open sign makeover

Back of closed sign makeover

Steps to make the sign

All I did was cut out the words closed and open using my circuit. On the back I first added craft paper using spray adhesive. Next I trimmed the paper in the shape of the sign using a razor blade. This part is really simple since its adhered to the back. All you do is take the razor blade and follow the edges of your sign. Just be careful not to cut yourself.  Then stick the closed sticker to the craft paper (don’t use really sticky transfer paper or it will rip your craft paper). Then I used mod podged over the entire back. Lastly, I added some eye hooks and twine. Voila my new open and closed sign thats now, not so temporary! Best part, cost was FREE using supplies I already had.

Learn from my rookie mistake: #1 Make sure you have an open sign. This really helps potential customers!

Here is a list of the supplies I used incase you want to make your own sign

• Be creative and use anything. Look around at stuff you already have. I used a wooden chalkboard yard stake that I had for several years that I got from hobby lobby.
• White vinyl.  Font: your choice
• Craft paper link here
• Mod Podge link here
• Small eye hooks (found at any hardware store, Wal-mart, and most craft stores)
• Natural twine (Michaels or Hobby Lobby)

A couple of ideas you could use these supplies for

• Welcome signs
• Holiday signs to hang on your door
• Personalize a sign with your last name

These would make great gifts for friends and family too! Happy crafting.

Here are a few more pictures

Open sign hanging

Closed sign hanging

Tween Girls Bedroom Makeover

I was itching to do a makeover so it was my middle daughter Malorie’s lucky day…so I thought. She had rules, yep my daughters demands… nothing to girly, nothing pink including the walls, and absolutely nothing frilly. OK so what do you want? Nothing, you can leave it the way it is…Not an option! So this is the directions of things she liked…the color blue, wood, and keep her ceiling fan….Really? This is all I get.. fine challenge accepted.

Previous Bedroom

So here is her bedroom before we moved in. It was someone’s cute little girly room with pinks, greens, and frilly things.

Bedroom Before Makeover

It was basic. We painted the walls gray and I added some Paris/London theme decor when we first purchased the house. To be completely transparent she didn’t care about her current decor, so why was she being so picky now? She never used her room, except to sleep. This kiddo was always outdoors playing. But I had my marching orders…I could redo her room with her minimal rules, so I could’t complain…to much! The pictures below shows what I had to work with. I wasn’t going to spend a lot of money and I would re-use almost everything she already had.

Project Completion

The bedroom turned out even better than I had imaged. I bought a navy rug from At Home and added the wooden mirror which was from my entryway and project complete. Needless to say, Malorie was pretty happy too.

So what do you think? Stay tuned if you are interested in learning my tips and ticks I used during this project. Links will be posted soon.

Once again, I was on the prowl. For nothing in-particular but I came across this round table that I just couldn’t live without on craigslist. Besides the fact it was not close to home, I had to come up with a good idea so that my husband would pick it up for me. Hmm, how am I gonna pull this one off. It so happened that my husband is an outdoors man and there was an archery competition that he had been talking about attending in a few weeks.  Perfect…Garrick and his friend could pick up this table while they were in the neighborhood. So when Garrick politely asked for a kitchen pass for the weekend, I pounced! Of course you can go hunny, if you wouldn’t mind picking up a table for me (hehe). Once, I told him the location, he said…its still an hour away from where we are going. You say “tomato I say “tomato” its all the same, as I proceed to explain, its better to make one trip then turn around and make two, he agreed. Isn’t he the best!

Round Table Retrieval

My husbands best friend pulls in to pick him up for the weekend 3D shoot and his truck was already loaded down with gear, and by the time my husband added his bow case and all his manly stuff, where in the world was my table going to fit? As the two of them joked and gave me a hard time. They pulled out of the drive with the biggest grins from ear to ear. They were trying to get a rise out of me, but it wasn’t happening (at least not in-front of them). I smiled and waved good-bye as I mumbled under my breath, have a good time, but don’t come back unless you have my table. They ended up getting the table before they went to the archery shoot, and boy did I hear all about it when they returned.  Were we the biggest losers pulling up to a competition with a bunch of men with a kitchen table in the back… Garrick said I can hear them now…bet he’s married, lol God love em there so precious.

The power of paint

Okay, so once again I forgot to take a picture of the before, but here is the during! Just imagine, its all dust, old, and a dreadful dark brown with scratches all on top. Now the top is completely sanded smooth and taped off for paint…spray paint my friends. Yep, that’s right, spray paint. There is magic power in a can of spray paint.  Then I added some stain to the top and BAM dream come true. Now I just need chairs.

Chair Treasure Hunt

It took me a while to find the perfect chairs to go with my new round table. I wanted something old, not expensive, and I needed five that matched. So this is what I ended up with.

Did anyone get a flash back from the early 90’s with those colors? Sorry mom, I’m still not sure that I will ever have those colors in my paint pallet. Overall the chairs were in good shape. Once I removed the seat cushions and cleaned the chairs, and gave them a light sanding, they were ready for paint. Yes, spray paint to match the base of the table. I lightly sanded the chairs to distress them and sprayed on a polyurethane.  Then I went to hobby lobby and picked out some fabric and transformed the chairs into something completely different.

Old To New Again

What do you think? If you find those hideous pieces of forgot treasures, don’t let them scare you way. With a little imagination or at least some paint, you too can turn those pieces into show stoppers.