I recently visited England on vacation and while I was there I saw lots of old buildings built out of old brick. Of course in England, old means old! Brick to me is absolutely gorgeous. Brick is like a time capsule, the foundation colour which is then accented by layers of colours deposited from years of use and weather. Canada is so new, we think a a hundred year old building is ancient! The years add to the cool factor of the brick.
Old brick and mortar also has a beautiful texture. There is the smoothness of the brick, the roughness of the mortar, chips, and cracks.
Brick is also nostalgic, imagining old row housing, pubs and night club dives and perhaps something from Charles Dickens. Brick is warm, comforting and adds a texture to any room.
I was really affected by a brick I found in our recent trip to Charleston which we will feature soon in the blog but I wanted to share this photo with you. It is a brick we found in Drayton Hall, one of the plantation houses on the Ashley River just north of Charleston. In this brick you can see the handprint of the slave who made it. I can’t describe to you how I felt when I saw his hand print. It is a small, but lasting legacy of the time of slavery in the United States.
I think we often yearn to add the character of aged brick to our interiors but we are just not sure how to do that in our rather plain and new dry walled homes.
The challenge with decorating with brick is that it is expensive and when you grow tired of the look, removal is difficult. We have had the option of wallpaper brick but it was too symmetrical, too uniform and boxy and didn’t really look like a true brick.
Thankfully there are some great authentic looking options available now.
This is a wonderful wallpaper book out of England called Reclaimed.
If you are looking to add a little of the old world to your design, then this is the book for you.
We also have a mural book called Flowers & Textures; both have realistic examples of brickwork. Giving you the warmth and texture of brick, without the challenges of real brick. Here are a couple of examples!
Bricks make an incredible feature wall which instantly adds style and texture to your space!
I’m just trying to decide which wall I can use to add some brick into the interior of my home and I hope you will do the same! If you live in the Ottawa area come and visit one of our stores to look through these books and find the perfect brick for you.
