D-I-Y Roman Clay Fireplace for under $100.00

LIVING ROOM | BEFORE

We moved into our 1920s home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin about 2.5 years ago and while we were settling in and painting the “baby poop” colored walls pictured here we started to notice that some of the trim work and mantle were definitely not original.

We have not been able to track down what the original fireplace looked like, but did find an old photo where the tile that is on the floor was also covering the brick. Before we moved in a previous owner removed the tile and painted the brick a glossy white.

The gloss had always bothered us, along with the gap between the mantle and the brick where the tile used to fit. Once we painted the walls with a fresh coat of creamy white (Sherwin Williams - Greek Villa), we knew the glossy white fireplace definitely needed to go!

So in typical millennial fashion, I went to Pinterest to see what inexpensive solutions were out there. I had seen some DIY-ers talk about lime washing brick to give it a more subtle, matte finish and while researching stumbled upon a product called Roman Clay.

Roman Clay provides more of a cement, textured, cloudy appearance and I instantly was obsessed. There is a company, Portola Paints, that sells actual Roman Clay product, but I decided to fully DIY the product after Mike discovered this reel. We bought the supplies and got to work…a year later ;)

D-I-Y ROMAN CLAY HOW-TO:

We first covered the brick with 2 pieces of cement board to create a smooth surface. We adhered it to the brick using extra strength adhesive along with some masonry screws. After the adhesive dried, we removed most of the screws to ensure a smooth finish.

At first, we followed the directions from the reel and other videos mixing 1/3 drywall compound with 2/3 of your preferred paint color. It was SO liquidy and hard to work with, but I put on a few layers with a plastic putty knife to see what the results were. Even though we put putty in the screw holes and seams, we could still see them distinctly so we added a lot more drywall compound - and I mean A LOT.

This created the visible texture we desired and was much easier (and less messy!) to apply. Adding more compound made the paint color lighter, which actually created more depth, which we loved! We don’t have the exact ratio, but honestly start mixing 2 parts drywall compound to 1 part paint and go from there until your desired texture is reached. Would advise making it thinner if applying to an accent wall instead of a fireplace.

I loved the natural texture that appeared from the putty knife marks and found that after I applied it, it would work best to move to a different section and then come back a minute or two later and go over it with the putty knife to create the markings that we liked.

After a couple coats of the thicker mixture the result we wanted was reached!

SUPPLY LIST + COSTS:

2 Sheets USG Durock Cement Board - $20.00

1 Gallon of Eggshell Paint - $32.00

2 Gallons of USG Drywall Joint Compound - $20.00

2 Tubes of Heavy Duty Adhesive - $8.00

Masonry Screws - $18.00 (for a pack, we only used about 17)

Plastic Putty Knife - $1.00

TOTAL: $99.00

AFTER! Completed just in time for cozy season!