USE BRICK SLIPS FOR A SUBLIME ILLUSION
Use brick slips for a sublime illusion
Some of the most luxurious interior design details have centred around deceiving the eye. You only have to look at the Greeks and Romans for their love of trompe-l'œil, with the artist Zeuxis reportedly painting a bunch of grapes so realistic that birds tried to peck at the fruit.
Interior designers still use optical illusions today, deploying horizontal stripes to give a narrow room the impression of more width and painting high ceilings in dark colours to make the room feel more cosy. Another favourite is to use brick slips to give the appearance of a full-scale original brick wall.
Brick is firmly back in fashion. The 1990s saw us embrace urban loft living – an aesthetic that has become an enduring classic - with the raw brick walls of former warehouses left exposed to create internal focal points. Now homeowners are stripping back their exteriors to reveal the original brickwork that was previously covered by monstrosities such as stone cladding and pebble dashing.
No one mentions, however, the time, hard work and investment needed to restore brickwork back to its original state - it’s not for the faint hearted. Thankfully there is a convenient option for those who crave the warm, tactile and earthy aura of exposed brickwork – and for those whose homes are of a different construction inside and out.
Brick slips are slivers of real brick but thinner, lighter and cheaper than the full-size building material. They are applied to surfaces as if they were tiles, using adhesive but with pointing mortar instead of grout for an authentic finish.
Brick slips are sold in two formats. Those that are sold as individual slips give the best illusion of a real brick wall, and are available in the widest choice of colours and tonal variations. Suppliers even replicate some of London’s best loved brick stock, with Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Camden, Bayswater and Lambeth examples available alongside the classic Victorian and London reclaimed stock.
There’s also the option of slips sets, which feature up to 20 brick slips that are already laid out in a classic brickwork formation and are attached to a single piece of webbing. This is a cheaper and quicker way of covering a surface in brick slips but it can suffer from a lack of unique detail.
The beauty of brick slips is being able to use them on external walls as well as those inside the home. Slips are a great way of cladding a new extension to match an existing, period building or ensuring a garden room of modern construction mirrors the main house.
An alternative to brick slips are faux brick panels. These are lightweight, have excellent insulation and acoustic properties, and are non-permeable. Each panel can cover an area roughly one metre square, and is made of polyurethane and stone for a tactile finish - and even that cold-to-the-touch aspect of real brick.
Our interior design studio in London would be delighted to illustrate how brick slips can be used as part of a wider property refurbishment. Please contact us to explore some ideas.