We have an old home. In 2008, with a 6 month on the prowl, we bravely embarked on an 8 month-long kitchen overhaul. It was painful. It was challenging. It was soooo worth it. Not only did we save gobs of money but we also got to do things the way we wanted to. One of the things we discovered in our old home renovation was that one of the kitchen walls was the original exterior wall. Underneath the ugly paneling was hiding this beautiful brick. Okay, beautiful is probably an overstatement but I’m a little obsessed with brick walls. The Black Lab Bistro helped me fall in love with interior brick walls.

Here’s a photo of our project as it was unfolding. To this day I’m still baffled that we somehow managed to keep Lily from impaling herself on the many sharp and dangerous objects lingering around while we my husband worked on things over a very long period of time.

And here’s my sweet Lily at 4 and a half, sitting on the stool eating cereal. Do you notice something?

Yes, that’s right. The brick is still not finished. Perhaps you can’t really see it, but it still has a ton of crumbly, messy mortar and cement on it. It’s not pretty. It’s not complete. It will be a very messy project. It will include tarps. It will include wire brushes. It will need masks.

But I really want to finish it this spring. I really want my brick wall to be complete. I really want to intentionally set aside time to properly tarp up the area (to minimize dust travel, but come on, let’s be honest, that’s nearly impossible).

Anyone have a practical advise? Do I seal it with something too or just leave it “raw”?