Chalkboards are in, apparently. I didn’t really realise this. Since we moved into our house five years ago I have wanted to paint one on the kitchen wall. But The Bavarian wasn’t so keen. I still bought the paint and I renovated two old blackboards, one for the kids and one to hang in the kitchen. But after all that, I still knew I really wanted a large space on the wall for shopping lists, etc.
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| Did you figure out who is drawn here? Darth Vader and Yoda |
So I bought more paint and got to work on convincing The Bavarian. We recently removed the kitchen door and this exposed the awkward wallspace between the fridge and the doorframe. It was terribly marked from five years of life with small children. It needed a lick of paint, so why not use the blackboard paint? He gave in, I got my brushes out.
I’d been oogling ‘kitchen chalkboards’ on Pinterest and had a few ideas of what would suit our kitchen. (Blackboard seems to be the not so cool term these days but I can’t get used to chalkboard, sorry). While a full-wall blackboard would look great around our doorframe, it would darken the kitchen too much.
In the end I settled on painting the wall from the skirting board up to the height of the fridge. The plan is to trick around a bit and add a slogan or banner with a chalk marker at the top, but I have yet to decide on it. For the moment, The Bavarian and the boys have been attacking my blackboard and leaving me little space for my own notes. But since the kitchen is the heart of our home, I’ll let them away with it. For now.
Usually I am very tempted to skip preparation and get straight to the painting, but after waiting for so long to get this project started , I wanted it to turn out well. Here is what I did:
1. I washed the wall with warm water to remove any dirt or greasy marks.
2. Using the spirit level and a pencil, I marked the size and shape of the blackboard onto the wall.
3. I used masking tape along the pencil lines as well as along the door frame and skirting board to ensure clear edges and unharmed woodwork.
4. There were a few small dents in the wall, so I filled these up with wall filler and a spatula and left it to dry overnight.
5. The following day I applied the first coat of paint around lunchtime and a second coat just before going to bed.
6. Getting up the next morning I was so excited about pulling off the tape and seeing the lovely clean lines of my blackboard.
7. I read somewhere, while doing all my research, that before using a freshly-painted ‘chalkboard’, you should colour in the whole board lightly with white chalk and then take one of those magic eraser sponges (dry) and wipe the chalk off again to give it that chalky look. It is so much nicer than the stark black of the paint. I did it and it turned out really well. The poor Bavarian got a giving out to from me when he washed the whole board with water while I was out later that morning and put his own message on it.
Snap! I finished ours a few weeks ago – it's fab. I was annoyed that a chalk own I bought doesnt work as it marks it semi permanently as the wall is porous but love the chalky look. I fell for magnetic chalk paint but nine – repeat nine, coats later it's as magnetic as cheese!!!
Looks great, well done!
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
What a cool idea! Want one. I'm the 'get stuck in' type of decorator too. Think I get it from my mum. She would just randomly strip of a big chunk of wallpaper occasionally to convince my dad it was time to decorate. I have a similar mentality but rent houses so can't go too crazy.
Great minds Helen, great minds. But nine coats? I'd be sending the manufacturer a nasty e-mail if I were you.
Ha ha, I like your mum's style. Yep, renting is a bummer when it comes to decorating the walls.
Oh I really love it, although his message did make me giggle 🙂 Great job and you must be so pleased it's now done after wanting one for so long. I think they're an especially great idea if you have children too. If we had one the only thing I could use it for is to leave rude messages for my husband…which actually isn't a bad idea 😉 #HomeEtc
Such a great idea and you could put seasonal slogans on it along with the shopping list and menus, oh the possibilities are endless xx
Thanks Lins. I love it. So handy for me plus it keeps the kids occupied too.
Leaving rude message has its attractions too though 😉
Indeed they are Lisa. At the moment there is a big fat reminder at the top for us all to drink more water and at the bottom the boys have drawn Viking ships 🙂 Menus is a great idea too and I can use it for listing the week's dinners too to encourage my eldest to read! xx
Awesome. I've been toying with the idea of doing this in the boys bedroom but the thought of chalk-dust is putting me off!!! Yours looks so good though, I may have to revisit the idea 😉 Thanks so much for linking up with Jess and me for #HomeEtc, we really appreciate it 🙂 xx
I bet they would love one Caro. Hours of fun and, to be honest, the dust is not bad. We use a magic eraser sponge to wipe ours and it just seems to suck up the dust. My middle boy has a dust allergy but he hasn't had any issues with chalk dust. Not yet anyway.
What a great idea 🙂 We have a grown up one but love this for the mini's!! Thanks so much for linking up with us! Jess xx
#HomeEtc
Thanks Jess. It is working out better than I thought it would. My middle boy is learning to write on it, the baby scribbles on it in chalk, the eldestt draws his Star Wars pictures and the top is still out of their reach and free for my lists. Win-win!
I love this Fionnuala! I have always wanted to male a chalk board for the kiddies, but because we rent we are not allowed. If we ever buy our own house it will be one of the first things I do though! #HomeEtc xxx
It really is great Catherine. I did renovate a free-standing blackbaord or the boys a few years ago for their room and they still use it for playing school. Maybe that'd suit you, being in a rented house?