Are you ready for this? I'm about to BLOW.YOUR.MIND.
There is this paint that you can buy that turns any surface in your house into a CHALKBOARD.
True story.
Okay. I suppose at this point talking about how overdone chalkboard walls are is pretty much as overdone as chalkboard walls themselves.
But what about talking about talking about how overdone chalkboard walls are?!
See? Right? I just blew your mind, didn't I?
So I mentioned wanting to make a chalkboard wall in this awkward little corner of the kitchen back in the plans/goals post at the end of last year:
Maybe now you're all, "hey! you were just talking about wanting to move that refrigerator! So why are you wasting all this time chalkboard walling?! Huh? Why?" Well. When that happens I think we will keep the lovely chalkboard wall and frame it out somehow. With wood. It will be nice.
I used Rustoleum chalkboard paint. I primed it and then put on five coats (yes! five!) and it still only took around half the quart.
One coat in, it looked like this:
It took a couple of days because each coat was supposed to dry for four hours before recoating. I used a little smooth roller and kept it in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, between coats:
After the fifth coat, we let it set for 4 days, because this is what Rustoleum told us to do. Then we primed it by covering it with chalk and wiping it off, because this is what all the other blogs told us to do:
Then I referenced art and took pictures:
The kids descended on it immediately:
Within an hour it looked like this:
And within a day it looked like this:
So that's kind of fun. Then yesterday we had a three year old over, so I went to erase everything so he could draw on it, and realized from the kids' (mostly Gus and Ari) angry protests, that they wanted to keep the wall just how it was FOREVER. I felt this was impractical and silly. So we're still negotiating on this point.
Here's what the awkward corner looks like now:
Linking with:
Inspiration Exchange
Stone Gable's Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits
The Inspiration Gallery
The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday
Inspire Me Please
Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-Up Party
Monday Funday
That is so funny about the boys!!! enjoy your wall!
ReplyDeleteOh fun! I think a chalkboard wall is perfect for a house full of kids! Good luck with the negotiations!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah....I like that it should be fun for all their ages...Abe will be able to use it, too, in just a few months!
DeleteYes, chalkboard walls are over done. But guess what? It looks like so much fun! Now I want one. Haha!
ReplyDeleteSome things are overdone for a reason, right? :)
DeleteHello Gretchen~
ReplyDeleteI might be strange, but I just can't get tired of seeing chalkboard ideas, and especially love chalkboard walls! And I love yours and think it was the perfect place for a chalkboard wall as well. :) My favorite is how it looked after a day! :)
I hope you have a beautiful day! :)
Blessings,
Jenni
{Swedish Prairie}
Thanks, Jenni! I still love seeing them even after the millionth time, too, so I figured that must mean I wouldn't get tired of one in my house :)
DeleteI love that your boys have free reign on it... cute spot for it too!
ReplyDeleteI can't decide which I like better... that you are keeping chalkboards at the forefront of the trends or your genius art reference or the fact that you have yet again blown my mind with your fabulous writing. I'll have to gel on that for a bit before I could tell you ;)
ReplyDeleteNo YOU'RE impractical and silly!
ReplyDeleteI love you, Ari!
DeleteThis is awesome!! Your wall is the perfect spot for your chalkboard wall! And your boys' art rocks! How cute is it that they were so into creating art in this space!
ReplyDeleteThe boys are going to have so much with that. Ramona loved ours. Thanks for keeping the trend alive!
ReplyDeleteI am dedicated to keeping all the trends alive! well, maybe just this one.
DeleteI think that really made your corner look great! I like chalkboard walls - overdone or not! :) I don't have room for one but if I did I'd be putting some chalkboard paint on a wall!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jill!
DeleteDoesn't matter if they're overdone or not - it looks great. And it will be a lot of fun for the kids! I know, what I'm talking about, because I had one in my room, when I was a kid. Seems my mum was an early adopter :)
ReplyDeleteLove, Midsommarflicka
Ha--yes--she was a trendsetter!
DeleteThe chalkboard wall looks so fun for the kids. Chalkboard walls seem to be everywhere, but I love that they give you the excuse to have a dramatic black wall in your space and that they're pretty practical in the kitchen too. :)
ReplyDeleteYes....if you're going to be trendy, at least pick a practical trend, right?
DeleteSaying chalkboard walls are overdone is like saying schools are too cool for chalkboards. Wait. They still have chalkboards in schools right? They haven't completely converted to touchscreens or white boards have they? If so, even better. That would make chalkboards "vintage" and they'd be all the rage once again. At any rate, who cares if they're overdone, chalkboards are fun! I love how your boys decorated it too. :-)
ReplyDeletelol! My husband's school actually is all white boards and smartboards and such. maybe in elementary schools they still have chalkboards? we can hope!
DeleteBad news: I read a blog post recently about how overdone chalkboard walls are. So talking about talking about it is ALSO so last year. (Kidding!) I think it rocks. I still want one in my house.
ReplyDeleteuh oh. okay, so what about what we're doing....talking about talking about TALKING about chalkboard walls? yeah, maybe I'll just have to resign myself to being unoriginal on this point :)
DeleteLove it! So great that the kids had so much fun with it! :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, is a house ever a home until it has a chalkboard wall?
ReplyDeleteI love chalkboard art. Its fun to see what your kids created. I'm sure your kids will have lots of good memories of this wall.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tammy--that's what I'm hoping! :)
DeleteThe wall looks great! Thanks for linking up to our "Inspire Me Please" blog party...I'm featuring you this week!!
ReplyDeletexo, Jennifer @Blissfully Ever After
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
DeleteI love where you put the chalkboard wall! Not too distracting but easy for the kids to have fun on! Looks like they are having a blast!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's kind of like a secret little nook back there :)
DeleteThanks! The kids are having a lot of fun with it so far (and, umm, me, too ;))
ReplyDelete