Chalk It Up

One of the things that I really like in our new kitchen is our chalk board wall-so much fun.  It's right at the top of the basement stairs

 

The other cool thing that I discovered is that it is even somewhat period appropriate to have a chalkboard in a 1913 home.  In Duchscherer & Keister's Bungalow Basics Bedrooms, they state that "a nursery featured in The Craftsman magazine in 1905 proposed board-and-batten walls with a blackboard installed between the battens, so that the children could be free to draw in chalk."

How'd we do it?  Well, I really wanted the chalkboard to be magnetic as well so I picked up a  can of the magnetic primer.  Recommended having it shaken at a paint store just before applying so I did just that.  Then applied 3 thin coats with a foam roller as the can suggested. 

Next I painted on a coat of the chalkboard paint with the foam roller again.  One coat covered it well.
I managed to get a couple splatters on the newly painted wall-oops!  Even with taping edges-still need to fix that.

So after all of that, I rubbed an even layer of chalk over the entire board as it recommends "priming" it with chalk so that remnants of writing or drawings aren't left behind with you erase.

 Then I tested it out.  Magnets are a big 'ol fail.  Even the super expensive heavy duty ones.  Oh well, waste of $15 for the can of primer.  Luckily, I already had the chalkboard paint from a gift I had made someone so the whole thing only set me back $20 after buying a box of chalk and an eraser.  

But the chalkboard paint is awesome and we love it!  Guess you can tell we are having a girl!  And today was Ben's first day of preschool (sniff, sniff-I didn't cry though and luv the school we chose for him).

 But I didn't stop there.  I wanted another chalkboard area that was hidden from the masses.  A place I could write down dinner ideas/grocery list/to-do list-whatever.  Without being overwhelming and out in the open for all to see.  Enter space on door of spice cabinet.  I was thinking of painting it with the chalkboard paint but it pained me to paint over the freshly painted cabinets and possibly wreck them.  My friend, Stef had some leftover repositionable chalk roll.  I decided to give it a try.  And it is pretty awesome.  The brand of hers is "The Board Dudes"-I think she said that she got it from target.  I like it so much that I may get some of the chalkboard contact paper-$7 for an 18"x6' roll on amazon-it has 4.5 stars. 

The only annoying part is that a lot of chalk dust is on the floor after I write on that big chalk board or erase, even though I bough a "dustless" eraser.  however, I hear that has a lot to do with the chalk you buy and I only purchased super cheap stuff from Ikea so when I use this all up, I will try a different brand.