chalkboard DIY

I’ve had so many compliments on our walls of chalkboard. (thank you!)  so i thought I’d share some fun tips on how we did ours.

In our house we have 3 walls that are “chalkboard.”  One main wall in our dining room, which we use for grocery lists, pictionary, and child entertainment. I also have 2 walls in my office that are chalkboard. I love them so much! not only are they green because I’m not scrabbling my notes onto thousands of post its and killing trees, but i can also draw little sketches, doodle quotes that inspire me and change it as often as i want….which is awesome because i love to change things up and keep it fresh around here!

we always buy our paint at Lowe’s… Valspar is the only brand i have used that I rave over. It’s thick, washes well, and doesn’t splatter. but mostly i love it for it’s coverage. so when we purchased our paint for phase 1 of our construction project, i knew i’d want to try this ‘chalkboard’ paint that was becoming popular. i assumed it would be pretty pricey because it’s kind of a specialty product…but low and behold! the man at the paint counter that evening filled me in on a little secret. YOU DON”T NEED ACTUAL SPECIAL EXPENSIVE CHALKBOARD PAINT!  just choose whatever color you want, whatever brand of paint you want. you’ll need to paint 3 thin coats of ANY FLAT finish paint.   any color you want and whammy! you got yourself a chalkboard. : )

I have found that with light use, a wet wash rag cleans it up pretty well. however….for heavier use (like after these 2 were through) a can of regular Coca Cola poured into a bowl and a sponge and your wall is good as new! no lie. the Deyo’s in Omaha taught me that trick. HERE is also a random blog post to prove it ; )   and here’s some pics of my little cousins Aubrey & Brooke practicing their talents last weekend.  hope I’ve inspired YOU to make something in your house chalkboard : )