I know, I know.  The whole chalkboard thing has sooo been done.

 

But I still like it.

 

And it’s January, which means I’m itching to freshen things up around here.

 

So I decided to paint a small wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint (not to be confused with Annie Sloane chalk paint; see yesterday’s post here.)

 

I’ve been admiring the chalkboard walls other bloggers have done (click below the photos to see their original posts):

Thrifty Decor Chick

 Our Fifth House chalkboard wall

 

Dimples and Tangles chalkboard nook

 

It’s such a fun and creative element — that really appealed to me.  Plus a bit of black helps any room, it’s inexpensive to do — and when I get tired of it, I can just paint right over it.

Decision made, about a week ago I pulled out a drop cloth, paint tray, small roller, trim brush and tape, and dove in.  Within an hour I had two coats on and was watching the paint dry.

 

Then, following the tips from the other bloggers, I waited three days, rubbed chalk all over the whole thing (priming),

then used an eraser to wipe in all in.  (Remember the spine-tingling irritation of fingernails on a chalkboard? Yeah, I discovered that totally applies here.)

 

At that point the whole thing looked very chalky and not terribly attractive.  But on the paint can, it recommends you then wait a week before washing the whole thing down and re-priming it with chalk.  (So not for impatient people like me.)  I waited a few more days until I couldn’t take it anymore.  By then, I figured it had to be cured enough, and wiped it down with a damp cloth.

It was better.  Better still once I added some fun stuff, like this:

 

And this (which I made from an old frame, burlap scrapbook paper, and a piece of pretty garland-ribbon from a beautifully-wrapped gift I was given):

 

And to hold the chalk and eraser, this tin container from my basement:

 

 

Put it all together, and it looks like this:

 

 

My family was skeptical about this project, but I think they’re liking it now.  I came downstairs this morning to find this:

 

 

So I think it’s growing on them.