Homemade Chalkboard Paint

I'll almost bet you've pinned homemade chalkboard paint from Pinterest, haven't you?  If you haven't tried it yet - can I just say,  

"This stuff is super fun"!!!!

In the past few months, we've made changes to several of our rooms.  One change we're working on is to turn our Garden Room into a Home Office.  We had been using our formal Dining Room as an office, but we decided to reclaim the Dining Room for its intended purpose, thus the office had to go somewhere else.  This is how the Garden Room looked before the changes:

It is not finished yet, so I can't show you an after picture, but I can give you a glimpse of what we've started.

While I love the look of the enormous chalkboards that cover an entire wall, I chose to do something a little different.  Instead of one grand chalkboard, I decided it would be fun to make multiple chalkboards and hang them in pretty, decorative frames.  The idea is to still fill a large space, but break it up a bit.  This room needs to work hard and function as a work space, but I still want it to have a cottage-esque personality.

To make the chalkboards, I first painted three, different frames I'd found while thrifting using Ace Hardware's Clark+Kensington paint in Light Navajo White.  To see more about this paint, read my post here.

Edward cut 1/8" plywood boards to fit the frames.  While the plywood bowed a bit initially, it relaxed as I worked with it and was great by the time I nailed it into the frames.  This made me especially happy, because I wanted to keep the chalkboards as lightweight as possible.  By the way, I've read on Pinterest of a crafter who made chalkboards by doubling up two sheets of foamcore from the $ store.  So, use what you have.

Lavender Tub Tip:

I highly recommend priming the plywood, and also using a sponge roller for the primer and the paint.  The roller makes quick work of the different coats and was super handy in mixing the grout into the paint. 

I could only find this at The Home Depot.

Let me explain:  Following the Ideas Room's recipe for chalkboard paint (basically 2 Tbs. of non-sanded grout in 1 Cup of paint), found here, 

I realized no matter how much I stirred - the lumps were NOT going away.  In fact, I feel they became worse the longer I mixed.  No worries!  When I used the sponge roller to apply the homemade chalkboard paint, I just kept rolling over the lumps and they evened out perfectly.  FYI - I used leftover latex off-white and black paint to make my homemade chalkboard paint.  I don't think it matters too much what paint you use.

I found 1 coat of primer, plus 2 coats of chalkboard paint made a very nice coating on the plywood.

After letting them cure for at least 24 hours, all that was left was to prime the new chalkboards.  To do this,  I rubbed a piece of chalk over the entire boards, then erased.  With that, the chalkboards were ready for business - or in our case Trigonometry.

 

 Ok, I had to share this picture to brag: 

 this is what I've been helping my son with for the last 3 weeks. 

 Lavendears, I worked this problem.......on my own.......

I am so proud I can still do a problem like this!!! 

 I know.......I know.......I'm bragging and that is unattractive, 

but not as unattractive as when I showed my friends

 I could still do the splits.......that was not the smartest thing I've ever done.

 I suffered in pain for weeks!

This verse from the Bible has helped me so much.  Check it out here

This truly was so much fun, and this paint makes a quality chalkboard surface.  When you realize you can make a chalkboard in any color - well, who wouldn't want to try this?

Thanks for stopping by the tub today,

Ellie

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello