Chalkbaord Paint Project

Finally making some progress in the kids' room. Last weekend I decided to go ahead with Sherwin Williams "Silver Peony" for the walls (and later the ceiling). I kept thinking it was too dull, but now that I have it on the walls, it looks great. It's kind of a pale lavender/grey color that goes well with their raspberry colored rug (I bought that at B-Company in Tokyo.).

The next step was painting a chalkboard on their wall. I've been dying to use chalkboard paint for ever, but our walls in Tokyo were covered in wallpaper. I guess I could have painted and framed a piece of wood or something, but, come to think of it, I never came across chalkboard paint in Japan.
I was surprised by how much I loved the look of the black paint in the room. It looks kind of cool with the bright rug and pale walls. You can tint chalkboard paint or buy in other colors, too, if black isn't your thing.
This was a pretty easy project. I bought my paint at Lowe's and used a brush I had on hand to get it on the wall. Next time, I'm going to try a roller, though, because that would probably make it go on more even. After 2 coats of paint, it looked perfect. The directions said to wait 24 hours in between coats. The waiting was the hardest part. Hmmm. I wonder if Tom Petty was talking about painting a chalkboard wall.

I will say that if you plan on making a chalkboard wall for your kids, be prepared for the amount of chalk dust that ends up on the floor. They're having so much fun drawing, that I don't mind so much. I might add a little ledge at the bottom to catch some of the dust. Maybe a piece of crown molding would work.
This wall isn't totally complete yet. I'm thinking about adding a cute little bow above the board so that it looks like it's hanging from ribbon. Or maybe I'll put up a couple of floating shelves. Their room is pretty small, so having a place to plop some toys might be a good idea. 
Saturday, I'm hoping to get to painting the ceiling and finishing this painted tree that I started. That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your "after" photo looks like a photo from the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue. Turned out perfectly! Hard to believe that real, live children live in that room. They've got to love having a place to draw on the wall. I still find little drawings on the wall or furniture from time to time that I have overlooked for years.
Vanessa said…
wow, thanks. you should see it after they draw on it! i'm sure they'll still try and draw on furniture, but this should help a little.

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