Recently, I wrote about chalkboard paint being my favorite thing. Here’s another idea!
When my daughter was 18 months old, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was hiding crayons and pens so that she didn’t create a masterpiece’ on my walls. My husband was about to take off on a business trip and I knew I had a few nights to work on a project of my own. With the wheels turning, I decided to turn my boring hallway into a room in and of itself. I went to the local hardware store, bought some chalkboard paint (only$9!), a mini roller and some tape and headed home to put the little one to bed so I could paint my hallway.
I have framed pictures all over my hallway but I had about a six foot space underneath on each side that wasn’t being used. I taped off a long rectangle on one side (for those future large murals, you know) and three smaller rectangles on the other (so there were three canvases’ for masterpieces). Then I got out my mini roller, poured some paint and painted away. It didn’t take more than an hour to measure the rectangles, tape them off and paint. Then the next two nights after my daughter was asleep, I put on additional coats. Having her asleep allowed the paint to dry so I didn’t worry about handprints that last forever!
After letting it dry for three days, I conditioned it (rubbed a piece of chalk over the entire surface and wiped it off) and I am happy to say, it has turned a useless space into a room to spend time in. My daughter has spent countless hours drawing on the boards. As a toddler, she scribbled away. As a two year old, she learned her shapes. At three, she began writing her letters there and even wrote her name for the first time on it. Now at almost four, she is drawing pictures of our family, and writing words all day long. I have worked on her colors there, we have played matching games and just enjoyed coloring. It is one of my favorite places in the house.
I also have a pantry in my hallway whose door was just plain and boring. So I painted another rectangle on the door and it is where I write down things I need from the store, projects I want to work on and my wish list of things I want.
And who would have thought? I used to take my hallway space for granted-but not anymore.
Today’s post is brought to us by Megan. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their two little ones; Audrey and Owen. Up until a year ago, she was a pre-school teacher and has a degree in Early Childhood Education. Now a (lucky) full-time mom, she enjoys spending her days teaching the kids through play, cooking, yoga and creating. In her very spare time she is an artist and has her own line of little girls skirts.
www.inbetweendreams.etsy.com or In Between Dreams on facebook
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14 COMMENTS
Stephanie via Facebook
14 years agoThis paint is awesome, but if it’s on an over textured wall it makes writing a bit weird. It works well, though. I believe they also have white-board ype paint, and a metallic base to go under it.
Jess T.
14 years agoWe were able to use it on a textured wall by sanding it a bit and then using a thick, spackley primer (2x, actually) to smooth out the bumps. The wall works great, but it was a little more work!
Meg
14 years agoThey do have wipe off board paint and magnet paint too. They also have chalkboard paint that you can tint to make your own colors. Its amazing what they have now!
You could sand the walls a bit or could buy a small piece of wood and make that the chalkboard and install it on the wall. It’s worth it. I can’t tell you how many hours we spend using it!
Stephanie via Facebook
14 years agoOops I meant magnetic
Melinda via Facebook
14 years agoVery AWESOME idea!
Faith via Facebook
14 years ago@ Stephanie you can also use a sheet of MDF or sheetrock, tack it to the wall, fill the holes, paint, and use molding to make a frame. I grew up in a home schooled family. We had 2 chalk boards like the ones I describe above. Very awesome, useful, and beautiful indeed!
Kaydee
14 years agoI will definitely be doing this for my 2 boys when we have our own house!
Melinda
14 years agoVERY good idea! I’ve often thought about a small space but I never thought of using wasted space to do it =) Thank you !
Steph
14 years agolove this idea!!
roxannepiskel
14 years agoWhat a great idea! I think I’ll have to take this into consideration the next time I’m working on decorating the house. Thanks!
Brittany B.
14 years agocute idea..i bet the kids love it.
Mindy Johnston
14 years agoI like this idea. We, too, have overly textured walls, but I think we’ll give it a try anyway!
claudia
14 years agowe homeschool so extra chalk board space would be great!! cool idea!
Cynthia
14 years agoThis is an awesome idea! My daughter could really use this for her daughters who are both wall artists extraordinaire! =)