Chalkboard Paint Wall: a Mom-friendly Project
Life with two kiddos is equal parts crazy and delightful. I’m loving it. And my days are full of feeding, playing, teaching, snuggling, disciplining, rocking, burping (not myself), diapering, and maybe tidying up after it all. It doesn’t leave much time for projects, but I’ve managed to squeeze a few in. And one in particular was reeeally easy and quick.
In our teeny tiny galley kitchen one side has a strange bulky wall that’s kind of awkward. But for as long as we’ve been here I’ve thought it would be a great spot for a chalkboard wall - a place to jot lists of “to-do’s” and groceries. I’d searched for a while for chalkboard paint, and only ever found spray paint - not something I want to use indoors.
So finally I decided to try the Martha method - a simple recipe for chalkboard paint from Martha Stewart Living.
(photo from Martha Stewart Living)
Not only is the recipe super simple, but it allows you to customize the colour aaand if you use environmentally friendly paint (like I did) this stuff’s a lot nicer than the nasty chemically chalkboard paints out there.
I mixed up the recommended 1 cup of latex paint to two tablespoons of unsanded tile grout (which I found at Home Depot). Some of the commenters on the website complained that the mixture was too thick and gloppy. I mixed mine with a small whisk to ensure the powdery grout didn’t clump up.
I found it thick, but useable. I used a brush (as opposed to a foam roller like the instructions said), which I found useful to feather out any lumps in the paint. (Though going over it with a foam roller may give a smoother finish, if you want to try that.) I also think the mixture became thicker the longer it sat.
I decided to do two coats since the instructions said to sand the wall once it dried. However the sanding began to take the paint off spots of my old bumpy walls. So I touched up those spots and skipped the sanding.
Before I knew it I was doodling all over the wall. It comes clean easily with a damp cloth, and looks great. I was surprised to find that the chalkboard wall is slightly darker than the remaining walls (all painted with Newburyport Blue from Benjamin Moore, btw) - which I’m OK with.
And as soon as a certain someone discovered Mommy drawing on the walls he joined in with fervour. Before I knew it he was even making requests. (“Mommy, draw tractor. Right ‘der.”)
This project was super easy and yielded great results. Even my husband stated: “Hey, that actually looks pretty cool!” I’ll take that. :)
