The writing on the wall...

Our kitchen and dining room was a glossy yellow when we moved it.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with yellow.  Hello? I call my house the yellow bungalow.

However, we knew we wanted a chalkboard wall, and knew that yellow didn't compliment that too well.

So we painted the kitchen and dining room Behr Premium Plus paint color matched to Water Chestnut from Martha Stewart. (kicking myself for not taking a picture after we painted.)  It adds a nice earth, mellow tone to balance out the bold grays that would be in the chalkboard wall.  

Then we went on to the black chalkboard paint.  You can buy this paint in many different colors.  We chose black because we knew that more often than not always have chalk on the wall.  Therefore, never would it be true black again.

(Also, we wished we would have primed the wall with magnetic paint which is also black.  That way the wall will not only would have a chalkboard surface, but it would be magnetic.  Wouldn't that be cool?  However, this is an easy fix for a simple project in the future.  Just thought I would share what I learned along the way.)

You paint it on, just as you do regular paint. 

It will need two coats.  I wish I had a picture of what one coat looks like. 

After both coats are fully dry, we needed to prime the wall using chalk.  I drew all over the wall using the side of the piece of chalk.  Wiped it down, and now you have a primed wall.

The white in the office throws off the chalkboard wall a little.  But we have plans for that office.  Oh, the wild plans that we have!  Can't wait to get started on that project.  But, I digress.

We found these hooks at Costplus Worldmarket, and the tin buckets from Ikea. For a grand total of: $8!

The Hacker drilled holes in each.  These are now the chalk and easer holder.

We use this wall all the time.

We placed the buckets low for when there are little Zamoras running around.  That way, they too will be able to enjoy the wonders of the wall.  The buckets may not be the perfect solution for holding the chalk, but they serve their purpose for the time being.  

Here is what we had up for Valentine's Day.

love, 

Kristin

P.S.  Just for the record, there are no little Zamora's as of yet.  Just thought that needed to be said.