Yeah, I’m nesting. Big time. Big, big, big time. I’m painting and prepping and playing and buying used furniture and running around my place naked yelling, “Mine, mine, mine!”
There’s something to be said for having total autonomy and control over your home space, for making it do everything you want it to do (without reason, of course, if I had my way, I’d find a way to have a ginormous, get-in-able water feature in my living room, complete with water fall and fishes. Ooh, and maybe a turtle!).
Be that as it may, I’m building it the way that I can, to make it mine. And of those make-it-mine projects has included painting a magnetic chalkboard wall. I can’t remember now where I got the idea. The Interwebs, I’m sure. But I do know that I used this blog post to help me ease my “Oh my god, I can’t paint a straight line to save my f-ing life jitters.” And it totally worked.
So here’s what I learned about making a magnetic chalkboard wall:
- Don’t go with the spray-in chalkboard stuff. Buy the paintable kind.
- The magnetic paint stinks, stains, and isn’t very strong. If you still decide you want it, go slow, careful and thin. Paint at least three coats and plan on buying some seriously strong magnets.
- Don’t think this is going to be done in a day. Three coats of magnet, plus two coats of chalkboard, plus curing time equaled about a week for me. I was going insane with the waitings.
So, here’s how:
- Prime or clean your space. It’s better if you choose a space that’s not super bumpy because you do want to write on your wall after all. Or you can sand down the bumps.
- Mark off your desired spot with wide chalkboard tape. Use a level! This is huge. Just… trust me. Then, paint over the edges of the tape with your original wall color so that the chalkboard paint won’t leak through. Let it dry.
- Paint your magnet paint. Thin coats are best. Be sure to stir-stir-stir while you go, so that all the metallic bits don’t sink to the bottom. Let dry at least 30 minutes between each coat. I did three total, just to be sure.
- Paint your chalkboard paint. Let it dry at least four hours between coats. Once you’ve painted your last coat, give it a few minutes to set, then peel your tape off slowly (if you do it too soon, it will leak and you’ll have little spots of paint on your line).
- Your chalkboard needs at least three days to cure. Then, rub the flat side of the chalk all over the board. I mean all over. Then wipe it clean with your eraser. Note: This will make a serious, serious mess. Don’t wear your contacts (all that chalk dust is bad-bad, says the Voice of Experience. Owie). Open the windows. Have your vacuum at the ready. Keep the two- and four-legged kids away.
- Now you can play! I bought sidewalk chalk (it’s big, but it has nice fine points for writing and they come in lots and lots of colors!) and a felt eraser. You can also clean your chalkboard fully with a little bit of white vinegar and water (mostly dry, though, as liquid is bad for the blackboard stuff).
Pictures to come of the new house baby as soon as I get home to take some! Stay tuned!
Chalking your walls, one color at a time, s.
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Chapter 38 