Decorating with Chalkboard Paint!
Connor’s room has these huge sliding closet doors. They take up nearly a whole wall in his room. When I decided to paint his room, I didn’t know what to do about the doors. Did I paint them the same blue that the walls were painted? Did I paint them in a complimentary color to make them more fun? I just wasn’t happy with any of my ideas. I posted my dilemma on a forum and got the great idea of using chalkboard paint
I headed out to Lowe’s and bought a quart of chalkboard paint for $12.00 and went to work. The paint was very oily. I used a brush instead of a roller and painted three coats letting them dry in between. Erasing them requires a wet washcloth, which isn’t too big of a deal. Everyone loves Connor’s chalkboard closet doors. I do have parents ask if this has encouraged my kids to write on walls, and it hasn’t. Both of them know to only write on the closet doors. Writing on regular walls with chalk wouldn’t be as rewarding, anyway! Besides, I’d much rather clean chalk off of my walls than marker or crayon.
What fun decorating ideas do you have for kids rooms?
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I have been wondering what I could do to my kids room to make it more fun and interesting and this is definitely the answer to my prayers. Thank you so much for this tip, I will be adding it to my home improvement list very soon!
I have never heard of chalkboard paint, but I will definitely remember it for the future! This is a cool tip for teachers too.
You’re the only person I know who’s ever used chalkboard paint. You definitely did a fabulous job! I like the stripe in Connor’s room as well.
Thank you Mckenna for this blog. We are about to rearrange the boys rooms. Right now they each have their own room w/toys. I want to move Xavier and Jayden into one room with just their beds and dresser (maybe a few toys). And have one playroom. That way I don’t have to pick up toys from two rooms.
i’m not sure about chalkboard paint. I love the idea but what about the dust from the chalk? That would be my concern. I love the colors though!! I was thinking about doing the bottom half in a dark blue and a lighter blue on top but now I may steal your stripe idea. Hope you don’t mind
@Sara, I use dustless chalk for the chalkboard. I bought a huge tub from a teacher supply store (Lakeshore). If you do paint with chalkboard paint, I will mail you some dustless chalk! I have a ton!!! Another idea is to paint the bottom half of the walls in chalkboard paint. I have a cousin who’s planned on doing that, but aren’t sure if she ended up doing it yet or not. I will check and see if she has pictures!
@Heidi, Thanks for letting me borrow your level so I could paint that stripe!
PS: There’s also magnetic paint. I bought some from Lowe’s but it didn’t work, but I’ve heard that Sherwin Williams’ magnetic paint works GREAT! It’s a little more pricey than chalkboard paint, but another fun trick!
@ Domestic Diva, I love that I answered your prayers!!
cool ideas!! Keep them coming! I am also redoing our computer room/mud room into our homeschool room. So I may do a portion of the wall in chalkboard paint and then do one in that magnetic paint. That way the little ones have something to do while josh and I are studying.
thank you for all the tips!!
Sara, you could also put the magnetic paint UNDER the chalkboard paint. That was my intention, but the magnetic paint I got didn’t work. I think there is also combo-magnetic/chalkboard paint all in one. What a great idea to have it in your homeschool room!
Love this idea. Going to share it. A friend of mine did something sort of similar. She used a special paint that is magnetic on a portion of the wall in her hallway so that she can use magnets to hang her kids’ art work instead of cluttering up her fridge. It’s a really cool way to display their beautiful work.
What a great idea. And the room looks fabulous.
In my girls’ bedroom, we hung huge 40 X 40 inch canvas prints of each of them – inspired by Andy Warhol’s Pop Art Prints. It definitely makes a statement as you enter the room.
Cute idea. i love creative problem solving.