A chalkboard wall is something I've always wanted in my home, a little piece of old school to make my home unique, fun and welcoming. There are plenty of great places to put a chalkboard wall, your kid's room of course is on top of the list, but for me the chalkboard wall took place in the kitchen. A bare awkward wall was painted over with a few coats of chalkboard paint (purchased at Home Depot) and in a few days I had a chalkboard wall to write my shopping list, reminders, planned menus, notes and such. I absolutely love it! And I'm sure my son, when he is old enough, will love it too.
Was it hard to paint the chalkboard wall? No, not really but it does take more than splashing it on the wall. Chalkboard paint is sold at Home Depot, I merely picked the chalkboard paint and brought it home. Here's a few helpful tips I've learned while painting the chalkboard wall...
1. If you want a smooth surface chalkboard wall you'll need to pick a wall with a smooth surface. Unsurprisingly the chalkboard paint will not smooth out any bumps for you. My kitchen wall has a slightly bumpy texture so naturally the final result came out well, a little bumpy. This can be seen more so when written on, it's not all too bad but still, if I was to do it over again I'd probably do it on a smooth wall.
2. When the directions say "sand the wall", SAND THE WALL! Especially if you have a glossy finished wall you are planning to paint over.
3. Don't be afraid to do more than two coats just remember to wait the specified amount of time to let it dry before painting your additional coats. I did three coats.
4. Purchase the appropriate roller! A roller specifically for a smooth finish is what you're going to need to get this done right. I bought a couple of rollers and used a new roller for each coat that I did, just in case. The chalkboard paint specified which roller I would need- this made it loads easier!
5. Don't freak out if you've found that your chalkboard paint has bled just a little bit past your taped off edges, you can always do a trim or a molding around the chalkboard which will probably only make it that much more beautiful.
6. Slowly and carefully remove your tape from the taped off edges. The chalkboard paint I used is latex so when it dried and hardened I was careful to remove the tape off the edges as I was afraid it would peel or lift the paint off the wall.
7. The type of chalkboard eraser you use is a factor. What? I know right! I thought all erasers were made equal, apparently not, just ask a fellow teacher. I'm not too sure if I got a good chalkboard eraser but it was reviewed pretty highly on amazon compared to all the others.
