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Chalkboard Black

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We hosted a birthday party the other night.

I had planned to bake — ok, fine- heat up a frozen — blackberry cobbler, but we kicked our nasty, old, malfunctioning stove to the curb when we had the new flooring installed in the kitchen. And since a new stove isn’t quite in the budget yet, I opted for a store-bought birthday cake instead. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and boy did our niece and nephew (Lee Ann and Benton) get a good giggle out of everyone’s blue-stained teeth.

The week before the party, I made it my goal to finish up a big project on the right side of the kitchen.

I started by patching the drywall that got damaged when Kevin pulled the beadboard paneling off…

I got some DryDex spackling paste from True Value, and used a putty or “drywall knife” to fill in the damaged parts. I love using DryDex because it goes on pink, and shows you when it’s dry by turning white! After that, I used a medium-grit “Wall Sand” sanding sponge to smooth everything out.

Then, after I vacuumed up 18 lbs. of spackle dust, I broke out a fresh roller head and painted on a wall full of chalkboard black paint…

After that, the cabinets we salvaged from our guest bathroom came back into the room, and the heaviest-butcherblock-countertop-in-the-world (Ikea) got flipped over and stained “Special Walnut“. After that, the chalkboard wall got outfitted with some stainless steel shelves (Ikea).

Later that night, the kids and I had fun breaking it in.

Lee Ann and I drew balloons and birthday banners…

…and Benton taught me all about the wild world of Mario…

(Who knew a “toad” didn’t actually look like a “toad”?)

Nothin’ like bonding, blackboards, and birthday cake.

Ooh- and paper plates and plasticware. I enjoy those a lot, too.

This post is a part of our True Value DIY Blog Squad series!

PS- You can find more info True Value (and the entire DIY blog squad!) on Facebook and Twitter!

Disclaimer: We were selected by True Value to work on the DIY Blog Squad and have been compensated for our time commitment to True Value-related blog posts. We’ve also been given a gift card to purchase the materials needed for our True Value-related projects, however, our opinions are entirely our own and we have not been paid to publish positive reviews. Boom!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathleen

    Oh, I love that chalkboard wall and the stainless steel shelves are the icing on the cake!

  2. Rene' Foust

    I love the chalk board wall, I put one in my new old kitchen that we just completed (well almost completed, it may never be complete) I framed mine and finished it to look like an old picture!
    Oh and it sounds to me that you had just as much fun with the store bought cake and paper plates with far less fuss!!

  3. chrissa

    Layla, I beg you for a full wall shot! Beg, I tells ya!

    I LOVE this. So much.

    I am so excited. What a wonderful job you and Kevin did.

  4. Jennifer Rizzo

    It looks great! You’ll love the Ikea counter-tops. I’ve only had to seal mine a few times and that’s just around the sink where it’s wet all of the time! They hold up so well.

  10. Laura

    Oh- the humanity! I might be shedding a tear or two of just a little-bitty-tiny-bit of envy. Ok. Done now! Do your amazing ideas never end? You and Kevin are like the Energizer Remodelers!

  14. Sara @The Fat Hydrangea

    WOW Layla I absolutely love it!! Now you have me thinking what room in our house I paint w/chalkboard paint.. I have a can just sitting on my workbench waiting to be used!

    I want to see more pictures of the whole kitchen!

  16. The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh

    I just found you via Ree’s blog. I have to say I’m so excited to peruse this in depth after the madness of the holidays and bookmark projects for when we move in a few years. I don’t know how jazzed the non-handy hubby will be about it but that’s my issue. 🙂

  17. Eileen

    I’ve been considering chalkboard paint, but I’ve always wondered if it erases well or if you have to really scrub it to get off the chalk? Also, I’m guessing you’d have to have a completely smooth wall to start with?

  18. Stephanie

    I really love the chalkboard idea but my hubby isn’t for it at all. He just thinks of all the dust it creates. You’ll have to let me know how it works out for you.

  20. Holly

    This looks so great! I love the shelves on the wall and the decor drawing all around. Thanks for sharing!
    One question…did you have to “chalk” the whole wall to season it?

  21. michelle starling

    I Love the wall. One question though. On the butcher block, do you have to use a food safe stain? I have a butcher block top that I’d love to stain a dark color but I’ve read elsewhere that you need a food safe stain. Any suggestions?

  22. Marie @ Sally Lee by the Sea

    Only you could look gorgeous while painting a wall, Layla! :O)

    Seriously, it looks great and I love how the shelves go right over it. I have a pantry door that is on my “list” to paint with blackboard paint…maybe next year?!

    Hugs,
    Marie

  24. Tracey

    Am I only the one who read this post and thought, “WHOA”??? LOL. This is what I love about TLC so much… I was all excited about the cake and party and then BAM total wall reno! It looks amazing (as always!) Just… Amazing. I’m speechless. Well done, ma’am! ;D

  25. tracyo

    I’ll bet those kids think that you and Kevin are the COOLEST aunt & uncle ever. That chalkboard wall is soooooo much fun! What a good idea!

  27. wendy

    Whoo hooo….I knew it! Looks awesome and I love those ikea shelves. You picked the perfect color stain for that butcher block…looks fab!

  28. Dorothy Brown

    Absolutely adorable!! And now I intend to shamelessly copy to the maximum extent possible in my own kitchen-thank you!!

  30. Sherry Ann

    LOVE CHALKBOARD WALLS ! ! ! Yours is beautiful with the stainless shelves ! Of course the special birthday doodles are the best !

  31. Jen Gilday

    If that isn’t the cutest thing!! Love the chalkboard wall! And the ikea countertop looks fantastic too!! (as do the shelves – you gotta love Ikea!)

    Once again, nice work!
    Jen
    athomeinthenorthwest.blogspot.com

  32. claire

    My 2 yr. old’s name is “Benton” as well! I’ve never known anyone else with a (young) boy Benton! I named him after my mother-in-law’s maiden last name. Curious to find out if it’s a family name for y’all as well. So cool 🙂

  33. Lisa W.

    This is SO cute…I love this…have been thinking of a chalkboard wall, now I really want one. So nice…your kitchen looks awesome!!!

  34. Becky

    Your wall looks like so much fun and how much easier can banners and decorating be?! Great idea, and I love the Ikea shelves.

  37. Missy A

    Miss Layla, could you please post a pic of the whole wall from the other side? Like the before picture with you painting the black wall. Then we can appreciate everything altogether! Please and tank u!

  39. Melanie

    Wow- so much fun! I love mario games and chalkboard walls. I hope walking in your new space is a new fire in your soul. It just made mine flutter. (= BTW I keep us some paper plates, cups and silverware around. I may or may not like doing dishes(SHH)…..

  40. Jenny B.

    That looks terrific!!! A few questions… 🙂 We have textured walls. Do you think that Dry Dex stuff would work to smooth out a whole wall? Or is there some other product you would use to do that? I’ve been wanting to paint a chalkboard wall, but I don’t think the textured drywall would work too well as a writing surface. I’ve also been wanting to do a faux board and batten wall, but again, I don’t know if it would look right without smooth walls.

    Also… What brand of chalkboard paint did you use? And does your wall erase well? I used chalkboard paint in a frame, and it looks great, but it’s really hard to erase. I pretty much have to wash and recondition it each time I want to change the message.

    Thanks!!! I love your blog and your house! 🙂

    PS. This probably sounds really crazy, but I had a dream last night that you were designing a room for Betty White, and she had a painting of herself when she was young, and it looked just like you. I know… where did that come from!? 🙂

    • Layla

      Hey Jenny!
      I’m not sure it would work for an entire textured wall, but I bet you they make a product for that!
      We used chalkboard paint from Lowes…I can’t recall the brand right now, I’m sorry! It was the only one they had though.
      It does erase well, but we’ve been using a wadded up paper towel as an eraser, so that might have something to do with it. (?)
      SO FUNNY about your dream! I have no idea what it means, but I dig Betty White, so it’s all good! 😀

  41. Beth C

    I painted my mom’s backsplash behind her cooktop several years ago and she loves it! The whole family uses it for celebration signs, lists and doodling! Great idea!

  47. SheilaE

    I have been thinking about doing this in my kitchen/dining room also. You definitely move people to get going! I also have questions about “seasoning” chalkboard paint. I have done a couple of old frames and it doesn’t erase worth a darn.

  48. Brittney

    LOVE!
    Can you tell me where you got the shelves? 🙂 I would love to have them in my kitchen too!

  49. Funky Junk Interiors

    So, I’m attempting a wall in my son’s room with chalkboard and parts of it are squawking wherever we had some primer. My son is yelling to me at this moment, “DID YOU FIND IT YET?!? I ran to this post to see if you had any tips and tricks working with this crazy stuff! Oh well. 🙂

    LOVE. YOUR. WALL.

    Donna

    • Layla

      Hi Donna! The only tip I can tell you is that once you “season” it with chalk, those “squawky” parts don’t even seem to show up anymore! 😀