The Chalkboard Project

I would like to start off by saying - I love our house!  We both do!  I don't think a day goes by that one or the both of us doesn't make that statement.

1. We love living closer to church.  We feel that we have more freedom and opportunities to get involved in ministry and grow relationships now.
2.  We love our new town.  Seriously, everything we need is so close!  (Which may turn out to be a bad thing if these late night McDonald's ice cream trips don't stop) :)
3.  We love decorating and making this space our own.

• So far, the kitchen and living room have been painted and are almost complete.  We ordered a rug for the living room last week and are just waiting on it to come in.  (Hopefully it matches!)
• Right now, I'm working on the upstairs - turning the bonus room into an office for Lester.  It's his birthday present from me.  He knows I'm working on it, but doesn't know all the surprises I have in store for it, yet.

Decorating is definitely a time consuming part of buying a home.  We're taking it slowly, waiting until we find just the right idea or piece for a space.  But, we are having a lot of fun doing it and know that our house will be just lovely once it is all finished!

Here is our most recent decorating endeavor, and - may I add - we are very proud of this one!

 

We built a chalkboard!  

The inspiration:

1.  The Brady Bunch - They had a mini chalkboard in their kitchen.  I have always thought that was awesome.

2.  Design shows on TV - I love, love, love watching design shows on TV and have always been fascinated by the creative use of chalkboard paint in rooms.

3.  Pinterest - Yes, I admit it...I have been sucked in to the wonderful world of Pinterest.  It was because of the DIY ideas section that I finally worked up the courage to construct a chalkboard for our kitchen.

How we did it:

Lester helped me out a ton on this project.  Because, let's just face it, I'm really good at coming up with ideas but I need someone to help me accomplish them.  (I don't always think those parts through) Lester comes in very handy in those situations! :)

1.  We bought a super cheesy, cheap-o painting at Old Time Pottery that had a decent frame.

2.  We went to the new homeowner's favorite store - The Home Depot - and purchased a pint of chalkboard paint, a small tester can of white paint, a drawer pull, and some wood screws.

3.  Once home, we ripped the painting out of the frame.  Lester flipped it over and painted the cheap wood backing to create our chalkboard.  (FYI - A little chalkboard paint goes a long, LONG way.  We have plenty left over!)  I painted the frame white.

4.  Once both pieces were dry, we re-attached the chalkboard to the frame, added the drawer pull as a chalk holder, and drilled our chalkboard into the wall.

We're super excited about this project.  As you can see above, we placed it next to the refrigerator and pantry.  It will help when making grocery lists, reminding each other of stuff going on, or just writing notes.

I had to test it out this morning to see how it works.

I think it works just fine. :)