Twelve Creative Uses for Chalkboard Paint in Your Home
Twelve Creative Uses for Chalkboard Paint in Your Home
In case you haven’t browsed through any home decorating catalogues lately, here’s a newsflash: chalkboards are hot. Leaf through high-end home catalogues and you’re likely to see the classic black erasable surfaces cropping up on everything from flower pots to storage baskets. Chalkboard surfaces offer many benefits. They allow homeowners to personalize their homes, furnishings, and accessories, to decorate with words-from the mundane to the inspirational, and to change their minds and decor-daily!
Although chalkboards in their many forms can be found in stores and catalogues, a much more cost-effective option is to purchase a can of chalkboard paint and create your own one-of-a-kind chalkboard surfaces. Two coats of chalkboard paint will turn ordinary objects and spaces into unique masterpieces. Colored chalk allows you to have even more fun with your chalkboard creations. Here are twelve creative ways to use chalkboard paint throughout your home:
In the Dining Room: Apply two coats of chalkboard paint to the surface of your dining table. Imagine the possibilities: you can draw on a faux “tablecloth”, draw unique seasonal or celebrational placemats or place cards, or write a question in the center of the table each night to use as a dinnertime conversation starter. If you run out of topics, look to the internet for inspiration; a number of websites offer free lists of family-friendly conversation starters.
Another dining room option is to paint a piece of foam core board with two coats of chalkboard paint and frame it in an ornate thrift store frame. Hang it in the dining room or breakfast nook, where it can display the menu for a dinner party or a food-related message or phrase such as “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry”, “Mangia!”, or “Bon Appetite.”
In the Kitchen: Disguise an outdated refrigerator with a few coats of chalkboard paint. Scribble shopping lists and phone messages directly on the fridge, or write affirmations to keep yourself on track with diet and health changes.
Can’t afford a new tile or granite backsplash? Create your own dramatic backsplash with chalkboard paint. Decorate it with faux “tiles”, kitchen-themed words or images, or a homemade mural.
If your kitchen cabinet doors have seen better days, consider painting the center section of a few doors with chalkboard paint, allowing the decorative trim to “frame” the chalkboard. Draw pictures of the contents on the front of the cabinet (or enlist the help of an artistic friend to draw the contents for you!)
In Kids’ Bedrooms: Add a chair rail to the wall and paint the lower half of the wall with chalkboard paint. Kids can draw directly on the walls to create their own “wallpaper”. Chalkboard paint allows your child to change his or her room “theme” over time. “Barney” can yield to “Bratz” when the time comes!
In the Playroom: Allow kids to create their own “backdrops” for home dramatic productions in the playroom by painting one wall in chalkboard paint. Suspend a curtain from the ceiling several feet in front of the backdrop wall to complete the effect. Lights, camera, action!
Another great place to apply chalkboard paint in the playroom is on the writing surface of a desk or table. Younger children can use the desk or table to practice writing letters and numbers, while older children can create their own original board games, play tic-tac-toe, or practice signing their autographs in preparation for future fame.
Chalkboard paint is also a great tool for organizing play areas. Plastic or wooden storage bins painted with chalkboard paint can be labeled with chalk words (or pictures) describing the contents so that children will return small toys and blocks to their correct containers.
If you have a basement with a cement floor that is not prone to excess moisture, consider painting a small area with chalkboard paint for kids to use for hopscotch or chalk drawings.
In the Guest Room: Paint the center of an ornate wooden tray with chalkboard paint and use pretty ribbon or a narrow strip of fabric to hang it on the wall by looping the ribbon or fabric through the tray’s handles. Welcome guests with a personalized message, or leave a standard, welcoming message on it. Ideas include “Make Yourself at Home”, “Mi Casa es Su Casa”, “Joie De Vivre”, “Sweet Dreams”, or just “Welcome Friends.”
In the Bathroom: Paint a small piece of foam core board with two coats of chalkboard paint and frame it in a 5″x7″ photo frame with the glass removed. Use this tiny chalkboard to write a changeable, one-word message for yourself. You may choose a single calming word such as “Faith”, “Mindfulness”, or “Breathe”, or use the space to enrich your vocabulary by choosing a new word from an online or paper dictionary each day or each week.
For a minimal investment of time and money, chalkboard paint allows you to personalize your home and belongings, decorate with powerful-or funny-words, and change your mind and decor-daily!
