Chalkboard Wall

I love the chalkboard wall trend that is all over Pinterest. As soon as we moved in to the house I looked for the best place to put our chalkboard. I knew I wanted it in the kitchen but that was my only request. Luckily we had the perfect place and I LOVE it. 

I chose the wall with the outlet right on the other side of Goose (our photo bombing puppy. It is right in between the fridge and the stove which is a good place to make quick grocery notes and a good place for some rotating art. 

Initially the wall got painted the same color as the rest of the kitchen (Sherwin Williams Hearts of Palm). There was an outlet box for the phone jack. It had been painted over A LOT and we decided to remove it. We have been married for almost 5 years and never had a home phone so no problem there. Plus if we need a phone jack we'll just put it right back in. 

This pictures makes me laugh because it shows how impatient I am. While Brian was at work I didn't want to wait for him to patch the hole so I just painted the first coat around it. Silly of me but I just had to see what it looked like. So far so good. 

In the midst of other projects going on (back splash change and cabinet changes) Brian filled in the hole. He used a piece of drywall and drywall mud/ putty to patch it. Initially we thought it would need two drywall coats but after the first coat it was pretty even. I sanded it down and smoothed it out with some regular Spackle to match the texture to the wall. I followed up with another sanding and it was ready for the next coat of paint.

Oooooohhhh....love it! I decided to paint the outlet cover as well to keep it looking a little more seamless. After curing for 3 days (not easy for an impatient person) it was time to condition it. How do you condition a chalkboard...easy. 

Just use the side of a piece of chalk and rub it all over the wall. No biggie. By the way how crooked is that picture...yikes Tara get it together. After rubbing it with the chalk and then wiping it off with a damp rag it was good to go. I quickly drew something up there to get the idea.

Okay try not to judge my shamrock...I seriously drew that in 3 minutes. Not to mention I'm not even Irish. How cute does it look  though? I love it. I have been keeping my grocery list and menu up there this week. Mostly I love it for the ability to be creative when the mood strikes. 

This is in honor of the biggest loser competition we are doing. It's nice to have a little reminder when I am in the kitchen trolling for some snacks. 

I also drew a little something for our family blog here. 

First project down 525,600 projects to go!(rent...anyone??)