Last Christmas, we went to a fun holiday party and I spied an AMAZING chalkboard wall in my friend’s kitchen. It was gigantic and nicely framed out with molding. She uses the chalkboard to keep her three busy boy’s schedules front and center. Even though I don’t have a schedule half as busy as hers, I knew that I needed one too. This project is easy and can be completed in a weekend!

Supply List

Chalkboard Paint – I used Rustoleum’s Chalkboard paint in black. Keep in mind that you can often have chalkboard paint tinted any color you’d like, there are even great tutorials on how to make your own chalkboard paint.
Tape Measure
Level
Pencil
Painter’s Tape
Paint Brush – I used a roller and a brush.
Trim – We had leftover trim from laying the wood floor in our den
Rosettes – I bought these to avoid cutting 45 degree angles
Hammer or Nail Gun
Nails
Wood Putty
White chalk – This is for prepping your surface.
Colored chalk or chalk pens

What to do?

The first step to designing your own chalkboard wall is to identify which area of your home you’d like the chalkboard to be located. We had a small hallway wall which was relatively useless, I decided that was the perfect location for our chalkboard wall. After measuring, I found that I had about 40 inches to work with.

Keep in mind the width of your trim when measuring and marking. I measured 5 inches in from the end of the wall, and 5 inches in from the trim of the bathroom door on this shared wall. Using a level, I marked off the left and right sides of the area. Because this is right next to a doorway, for aesthetics, I decided that the top trim should be level with the trim of the door. I used my level again and marked the top of the area. For the bottom, I simply measured up a few inches and again used the level to mark the line. I wanted my chalkboard wall to be approximately the same size as the doorway next to it.

Once your area is marked off with pencil, use painter’s tape to mark the area. You don’t want to get chalkboard paint all over the place! If you’re confident in your painting, you could skip this step. I wanted my edges to be very straight and clearly defined; having the tape there ensured I would get that. Be sure to really push the tape down onto the wall, you don’t want any paint to bleed over…errr, under.

I used my paint roller and brush to apply the chalkboard paint to the entire area. Once it was fully dry, I applied the second coat of chalkboard paint. Follow the instructions on your paint label, some require that you let the paint cure before applying chalk to it. You want to ensure you allow it to fully cure.

Once your paint sets, rub a piece of white chalk over the entire surface and wipe it off with a soft cloth. {Do this before you add the trim. It’s much easier to vacuum the dust if there isn’t trim work hanging around!}

Add your trim and rosettes. Fill the nail holes with wood putty. Sand them down and paint. Boom! You’re done. Free to create until your heart is content.

My original plan was to use the top portion for our weekly menu plan and let The Boy draw on the lower portion. Well, he discovered standing on a small stool allowed him to reach nearly the entire area. No chalkboard for me!

A few notes – The area is very hard to photograph – I cannot stand directly in front of the chalkboard as there is a wall in the way. Many of these photos were taken in December and January, when we rarely see the sun. The natural light was difficult to capture – add that to the apple green wall color and you get no so pretty photos!

Have you made a chalkboard wall in your home?