DIY Chalkboard Wall
/Currently we're renting. And with our rental comes 90's wallpaper from your grandmother's dream house. It's nothing pretty to say the least and it's incredible I've lived here this long without getting rid of it. Must be because the thought of taking down 4 large rooms of wallpaper by myself makes me want to run far far away. But like many other renters, I got fed up and the wallpaper had to go. A DIY Chalkboard wall was my next idea! Our house has a total of 4 rooms with wallpaper - living room, kitchen, master bedroom and hallway. I figured I'd start with the living room and then go from there. If you've ever removed wallpaper before you'd understand why after the living room, the rest of the wallpaper is staying . Our living room has a chair-rail throughout with wallpaper below it (see photo below). The wall by the front door is floor to ceiling with the same wallpaper. It's faux wainscoting. bleh. I love wainscoting, but not faux wainscoting.
Who doesn't like chalkboard paint?! It's like the new sponge paint! I did see on Pinterest one woman paint her refrigerator with chalkboard paint. I thought about doing that but then came to the conclusion that that project may be more than I can handle. On top of that, there's no going back once it's done - and it's not our fridge. So a wall it is. But our wall is huge. I searched all over the internet for validation that it would be OK for 2 adults (with no kids) to have a large wall in their home covered in chalkboard paint. I found nada. So I asked my fiance, he said he didn't care what I did with the walls, "so that settles it, wallpaper is coming down and chalkboard paint is going up!"
It took no longer than any other regular paint to finish the wall and didn't cost much more or less either. What I found was that it typically comes in quart size paint cans and a few different colors. I went with black because I figured green would look more like poop on my walls. I found it at Lowes for $15 and Home Depot for $9.99 - bought 2 cans at Home Depot. My entire wall with 2 coats of paint (plus 2 coats of regular paint primer) only used about 1 and 1/4 cans of chalkboard paint. Pretty darn good if I may say so myself.
Once you finish the wall, let it dry for 1-2 days. Then you're going to have to condition the wall by rubbing chalk all over the wall and then rubbing it off with some paper towels or a chalkboard eraser. Don't use water during this step. After that you have to wait at least 3 days before you can write on the wall and another 7 days before you can wash it with a damp towel. Once your wall is done it's awesome! Get creative with your new chalkboard wall - write inspirational quotes or draw pieces of furniture. You get the point. One thing I wish I had done was paint the wall with a coat of magnetic paint before applying the chalkboard paint that way the wall would be magnetic as well. Such is life - I'm super happy with my chalkboard wall the way it is.
I decided to write some "happy birthday" signs on the wall for my 30th birthday, especially since we were hosting a party for me at our house.
During the party I left out the chalk and my friends all wrote nice comments and birthday wishes for me. It's really a lot of fun and was the biggest hit at the party. 
If you're wondering whether or not adults can have big chalkboard walls - the answer is yes. You don't have to paint an entire wall, you can choose a small portion or frame a square in the kitchen for the perfect place to leave notes for your loved ones. Any way you do it will be a conversation piece and something you can enjoy together. Turns out my sister painted one of the walls in my nephews bedroom with chalkboard paint, so it's great for kids too. Have fun with it!
