A Kitchen Update-and the quickest DIY chalkboard ever...

I have to be honest.

I wouldn't be painting chalkboard paint directly onto my kitchen cabinet if I had nice ones. But we inherited some old melamine cabinets that are peeling in spots as I write this, and since this big renovation is still months away, anything goes around this little old kitchen.

So.

Wanna see my latest spur-of the moment change in here?

I decided to make a quick, custom chalkboard to fit on the side of one of the cabinets because there wasn't any other space in my kitchen for it. 

No it wasn't ideal but my latest gallery wall took up a lot of wall space, so I was fine with it.
Here's a few Before shots:

This photo shows the side of the cabinet: wood putty covering a hole; tape showing the desired size

I wanted this project to be easy and quick so here's what I did:

After filing a hole and examining the surface area, I decided to save time; instead of buying wood and making my own chalkboard that would need to be mounted on the cabinet, I just taped out the measurements I wanted, bought a can of chalk paint from Home Depot and painted inside the lines.

Truthfully I had no idea how the paint would adhere to this slick, worn melamine. I went over it lightly with sand paper and crossed my fingers.

This was my Gulp moment.

A few coats later, I was feeling better. I used the brush for the first few coats. Then I used a roller for more uniform coats.

The one warning I have is to watch for drips because once they dry it's hard to sand them away without pulling the paint off.

I also quickly learned that the painter's tape I used for the boundaries could not be lifted without removing pieces of the paint. So I simply trimmed as much as I could but I wasn't too concerned since I would be covering these edges with a "frame."

Once the chalk painting was finished I was supposed to wait three days for it to completely 'cure' although I never wait that long. 
But I did "season" it.

This is an important step if you use chalkboard paint. Basically you take a piece of chalk and cover the entire chalkboard before writing one word.
If you don't take this last step, your first words will be forever sketched into the porous black surface. 

For the frame I bought 2 stock pine pieces from Home Depot for under $6.00 and cut them into four pieces using my miter saw.

After they were cut I rubbed in some Annie Sloan's soft wax  (in dark) because I happened to have some in the garage.

Then I used my nail gun and a level and basically connected all the sides, taking care to shoot small nails into the corners for added stability.

Once the four pieces were attached and my frame was done I began playing around with fonts.

I usually do my chalkboard letters free-hand, although there's lot's of tutorials out there if you want more direction. I basically google chalkboard images until I find one I like, and then I keep the image next to me when I'm writing.

and one last time....

I hope you found this little post helpful.

When I was googling chalkboard art I did see a couple of my past projects online, which was kinda nice. It was also a reminder that I've been playing around with chalk for awhile.

If you would like to see my chalkboard art on my previous kitchen island you can go HERE

Here's one of my Christmas projects...

And then I changed it for Fall. If you want to see this project on my previous mantel you can click on:
my latest chalkboard art for Fall

Thanks so much for visiting today.
So tell me.
Did I motivate you to pick up a piece of chalk and give it a try?

xo
Leslie

I'm sharing this posts with a few friends:
Thoughts of Home on Thursday
Feathered Nest Friday
Wildly Original Link Party