Painting a Kitchen Chalkboard Door

Well, its about that time again for me to paint something with chalkboard paint.  I did have a good reason this time.  A while ago when our tile floor was being installed our kitchen door was removed and put outside until the tile was completed.  Not a big deal, except for it rained and the door was left  out in the elements.  We had a little water damage on the door but haven't had much time to address it.  Eventually, I would love to get a new door but we don't have time for all of that right now.  So a quick fix was needed- chalkboard paint.

My hope was that the paint plus anything that was written on the door would hide the damage and be less noticeable and from the above picture you can see that it really does the trick.

To paint the door I used a few supplies - paint, foam roller, an angled paintbrush, a small craft brush and after it dries you need chalk and a magic eraser.  The craft brush was huge for painting around the edges of the window so I didn't have to tape anything off - time saver.

I had a great helper for this project.  It did take 3 coats of paint to get a good finish on the door.  Once the paint was completely dry the next day it was ready to be seasoned.  If you want your chalkboards to have the right look and to not have "burned-in" writing on them, you need to prep the surface.  Basically, take the side of some chalk and cover the entire surface and then erase it all off.  The chalk gets into the porous surface and fills it all in.  I have found the best thing to use to erase the chalk is a magic eraser - use it dry not wet!

This part was a little time consuming and required almost a whole box of chalk...sidewalk chalk would have worked better - but thankfully I had such great help who thought this was so much fun.  It was also messy...this was quite a big surface to cover so chalk dust was everywhere.  

I can't find a good before shot when it was painted white but still, I like the original shot compared to the current one.

We are having so much fun with this door, I may not want to ever get rid of it.

I was worried that the black door would be too dark for our kitchen but I actually really love the contrast of it.  I think with it being a chalkboard surface it kind of helps keep it from being too drastic.  

It felt like a little risk when I first saw the black strokes of the paint going on but in the end I decided it was just paint and I could change it if I couldn't stand it.  But the little risk paid off and we are enjoying it!  Chalkboard paint saves the door.

Kitchen Update

Last week I shared our progress on the living room and today its time to share our {work in progress} kitchen...

I'm here to say it is possible to get the kitchen you love on a budget.  Our kitchen is still not complete, its a work in progress- but it has come a really long way (check out the before and afters at the bottom of the post).  We have made updates throughout the last several years and each one brings us closer to our goal.  

We painted everything (cabinets, walls, trim), replaced the flooring, replaced the hardware, replaced some lighting, and recently replaced our appliances. 

Overall I think the paint made the biggest difference and the tile floor is one of my favorite things we've done so far.  We painted these cabinets 4 years ago and they are still holding up really well.  If you are on the fence - go for it.  I love our white cabinets.

We still have the old countertop (don't worry though we actually have a new one waiting to be installed...can't wait!).  But its crazy how updating the paint and a few other things makes the countertops not seem as bad.  So it is possible to enjoy your kitchen with just a few easy and inexpensive upgrades.

This may be one of my favorite little spots in our house.

Don't look too closely at the door, it is on our replace list.  It has seen better days for sure.

Recently we were able to upgrade all of our appliances.  And, we were able to do so rather inexpensively.  You can probably tell that they are not all the same brand - something that I could care less about but maybe for others is a must.  Our stove came by a friend who was upgrading to gas and the fridge and dishwasher were outdated floor models.  If you are looking to upgrade but want to save some cash - try the floor model approach...we saved tons.  We still need to adjust everything in its place (see stove below) but we are waiting on installing the countertops...which is waiting for the sink that is backordered.  We will get there eventually.

Look at how far this little kitchen has come....

This little kitchen gets a ton of use from monday night meals with our community group to college ministry cookouts.  It has served us so well and its amazing how many people you can actually get in here and feed at one time.

Hope this helps some of you have hope in your little kitchens.  A little time and some work pays off.  Next on the list - replace countertops and sink!  We are pumped.

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Repainting the Kitchen a Minty Green

Over the past several weeks I have been mulling over a new kitchen wall color.  Call me crazy, but I was just ready for a change.  The previous blue is a color that I love, and even though we have only been here two years we have actually had this same blue color in our kitchen or dining room for the past 10 years (in other homes).  When you like something, you like something- but....I was finally ready for a change.  The change isn't huge - but to me it was.  Honestly, I bet some people wouldn't even had noticed.  It has taken me a few days but I can say that I looooooove the new color.  It's a little minty green color by Olympic - Misty Lake to be exact.

In case your forgot - here is a side by side of this old kitchen space, the blue color and now the new minty shade.

 I think one of the reasons I really love it is the almost neutral factor it has.  Even though it is a color it still reads neutral to me.  Lots of other colors go fantastic with it.  

I used the Olympic One paint this time.  Its a primer and paint in one and for this project I only had to do one coat - so I was pleased.  I wasn't trying to paint over red or anything dark so I'm not sure how it would do when using it over those colors but it was great at painting over a similar shade.  Since this kitchen area only includes three half walls a quart of paint was all I needed.  So one quart of paint, one coat and about one hour equals a new kitchen color - I'm good with that.

We also spent some time over the weekend enjoying Silas' first real snow!  Of course, he loved it.  It was so fun for us and it was gone by the next day.  Is it me, or have we had the craziest weather this year?

It took me several weeks, lots of paint swatches and several color samples later to finally settle on the right minty color.  I was actually really surprised it was an Olympic color - I surely thought I would love a Martha Stewart or Benjamin Moore choice - but this color just stood out to me for what I was looking for.  Whenever you aren't sure, grab a color sample and do a test run.  They are well worth the $3 or $4 to make the right choice.

I love how a little paint will just bring a room back to life.  I'm loving this newly painted space.  Anyone else mulling over paint colors?  Share with me what you are painting, I'd love to know!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week!

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