Crazy about chalkboards

The Shabby Chic Cottage is hosting a fun event that has everything to do with chalkboards and the numerous ways that people have used them in their homes. Some people have turned picture frames into chalkboards, others have covered trunks with chalkboard paint and people like me have painted a wall with the paint.

If you'd like to see more, head on over to the Shabby Chic Cottage and the Crazy About Chalkboard Party!

I own three condos that I rent out to people going through the Mayo Clinic's transplant program. These are folks who are in need of a heart, lung or liver transplant and since my husband had a liver transplant over three years ago, we are uniquely qualified to understand what transplant patients need in the way of housing. So we renovated, furnished and decorated these condos and continue to enjoy meeting the people who stay with us.

One of our condos is a bit larger than the other two and had this three foot wide divider wall that was begging to be different.


So I painted it with black chalkboard paint and gave specific instructions on how to use chalk. I know, I know... everyone knows how to use chalk, but I wrote out a sidewalk sign board for our coffeehouse for 4 years and I figured out a system.

I learned right away that if I wrapped the chalk up in a wet towel (or paper towels) and let them get good and wet before I used them, they were much easier to use. When I took them out of the towel they would just sail across the chalkboard with ease. The colors were so much more vibrant as well. I loved to write on the sidewalk board. My favorite chalk is the Sidewalk Chalk because it is fat and easy to hold, especially when wet. Not to mention you can find such cool colors.


The wall that I used for the chalkboard installation was quite bumpy and not a good candidate for a nice smooth chalkboard. Armed with a tub of spackle and a 3" flexible metal putty knife I proceeded to spackle the entire wall. I made it as smooth as possible. When dry, I used a sanding block to knock off the rough spots. There are still a few bumpy spots, but overall it's a real nice surface.


One of my tenants had a college aged son, Paul, that came to visit several times. He came to visit his dad, of course, but he also participated in a marathon...actually, I think it was two. The Mayo Clinic had a team of runners and Paul joined in. The marathon started at the Mayo Clinic and ended near the ocean.


It was so wonderful to see this event drawn on the wall. Even after the son went home, my tenant was able to enjoy the visit, the race and the fun.

Many of my tenants have used the chalkboard wall as a calendar, memo pad and drawing board. It's a great space to play and be creative when there isn't a whole lot to do but go to the doctors and wait for that call.

I hope you have enjoyed my chalkboard wall.
Have a fabulous weekend!
Kristin

***Edited. I forgot to mention. If you want to go the wet chalk route, be sure to designate a towel or two for the chalk and the board because the wet chalk leaves a tie-dyed residue on the towels that don't come out completely in the wash. I used old hand towels or wash cloths for this. Also, if you get the chalkboard wet as well as the chalk, the glide factor doubles!