A New Kind of Chalkboard

(Photo courtesy of Memories on Clover Lane)
Is everyone familiar with chalkboard paint these days? I have seen it on many blogs. What a fun idea! The photo above is a framed magnetic chalkboard wall, that one of my favorite bloggers made in her kitchen. Here's a link with details about how she did it. You can write on it AND it's magnetic. So cool.

I just had my first experience with chalkboard walls. My friend Stephanie asked if I would help write on the walls of their new youth rooms at church. I didn't know what to expect or how the chalk would go on. I brought some old-school stencils, my rulers and pencils. It took me back to my Wegmans sign shop days. We used to write out all the chalk boards for the store that we worked at. That was until they replaced our custom hand-rendered lettering with magnets. There goes that job.

This is the junior high room. The kids can write their prayer requests on the "Prayer Wall." Isn't that a great idea? You can't see it from these photos (taken on my new phone, that I'm still learning how to operate) how cool the rest of the room looks. It has a lime green accent wall.

This is in the senior high room, which has an orange accent wall. They too, have a prayer wall as well as room for announcements and upcoming events.

The wall was basically perfectly smooth and easy to write and chalk on. This paint was black, but I think you can mix it or get it in any color. Stephanie used it in her daughters playroom. The possibilities are endless. I found a plethora of sites with great uses for chalkboard paint. It can be implemented in just about any room, as seen here. You can do all kinds of home decor projects. You can even use it on objects like this silver tray. It's certainly not limited to walls, and works on pretty much any paintable surface, as seen here on Design Sponge.

With the arrival of the white board, which has taken over every classroom and conference room (with those stinky markers), it's nice to see the chalkboard making a comeback. I'll admit, I feel like a teacher at the front of a room, every time I hold a piece of chalk in my hand. And I try to write extra neat.

Long live chalk!