Chalk it up

I am head over heels, googly eyed in love with chalkboard paint; I found some at Home Depot for $11.44. You can also find it in a spray can at Michael's or probably any other craft store. I went to Home Depot because I wanted the roll on kind and I had to go there for some paint swatches for another project.

I decided to take a big risk and try to paint the lap table with chalkboard paint to create a custom grocery list area in our pantry. It will be behind closed doors and so it won't be an eye sore on our fridge or a miscellanous piece of paper on the counter that ultimately ends up in the trash before I can shop.

First I took off the legs. This was a tiny bit difficult but some brut force typiclly works and it didn't fail here.

I am not a fan of the lighter colored wood (reminds me of the faux oak cabinets in so many of my previous apartments-YUCK!) so the outside trim needed something. I thought about spray painting it Heirloom White but in 18 degree weather this is a big no-no. So I quickly changed directions and decided to stain it with some left over stain we had at home. Then the husband tells me that I will first need to sand the area-forget that! I'm far too impatient to do that so I proceeded with out stain. After I took the legs off I put painters tape around the edge and then started applying the chalkboard paint. It took only 2 coats! Woohoo!

I also saw an idea here at Sarah's blog that I could use in my pantry as well. She used rulers but I didn't have any. What I did have though was quite a few paint sticks from Home Depot (free!!! love it).

I don't care to write with chalk but I will if I am forced to. Luckily we live in a wonderful world where people don't make me do what I don't want to do (most of the time). They have chalkboard markers!!! Get the heck out of town!! They are quite expensive (somewhere around $12.00 for 4 of them) but I had a few extra bucks laying around and with my 40% off coupon to Michaels I was thinking I was in really good shape. With some chalkboard paint, some items found at home and some amazing chalk markers I created some peace; peace of mind that my pantry is in order and peace for my husband so he doesn't have to listen to any more fits of rage.

Before:

After:

Oops, its supposed to be canned foods not can foods-I will be changing that or it will drive me crazy.

It's not perfect and I think I will eventually paint the wood trim white to make it pop but I love it. The pantry is pretty much complete so later this week I will show you where I put these items and reveal my "new" pantry.