When it comes to design, I try to steer away from the crowd in at least one way or another as much as possible. But there are just some trends out there that it’s impossible to turn down. My guilty pleasure this week. Chalkboard paint. Yep, I’ve given in. I am the majority. When I spied this oh-so-adorbale idea over at Martha’s website, I knew I had to have it.
And just as luck would have it, we had the perfect spot in our kitchen for it. Meant to be? I’d say so.
This area had been serving as a kind of “I don’t know where to put this, lets hang it here or put it on this shelf, or magnet it here.” Not really my style. PLUS. We have a whole knew entryway in the works to sort out this problem. Yea, the whole hanging our coats 30 feet from the door wasn’t working out so well. More on that later. Point of all this babble? This spot needed a new purpose! Check out the new space 
This turned out to be one of the easiest and most enjoyable projects I’ve tackled lately. I started out by just simply painting the entire wall with basic black chalkboard paint. Then I penciled in how large I wanted the calendar to be. I had to size it down quite a bit from martha’s original. Not much point to a calendar if you can’t reach the top without a step ladder. Next I taped off the area for the calendar and the day squares. (I would definitely recommend using Frog Tape instead of the basic blue painters tape for a project like this. It’s designed to give you the sharpest lines possible.)
Next up, paint in the squares. Now, for this process you can either just add a little flat white paint to the chalkboard paint to get a variety of grays. Or if you’re looking for totally different colors there’s a simple recipe here that explains how to do that.
The only thing left to do. Skim the entire wall with the side of a piece of chalk and then wipe down with a barely damp cloth. Presto!
Not sure what we’ll use the rest of the wall for. Possibly a To-Do list, note center, and if we’re still around these parts, I’m sure Zoey will love going to town on it.
Like I said, extremely easy project. And the whole thing came in at about $16. Around $10 for a quart of chalkboard paint, $5 for frog tape, and we already had some leftover white paint, brushes, and rollers. Definitely something I’d do over and over again.
Jessie R.
Hi! I'm Jessie, a wife, mother of two girls, and an interior design fanatic. My husband Rick and I just purchased our second home, a 1950's ranch in dire need of some TLC, in our hometown of Cincinnati, OH. To find out more, click 
That looks so cool!!! I can’t wait to see it. We need some of that for our School Room!!!! That would be awesome to paint a whole wall that and use it as our chalkboard! Except I HATE the way chalk feels on my hands : (
A chalkboard wall would be pretty cool for your school room
Anddd… they make chalk holders so you don’t have to touch the chalk. Or liquid chalk markers that look and work the exact same way as regular chalk all in a pen! I’m sure they carry them at any craft store. No excuses now!
Perfect spot!! Love it
Oh my goodness I love this! You’re the first person I’ve seen to do this aside from Martha. I had chalkboard walls in my old apartment and I loved them. I’d write shopping lists and little notes to myself all the time. xoxo
I love this idea! Brilliant!
I don’t visit Martha’s site or read her mags often BUT I did see this and fell in love. I’m trying to figure out the best place for it in my house. I was thinking above my desk like in the picture but I think somewhere in my very white kitchen (I may have to share that with you since I just read your post about your kitchen) might just be the right place.
So awesome. Thanks for the instructions.
Enjoying your site.
Hey Jess, I would love to see how your chalkboard turns out! We’re loving ours
You can email me at [email protected] if you have pics!
Okay I am officially in love with your blog! I remember seeing that Martha Stewart picture a while ago and wanting to do it somewhere!