Project: Office with Chalkboard Paint

Considering that Paul works from home, we really wanted to prioritize and get the office done pretty quickly after we moved in. We loved the dark color we had done in our previous office, so we picked something similar, though a little more brown/gray than green. We wanted to do something a little different, so we decided to try out one wall as a chalkboard wall.

First off, we built that white Ikea desk, which we ordered online. It's the exact same as Paul's so that we can both have our own workspace. Then, we pushed everything to the middle and got started.

 This is how the chalkboard paint looks in the can. It goes on black and it's the chalk at the end that gives it the color you want. Make sure you stir the paint very well!

 Wall in progress. We made sure to tape it off to not get the paint on the other walls.

 Here's an "in progress" shot of the other walls. It looks a little brown here, but it's a cool brown/gray.

 Here you can see the walls together. We had thought about painting a larger wall with the chalkboard paint, but being that the paint only comes in a quart, we opted for this wall. It turned out great, because it's the wall that Paul faces during the day. We've been writing story ideas for online and for the magazine on here and it's been good to keep a list going.

 After the paint has cured for at least 24 hours, the (not) fun part begins. Take a piece of chalk and turn it on it's side. From there you have to rub the chalk over the entire surface to "season" it. This was kind of a pain, but the small the piece of chalk, the easier it went for me.

 Here's how it looked after. We chose white chalk, but you could have chosen a color if you wanted. Whatever you rub on it will be the hazy color you'll see. Absolutely DON'T write on it before you season it - that writing will be permanent! This is why you season the paint.

 From there, the directions say to just wipe it off with a damp cloth or paper towel. The best advice I found was to use a Magic Eraser as the eraser. Being that it's fine, it gave it a good look and it took off a lot of the excess.

 Here's a little detail from one of the bookcases afterwards. I'm liking my milk glass in here (next to Papaw's old fan, of course)!