Tag Archives: chalkboard paint

DIY Kids: Outdoor Checker Board

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

I stole this idea from the play area at Arcadia educational farm. It’s an outdoor checker board. I had the perfect board to use — a big piece of wood I had painted in chalkboard paint and was sitting mostly unused in the back yard. Occasionally, the girls would draw up a menu for mud pies on it. Seemed perfect for a new incarnation as a checker board.

I drew a grid with white chalk with 8 squares horizontally and vertically.

I moved the board inside to do the rest of the painting since it was too darn hot to do the rest outside. Play checkers maybe, but paint, no way.

Then, I used painter’s tape to mark where we would paint white stripes with outdoor paint.

Meanwhile, Nadja painted the rocks with outdoor paint. It took a few weeks to collect 24 perfectly sized rocks — you’ll need relatively flat rocks that can be stacked when a piece is crowned and becomes a king. We found them on walks, and Katie found a bunch in a ravine near where her son Jack plays baseball. Nadja painted 12 with red and silver, and 12 with blue and gold.

After the paint dried marking the grid, I filled in the squares with the rest of the paint.

Next, I sprayed the entire board with a protective enamel. And later in the afternoon, we were ready for play. Here are the girls setting up the two competing sides.

And Ana making a carefully thought-out move. (Sometimes she uses her feet to move the rocks.)

The board, although a great project for checker tournaments on the lawn, is going to make its permanent home in the courtyard of Ana’s elementary school.

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Posted in Arts & Crafts, Living with Kids

Tagged chalkboard paint, checkers, painted rocks

A Home Tour Worthy Basement Renovation

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Katie | 1 Comment

Barbara’s house was featured on the 2010 Del Ray House and Garden Tour, each room carefully and thoughtfully designed and decorated, like every fabulous home on the bi-annual tour always is. But there was one area of the house that wasn’t on the tour, the basement. Unfinished and unloved, it was not a happy place.

Barbara loves to entertain, and she really wanted more space for out-of-town guests to feel at home. She enlisted the help of relatives from New York, who just so happen to be contractors (always great to have a skilled contractor in the family!). They spent several months off and on to meticulously finish the project, making sure the work was done right and done well. And their hard work shows.

The finished room has that unbasement-like quality we all want. Even without loads of natural light, you don’t feel like you’re partially underground. The first thing you notice when you head downstairs is Barbara’s choice of color.

The sectional from West Elm adds a brilliant pop of red, complemented throughout the room with blacks, whites, and chrome finishes. The black coffee table is a custom piece from Rajack Designs and the black and white animal print rug (which we also saw on this home tour) comes from IKEA. The sectional turns into two twin-sized beds, perfect for overnight guests.

Along the far wall is a fully functioning wet bar with white cabinets (from Home Depot) and black granite counter tops (from Granite Man) that blend seamlessly into a black chalkboard-painted backsplash. (I have a soft spot for chalkboard paint since I used it on one of my kitchen walls.)

Above the bar is one of many odes to Barbara’s beloved dachshund.

One way to make a basement seem less like a basement is through lighting. Barbara chose a creamy off-white for the walls that reflects the light from multiple sources such as table lamps and recessed ceiling lights.

This terrarium trio on the chrome and glass console table behind the sofa is a great way to add a little air-purifying greenery, even in low-light locations.

Hidden behind the bar is a full bath painted in a beachy blue-gray color, with more accents of black, white and chrome. The tile comes from A & S Granite, the bathroom vanity from overstock.com, and the glimmering mirror is from Home Goods. There’s even a large walk-in shower finished with miniature mosaic tiles that wraps around the back of the door.

I’m so in awe how Barbara transformed that once dingy basement into a warm and comfortable living space that now fits in with the rest of her home. Her smart color and lighting choices and playful yet sophisticated accents give me lots of ideas for improving my own basement. I sense a long-term project on the horizon.

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Posted in Basements, Interior Design, Rooms

Tagged basement, chalkboard paint, granite, renovation

Small-Scale Studios for Young Artists

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Katie | 3 Comments

I’ve recently chatted with several parents about how they display their kids’ art. Which ones do you keep, which ones do you sneak in the trash so your kids don’t see, and how do you encourage creativity in a small space without your house feeling cluttered or looking like a daycare center? Here are few ideas.

In my house, I designated a small wall in the dining/living room area as a place to keep art supplies organized and to display the kids’ favorite projects. Jack loves having his own “art wall.”

I attached an IKEA RIBBA ledge shelf on the upper part of the wall. This serves double duty – displays art projects and hides the awkward thermostat. The pictures only lean alongside the thermostat and do not block airflow to the register.

A string hanging below the shelf holds additional projects, attached with small binder clips.

This rod with hooked cannisters (also from IKEA) holds markers, crayons, and glue sticks. Need some markers? Just unhook the can and take to the table. It’s all within reach of the little ones’ hands.

We keep the art display seasonal. After pieces have been up for a while, we decide which ones we want to keep and which ones we want to save. The saved pieces go in a storage box in the basement.

Second, as mentioned in our chalkboard paint post, I painted the backsplash and wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint. The kids can doodle all they want in their own little corner.

Another local resident, Christi, hung these funky hooks from IKEA from her ceiling to display her daughters’ art. Using the ceiling is such a smart idea and makes the room so much more interesting!

She turned her front room into a play room for her three girls. There’s even an entire wall covered with chalkboard paint and built-in bookcases stocked with baskets for toys and art supplies.

And speaking of unique play/craft rooms, we shared the story about this incredible art/craft room earlier this month. Even if you don’t have the space to transform your living room into a full-fledged studio, there are lots of inspirational tips to be found. You can see where I got the idea for the cannisters…

And finally, in this post featuring ideas for displaying children’s art, Leslie shares how she had her daughters’ art box-mounted by Del Ray Picture Framing on Mt. Vernon Ave.

So we want to know — how do you display your kids’ art? How do you keep art supplies organized in a small space?

Posted by Katie

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Posted in Living with Kids, Small-Space Solutions

Tagged art, art supplies, chalkboard paint, children, kids, storage

The Many Uses for Chalkboard Paint, Part II

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Katie | 11 Comments

Back in August we shared some ideas for using chalkboard paint in your home. Well, we’re back with more ideas — chalkboard paint is so versatile and so fun!

I love chalkboard paint so much I used it as my kitchen backsplash. I was afraid it would make the small kitchen look even smaller and darker, but so far it hasn’t.

In the corner by the stove there is an entire wall for the kids to doodle. (Don’t worry, the kids aren’t allowed back there while the stove or oven are in use.) And if I’m cooking and I need to leave myself a note, I can just write it on the wall — comes in handy when you are inventing a new recipe.

One tip: Let the first coat dry completely before applying the second coat otherwise the first coat rubs off. You’ll need 1-3 coats, but each coat dries pretty quickly.

We mentioned these gift tags in our last post and I’ve been itching to make them ever since. I bought the tags at Michael’s for about a quarter a piece. They come in a variety of shapes — round, oval, square, heart, even seasonal shapes like angels and trees. You have to drill a hole in them (make sure to do this before you paint) and add a ribbon or string. The best part is your gift recipient can use them again for another occasion — just wipe clean with a damp towel.

Painted terra cotta pots are one of my new favorite projects. Here are the pots pre-paint, while drying, and then filled with all sorts of goodies.

They can be used as a centerpiece on a table, placecards at a meal, goodie bags for a party, or just as decorative accents throughout the house. Here I’ve filled them with jingle bells, candy corn, and fresh herbs from the garden.

I found a bunch of old tins on the side of the road and decided to spray paint the bottom of this cookie tin red and then use chalkboard paint on top. It used to be one of those blue Danish butter cookie tins. This will work for any gift giving occasion — just write the message or contents on top.

Leslie took an old board book her daughter outgrew and covered it with chalkboard paint. Her little girl can now use the book to write her own stories and draw pictures.

There are so many ideas for chalkboard paint — in fact the can says it can go on practically any surface (just try not to get on your hands because it’s really hard to remove). Here are some other ideas we’ve seen for chalkboard paint: