If These Walls Could Chalk

Well, it certainly has been an eventful summer! Chris and I have been enjoying back-to-back soirées - birthdays, baby showers, bachelor/bachelorette trips, weddings, reunions - it has been nonstop. There is so much to celebrate! Life is good :)

I’m always happy to find a little downtime in between the all the confetti and champagne to work on projects I’ve been itching to tackle. I recently took advantage of a quiet Sunday afternoon to add a chalkboard wall in our kitchen! This was a relatively easy project that transformed the entire wall into a fun and useful surface.

When we first moved in, Chris and I were surprised to discover that our fridge is not magnetic. This project was the perfect opportunity to add that additional handy functionality to this wall.

I used three coats of Rust-Oleum's Magnetic Primer, which dries to a deep grey finish. *Tip* When using this stuff, make sure you stir thoroughly before pouring the paint, and keep stirring throughout the painting process. The heavy magnetic "goo" tends to sink, so you need to make sure it stays suspended in order to achieve an even application. I used a foam roller to get a super smooth finish. The smoother the finish, the stronger the magnetic attraction will be. Allow 30 minutes between each coat.

I was pretty shocked when I opened the chalkboard paint. It looked blue! I triple-checked the label to make sure I had purchased a "black" formula, and even upon confirmation, I felt uneasy. It just looked very blue...

I got even more nervous when the paint went on the wall. It was definitely blue. I threw down the roller and rushed to Google "Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint + blue". Not a single person on the internet mentioned their black chalkboard paint looking blue! But then I saw that the paint only came in "green" or "black" - blue wasn't even an option. I decided to take a deep breath and keep going. I applied two layers of paint, allowing 4 hours between each coat.

Thankfully, the paint dried to a satin black finish. Whew!! :)

After allowing the paint to cure for three days, it was time to season the wall. It's important to season a chalkboard before writing anything on it because the surface is very porous. Seasoning easily prevents ghosting, which is when chalk lines are "burned" into the board and never fully erase.

Seasoning is easy - just turn a piece of chalk on its side and shade in the entire surface. Rub the chalk top to bottom, left to right in order to get into all of the pores. 

Once the entire surface is covered, simply erase, and you're all done!

Now the fun can start! I was never good at writing neatly on the board in school, so it's definitely going to take a while before I get a hang of it and start creating any real chalkboard art.
But that's the beauty of chalkboards - If you mess up, just erase and start over! Practice makes perfect :)

The magnet wall lets us share sweet mementos and reminders of upcoming events!

I thought it would be fun to start a gallery wall as a neat way to display all our random notes and doodles.

Wonka has his own little gallery! His first two installments? Portraits of his Mini-Poodle mama and Yorkie daddy :0)

Gold Rush

I have been scouting the market for months in search of a triptych mirror to place on my vanity. Not only does this classic three-way mirror evoke feminine elegance, it also allows you to view yourself from various angles, making it a fantastic addition to any dressing table. Yet it has been exceptionally difficult to find many decent selections – most options were too small, too ornate, poorly made, sold as sets with tables, or just insanely expensive.

The Chelsea Vanity mirror from Pottery Barn Teen (PBT, who would’ve thought??) was the closest match to what I had in mind in terms of style and dimensions, but it was only available in white or green. The fact that the mirror would require a paint job in order to compliment my black vanity table made the $350 price tag impossible to justify. Nevertheless, I stalked this mirror for about half a year and nearly choked on my kombucha last week when I saw that the “Heirloom Green” had gone on sale for $87. I gladly bit the $50 delivery surcharge bullet and clicked Add to Basket.

My green mirror arrived a few days later. The delivery guy seemed a bit perplexed when I declined his offer to help with assembly, but I wanted to paint each section individually prior to joining the three panels together. I started by carefully lining the mirrors with painter’s tape and paper. After going over the frame with a fine grain sanding block and cleaning off the dust, I was ready to paint.

Spray painting is really fun and easy – just be sure to use multiple thin coats in order to achieve a smooth and even finish. Using sweeping motions, begin and end spraying away from the item in order to avoid spatters. Give each coat a few minutes to dry before applying an additional layer, and make sure you have plenty of ventilation! We were blessed with gorgeously un-humid weather this past weekend (a total rarity in NYC lately), and the paint dried within an hour. The final steps involved installing hinging hardware, removing the tape and paper, and giving the mirrors a quick wipe.

Initially, I was pretty nervous about going gold, but I’m so glad I took the risk! Its surprisingly subtle sheen completely lights up the corner of our bedroom. Here’s a peek at the final product and as well as a some of the goodies I’ve got stashed away in my glamorous new nook :)

{Shades of Light, Laura Ashley, Architectural Digest, Restoration Hardware}

Pin-Up Girl

Digital media and Web resources such as Pinterest have revolutionized the way we collect, archive, and share our ideas. Call me old fashioned, but I still appreciate having a physical spot to gather snippets of my favorite things in life, as well as inspiration for personal projects.

I'd been admiring some gorgeous linen pinboards from Restoration Hardware, Horchow, and Pottery Barn for quite some time, but their outrageous price tags had kept me at bay. After stalking them for months without encountering any decent promotions, I decided to roll up my sleeves and make my own. Here's how it all went down!

Since l had a rather large pinboard in mind, I needed a lightweight foundation that could easily be mounted and secured to the wall over my desk. I scored a jumbo 36" x 48" gallery wrapped canvas at Michaels, which was a steal at 40% off (Hooray for couponing!), along with two cork rolls, tacky glue, and some D-ring hardware.

I picked up a yard and a half of écru linen at Mood. I absolutely adore the clean look of raw, unbleached linen - it creates a classic and perfectly neutral backdrop for the assortment of elements that will eventually be pinned to this board.

With the canvas placed facedown on the floor, I started by gluing the cork to its backside. I chose tacky glue as my adhesive since it offers a gummy bond after it dries and will accomodate pushpins nicely. It's like wallpapering - make sure you get an even layer of glue, match up your lines, and press down. Tacky glue is pretty forgiving, so if you need to make any adjustments, all you have to do is gently peel the cork up, reposition, and press.

I used a bunch of heavy books (and a puppy) to keep the cork anchored flat as the glue dried for two hours.

After ironing all the wrinkles out of the linen (Thank you, Chris!!), I laid the canvas on top of the fabric and traced/cut a 3" margin around the perimeter. Next, using the fabric's straight edge to ensure that its weave lines were aligned at the borders, I carefully wrapped and stapled the linen around the wooden frame. I opted to reverse the usual "hospital bed" tucking at the joints to create streamlined, yet interesting corners.

Lastly, I attached hanging hardware to the wooden frame. I used three D-ring hangers in order to support the colossal size of my board. Smaller boards would probably only require two hangers.

Voilà! I now have a lovely & splendidly enormous pinboard! I can't wait to dress it up with beautiful mementos, swatches, and muses. This was an incredibly simple project, and I'd highly recommend it for anybody looking to add a some affordable and functional flair to their walls.