Chalkboard Framed

Are you ready for a little chalkboard/frame action?  Well hooo-wheee, you’re in luck, here we go.  A couple weekends ago I was out gallivanting around Presque Isle with my mom and we stumbled across this old, gorgeous frame at the downtown antique shop (there’s only one so you locals know what I’m talking about).  You see, I’ve been stalking the local thrift stores for awhile now looking for this EXACT frame.  And at a cost of $45 I wasn’t convinced it was the right price.  But given that we’ve scored some amazing deals lately (like this $2 sink and this $4 chandelier) I justified it and brought it home.  What is it, you ask, that I want to do with said frame?  Well it’s elementary my dear Watson.  I wanted to craft a framed chalkboard for the dining room.  Here is Colby Vanna White-ing the frame in orientation option number one:

And orientation option number two:

Two won by the way…and by a landslide.  Mostly because it brought the frame down enough so that I could easily create chalk art on it without needing a step stool.  Then out came the chalkboard paint and a painted a piece of plywood, which Colby cut to fit the frame:

I ran out of spray paint halfway through the painting project and when I got to the store there was no more of the spray paint variety.  Lazy and unwilling to venture to another store, I opted for the paint brush variety (instead of spray paint) and love the product (Valspar’s version) even more than the spray paint.  It went on thicker and left the surface feeling more like a chalkboard than a piece of wood.

I even gave the frame a fresh coat of paint with the leftover gold spray paint from our little “golden shovel” incident and ground breaking ceremony back here and here.

The fresh coat of gold paint really gave the frame some extra pop and accentuated its natural curves and beauty.

Before too long the chalkboard was in the frame (and Colby Vanna-ing again…someday I may take this picture and Photoshop a chalk-drawn head on the board….hmmm…Christmas card photo perhaps?).

Isn’t the dark black/shiny gold combo gorgeous?  Me likey!

The frame/chalkboard even goes well with the curtains, floor, paint, and the rug.  Me likey even more!

To install, Colby took some measurements, determining where the studs were located.  We wanted to make sure the chalkboard was hung from studs since we would be writing on it and potentially bumping into it.  We err on the side of the sturdier the better.

Once the studs were located, Colby transferred the measurements to the chalkboard, marked the nail hole locations, drilled pilot holes, and nailed the chalkboard directly into the wall.  Yes, that’s right, we nailed right through the chalkboard for a super secure fit.

You barely even notice the nails:

We could have used picture hangers or installed a cable to hang the frame/chalkboard but in the end we wanted something sturdy…really sturdy.  We wanted to make sure that thing was NEVER going to come crashing down, especially during massive chalk drawing sessions.  Pictionary anyone?  In the end I’m crazy in love (I totally channel Beyonce when I blog) with the new dining room chalkboard and how it helps pull the room together and add some pop.

Please ignore our lack of light switch and outlet covers.  I swear I’ll put them up soon.  In fact, I FINALLY bought some tonight…YAY!  So look for them in future dining room blog posts, which are nearing the end.  In the meantime, can I interest you in some Christmas cheer via our new chalkboard?

Here’s to many more messages to be sported on the dining room chalkboard.  I’m thinking, post Christmas, it’s going to become a “living my life” (now I’m channeling Rhianna) chalkboard, where I’ll write down all the life things I want to do on a monthly basis.  You know…the fun stuff that memories are made of like take the dog for a hike up a mountain, or picnic in the park, or go check out that haunted cemetery tour.

And there’s Goose in my picture again.  He’s such a camera hog!

Pssst…now that I’ve babbled on and shown you 15…count ’em…15 pictures about a framed chalkboard…I’m turning the tables to you.  What’s up?!  Or should I say whaaaazzzzuppppp!  Remember that commercial?!  Oh how I love great Super Bowl commercials.  But seriously…what’s going on with you?  Any fun and exciting house projects going on these days?  Or anyone else have a “life list”?