Our DIY Playroom Chalkboard

Since we first moved into our home over two years ago, I have always wanted to create a chalkboard wall in my children’s playroom. When I was a young child, I loved nothing more than drawing, coloring and being creative. It’s such a special part of childhood! I would sit for hours coloring in my coloring books, which is why it makes me so happy to see my kids enjoying those very same things. They love crafting and drawings, and it was their sense of creativity and imagination that sparked my intentions to finally tackle this chalkboard wall.

Chalkboards are such a quintessential childhood symbol, and it brings back such a fun sense of nostalgia for me! I always remember how exciting it was to write on the classroom chalkboard (sorry, whiteboards but you’re not as fun). It felt like the highlight of a school day! I really wanted Ben and Olivia to have that same feeling at home. Due to the coronavirus quarantine, a lot of our rules and boundaries regarding iPads and TV went out the window. With the fall approaching and virtual school starting, I really wanted to try to recalibrate our at-home learning environment and start off on a fun, new note! I was hoping this new addition to our playroom would lead them away from screens and dive headfirst into a new medium and a different way to create and play.

Although many of our playroom walls are filled with books, pictures and art projects, one large wall remained blank. I was waiting for the right moment to paint the chalkboard wall on it! DIY projects can challenging, especially as a mom of two little kids. I would not consider myself to be a crafty, Pinterest type mom and because of that, these projects can sometimes feel daunting to me. But after much research, lots of YouTube videos and a bit of gumption, I took the project head on. I am so thankful that I did!

Here are a few thoughts before you begin:

1. Pick your spot and decide on your size. Because our desired wall is expansive, I wanted the chalkboard to make a statement. I didn’t want it to get lost on the wall. I also wanted it to be tall enough to grow with my kids.
2. Decide on your shape. I found some cute chalkboard inspo on Pinterest in the shape of a house. I thought it would have a little more character than a square or rectangular in shape, so we ran with it.
3. Measure out your lines and angles using a pencil. Utilize an angle and a level it just to be accurate.
4. Figure out the thickness of your border pieces. I didn’t want the wood border to be too thick, although a thicker wood piece would have looked just as good. It’s really a matter of preference. You could also skip the wood border altogether, and it would look great too.
5. Visualize the look. Use blue painters tape to create the shape of the board to give you better visualization, fix any issues and then start purchasing your materials.

Here is what I purchased:

1. Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint in Black. It’s a great writeable, erasable latex paint. We purchased this from our local Home Depot. We ended up needing two containers. Total cost: $20
2. Lattice or Moulding for your board. I opted for a 1-1/8 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick piece of unfinished general purpose lattice. You could use a more ornate piece of molding but I wanted to keep it simple. I also planned to paint it to the exact color of our existing molding in the playroom. We purchased this from Lowes. Total cost: $15
3. The rollers we used were for smooth surfaces. 9 inches with a 1/4 inch nap. We also purchased this from Home Depot. We bought a three pack to ensure we had enough to work with. Total cost: $10
4. A roller pans. Total cost: $5
5. Blue painters tape. Total cost: $5

I cleaned the walls before getting started on painting. Once that was done, we gave the wall one coat of chalkboard paint, and proceeded to paint the wall a second coat three hours later. It’s important to let the first coat sit for three hours in order to settle. After three hours, we went ahead with the second coat. We stepped away from the project for a few days before deciding to go ahead with a third coat. We did so because we did not sand the wall first (it was already pretty smooth) but because of a few imperfections in our wall, we felt giving it another coat would make those imperfections less noticeable. I’m glad we did. We then measured, cut and painted the wood border. We used liquid nails to adhere the wood to the wall and used finish nails to keep them in place. We caulked any areas around the border to ensure a smooth line transition.

We stepped away from the project for three more days before priming the board for use. This step is vital. Priming your board using the side of a chalk stick should be completed over every inch of the chalkboard. Then, we wiped it off with an eraser. It’s a really important step to ensure that your chalkboard is writeable and erasable!

We added these wall sconces from Hobby Lobby on each side of the chalkboard to store our chalk pieces and eraser. We put it at our kids’ level so they can easily grab it and create. You can also unscrew the jar to clean it. This chalkboard wall has been such a special addition to our home, and my kids love writing messages and drawing pictures on it. If you decide to give it a try, feel free to reach out if you have any questions!