Labor of luv. finale ~ chalkboard paint!

First of all - my deepest apologies for keeping you waiting so long for another delightful tale of my home improvement projects. We have had some work going on inside our house and I haven't been able to sit down and fill you in on the Labor Day Finale! But the good news is that I've got plenty of material to get us through the winter. On with the blog!

You may recall from my previous posts that I was a little glad that summer was over because I'd been waiting to get some projects knocked out over the Labor Day weekend.

The gold mold trap doors were gone and we were loving that. Yeah, so by "we" I really mean me, but Ricky didn't mind the change one bit. (At least not until he had to get rid of those doors in the magical dumping ground.)

You would think the door removal was enough to keep a busy body like myself satisfied, but I am extraordinaire, so I had to get something else done. Oh - don't forget I ran a half marathon (alright, so it was 5k) earlier that morning. And there were about 2 loads of laundry that were also completed. Gold medal of awesomeness, please and thank you.


So there is a wall at the top of our stairs that has been begging for personality. Have you ever heard a wall beg? It's really heart breaking. Combine with the easel taking up too much space in a certain (borderline hoarder) 6 year old's room; I came up with a plan. Chalkboard paint + entire wall = no more easel, more space and loads of fun. I'm not sure how to measure loads of fun, but I will just guesstimate it.

Don't forget that it’s all in the timing for this Lucy. Insert OU Football and the first home game. I know it's technically a crime to not watch the game, but I am a rebel like that. I'm also pretty sure I was willing to go to jail for this project although we can all breath a sigh of relief that it wasn’t put to the test.

Plan hatched - Ricky will be at the game with his brother for about 5 hours. Plenty of time for me to go to Lowe's, get the supplies and enlist the help of a super cute 6 year old aka Ethel who Ricky couldn't blame for this awesome project. Her excitement would wash out any tension over seeing a once yellow wall turn black, right? That was my hopes, so off we went!


Ethel in disguise

 
The original plan was to do a magnetic chalkboard. However, Lowe's only had 1 can of the magnetic paint and it wasn't cheap at $21.99 for a teeny can of it. Another factor in changing the plan is that I would need an undetermined amount of it. Some people said it would take 5 coats, some said 9. 1 can = 1-2 coats. No thanks, we will stick with the chalkboard paint. I'm not really a fan of magnets anyways, they are pretty outdated.

Our plan was slightly detoured when aka Ethel touched a light fixture that fell to the floor and shattered, then she cried....A lot. She is such an amateur.

Back on track and we ventured all around Lowe's looking at all the things we need to get for future projects. I made a list and everything. Sheesh, I'm so organized. However, I don't think the cashier thought I was since I had to leave my basket after I checked out to go back to get the primer and a paint can opener thingy bobber. At least I didn't get out of the store and home before I realized I couldn't open the cans or prime the wall, right?

We spent too much time at Lowe's and only had time to prime the wall that night, which was fine with me. Why? Primed = too late to turn back once Ricky saw it. Ethel helped, but quickly learned that it takes extraordinary strength to paint. She decided this was a better job for super mom.


Ethel before her arms got too tired



Ricky came home and found the wall primed and ready for chalk paint and didn't mind one bit. Or at least that's what I gathered from his yelling in Spanish. Kidding, he was yelling in English. Okay, not really any yelling, probably because OU won - thanks guys!




Primed Wall



Mellow Yellow Taped







Keep in mind that I use my IPhone for pictures because I usually keep it with me and I am racing the clock to get my projects done. So the quality isn't as great as it could be, but at least you get the picture. (pun intended)

The next morning, I was a little sore from running the 5K marathon the day before, but that didn't stop this extraordinaire Lucy from painting several coats of chalkboard paint. I was quite proud that I didn't end up with black chalkboard carpet and considering spray painting is my passion, I did a darn tootin good job. To be honest, I was pretty terrified that when I took the tape off a big chunk of the wall would be attached and then Ricky would have that raised eyebrow/frown look and I would have some 'splaining to do. But that wasn't the case. Whew!

The finale:

So far, the chalk wall has been 73 loads of fun and I am sure there are many more loads to come. If you have a wall begging for personality, don't ignore it - chalkboard it!

~no further splaining is required.....for now.