True Blue Navy Chalkboard Wall
I think one of the reasons I love it so, is the Navy Chalkboard Wall. I also love that such a big impact can happen for less than $30.
I’ve always admired chalkboard walls, but I knew black would be to stark in this room. I really wanted navy.
This area of the Media Room is perfect place for an accent wall.
To the right of the wall, seen in this photo, is a big double door closet that hides the chalkboard wall from view when you first step into the room.
I love that about it. It’s completely unexpected, a fun surprise.
Once I decided to go for it, convinced my husband, I shopped around for tintable chalkboard paint. My first stop was my local Sherwin Williams. (When I’m not using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I pretty much use sample pots from Sherwin Williams. They are the perfect price point for a quart of paint and it’s a convenient place for me to shop.)
Unfortunately, tintable chalkboard paint is not something my store carries in stock. It would have to be a special ordered and it was a little pricey, around $20 for a quart and $50 for a gallon. Not to mention, I wasn’t willing to wait 5 – 7 days for the paint to come in. By the time I went to buy the paint, I was ready to start painting!
My next stop was Home Depot. They sell quarts of tintable Chalkboard Paint by Rustoleum. The paint comes in 12 colors for under $15.
Admittedly, I knew going into this, that the color I wanted, a true blue navy, was not one of those colors. But I wholeheartedly subscribe to the theory, “You never know, until you ask,” and that other famous theory, “The worst they can say is, “No”.”
So in my sweetest, southern charm I asked the super nice paint guy at Home Depot if he would custom tint the paint for me. He said he would try. 🙂
I promised him that I would take what he came up with. I showed him the swatch of navy fabric I had for the curtains and he went to work.
He started with the stock “Banner Blue” color and then added lots of black.
After a few tries, it was pretty doggone perfect!! I then thanked him profusely for making my day!!!
To apply the paint, my new best friend at Home Depot recommended using a thin foam roller so that the surface would be as smooth as possible. The smoother the finish, the easier it is to write and draw on a chalkboard wall.
Here’s what I used.
Here’s a lovely in progress shot of the room, at night, from my phone. Yikes!
This was probably after a couple coats.
The only bad thing about this process was that I’m pretty certain it took around 5 to 6 coats. But before you freak out, each coat went on very quickly, like 10 to 15 minutes tops. I didn’t have to wait too long to reapply the next coat.
All total, I used a little over 2 quarts to get the job done. I’m happy to have the extra paint, because at some point I can see that freshening it up with a new coat will be in order. We’ve had a lot of fun drawing and being creative on the wall. As evidence of that, the chalk residue is kind of clouding up the navy. Which isn’t bad really, but I think you can really appreciate the color when it’s nice and sharp.
We use a regular colored Crayola chalk mostly and chalkboard eraser, followed by a damp microfiber cloth to clean it. I would not recommend chalk board markers. They do not fully erase on this wall.
Once we finished the wall, we added this cute little shelf for the sunshine yellow piece of pottery to hold our chalk collection. Just a simple piece of scrap wood and some brackets and voila!
The chalkboard wall definitely contributes to the happiness of the room. It totally makes me smile to see the vision for a true blue navy chalkboard wall come to life.
This definitely proves the theory, “it never hurts to ask.”
Of course, a little southern charm never hurts, either! 😉
Sharing Here:
Sharing at Young House Love’s Pinterest Challenge, because clearly the chalkboard craze is all over Pinterest and I know I was inspired by Pinterest to do a chalkboard wall, but I don’t think I ever saw a wall this color. 😉
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm / Get your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog / Make it Pretty Monday @The Dedicated House / Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style / Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous
/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days / Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things / That DIY Party @ DIY Show Off / Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
/
Great post! Makes me want to find a spot for my own chalkboard wall. I really love the navy blue. That really makes it stand apart from the rest out there in the pinterest world. Can't wait for your next post!
Great room and what a fun wall!<br />I'm visiting you today from Winthrop Chronicles. I'm co-hosting a Linky Party (opened Tuesday) and would LOVE for you to add this. I hope you get a chance to stop by my blog, leave a comment and Link Up, too!<br />~ Megin of <a href="http://vmg206.com/" rel="nofollow"> VMG206</a><br /><a href="http://www.vmg206.com/2013/04/
How fun! I am thinking of adding a small chalkboard area to one of my toddlers wall. I think he would love it and this is so inspiring! I would LOVE to have you share this at my link party!<br />http://www.madetobeamomma.com/2013/04/homemade-by-you-49.html
That wall looks so good and the navy actually seems to be a deeper colour than black would be, black tends to look a bit grey after its been chalked up a few times. What a fantastic room to hang out in 🙂
I just love a chalkboard wall! I have two in my craft room and they are SO FUN! The navy is great too.<br /><br />Visiting from HoH!<br /><a href="www.twoohtwoseven.com" rel="nofollow">2027</a>
What are great idea! I love Navy! I might have to find a wall to do this on.
I just love the navy chalkboard wall! Simply stunning. And while I do not possess any southern charm (being from the North) I do subscribe to the can't hurt to ask rule!<br /><br />:) Linda
I love this, My kids would love this too. If you get a chance, please share this on my linky party, going on now. http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/2013/05/sunday-link-party-6.html
I love this! I've seen this Rustoleum product and I'm glad it worked for you! I can't wait to try it!<br /><br />Christine
Love it! Chalkboards are so much fun – the color you've chosen looks terrific – beautifully done. I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,<br />Kathy
Hi Leslie! Yay!! I just saw that you were featured over at Wow us Wednesdays! Congratulations! This is such a fun project and a great tip for getting the color you want instead of the usual dark gray. :)<br /><br />Debbie
I love it!! What a fun idea… and such a well dressed room around it too!<br />Krista
Love your chalkboard wall. I have a chalkboard wall in my kitchen – it is cobalt blue. I used a matte finish paint (Valspar) since the store didn't have colors in stock and I'd heard that you could use the matte paint. I have since found a recipe for adding a little grout to the paint – it may have made a difference, but so far mine is fine. I have found that it cleans better with a
love that it's blue!<br />//justynn
Leslie,<br /><br />I'm back again. I was hoping to share a photo and link back of your amazing navy wall on my FB page this week. Just wanted to get the okay from you first!<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />:) Linda<br />[email protected]
LOVE this wall! The navy is such a great choice.
Hi Leslie! I’m curious to know how the navy chalkboard has held up. I was planning on doing a navy chalk wall in my kitchen. The painter said the tinted chalkboard paints (other than the normal black and green) aren’t holding up and can’t even get the paint. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it for me to try to get it elsewhere and do it myself. Has it held up for you?? Thank you!
Megan,
Honestly, I don’t live in that house anymore so I can’t say for 100% certainty, but we were there for 2 years after we painted the chalkboard wall and it seemed fine. We drew on it often and had no problems with wear. And even if we did, I would have just added another coat. Your painter may not have wanted to do it because it did take 5-6 coats to get good coverage with this dark navy color. While that sounds like a lot, it was very quick to do with a thin sponge roller as I described in the post. I would have done it again in this house, especially in the kitchen, but I just don’t have enough wall space. Good luck. If it were me I’d do it myself. It’s just paint. I also checked and the paint I used is still available at Home Depot.