beka stays creative : DIY chalkboards

I’ve been wanting to paint a wall with chalkboard paint forever and ever, amen. But since I am a renter and not a home owner and want my landlord to give me back my security deposit at the end of my tenure, I haven’t been able to live the dream yet.

Until…I started thinking. What if I could hang chalkboards instead? It lacks the charm of a fully chalkboarded wall, but beggars can’t be choosers. This seemed like a good idea until I found out large chalkboards cost anywhere from $25 to over $100 dollars each and weight about half as much as I do.

Back to square one.

But THEN…I started thinking that maybe I could paint a smaller surface and then hang that up.

AND IT WORKED!!!

I made one for the kitchen (above) for planning weekend recipes to try. One for my bedroom for good quotes from books I’m reading:

And two for the living room; one for the Packers wall for quotes from Coach Lombardi and other Packers-related things, and one beside my desk for inspiring things:

Now I would give you a full step-by-step tutorial here, but there’s really nothing to tutor. I bought the materials, I painted the boards, I hung them on the walls. There’s probably a better way to do it because they did warp a little bit. Maybe a stronger material than foam core? But this works for me, and it was way more affordable (and easier to purchase and transport) than buying full sized chalkboards. Here’s the lowdown on costs:

Chalkboard Paint: $10

Foam Core: $2.50 each, $10 total

Chalk: $3

Eraser: $2

Total: $25! Four for the price of one!

I’m such a happy camper.