Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Chalkboard Closet Doors for my Son


We moved in with my parents a few months ago to make things a little easier as I finish grad school, but until recently my son's room has been woefully neglected.  I've finally started sprucing it up a bit. 

Part of the problem has been that while I have wanted to paint a mural on his wall, there was no available surface.  Two walls have that wood paneling and the other two have this horrible texture (BTW, if you know a cheap DIY trick for removing texture from walls, please share it with me).  That left the closet.

The chalkboard that was in my last post - my son loves to write on it.  All the time.  So much so that I rarely get to use it.  I decided he needed one of his own.

I took down the old closet doors, which had this beat-up map glued down on it as long as they've owned the house (which is quite a while).  I gave them two coats of chalkboard paint and then painted this mural over parts of the chalkboard surface with acrylic paints.


I also gave the mural part 2 coats of clear poly-coat varnish so that it would hold up to the abuse of a two and a half year old.


I added a couple cup holder hooks and a pair of $1 metal buckets from Target to hold the chalk and the eraser.  I also bought a pair of matte black closet door handles and I had to buy one more tube of brown paint - otherwise everything else came out of my stash so I think the whole project cost me about $12.


Above is what it looked like before I "cured" the chalkboard surface (if you haven't used the stuff, that just means you rub the side of a piece of chalk all over the surface so that things erase more easily from it).


And here it is after it was cured and with the closet door handles in place.  I had a little fun myself before he got to it.


He'll see it later today and I am pretty sure he's going to love it.  :)

36 comments:

becky said...

That is absolutely gorgeous! What a creative idea! I'm sure he will get a lot of use of your wonderful project!

Melissa said...

Wow!! I bet he is going to be thrilled to bits.

Missy said...

Very cute. If the texture is because of a sand in the paint you could try sanding it. We had that in our living room and I sanded it off during the winter. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Chandra said...

I love the way your mural turned out. So lovely. I know all about making sacrifices while going to school and being a mom. Its a lot of hard work to reach your dreams! Would love to have you come and visit sometime soon at my blog!

Jill said...

Oh that is just BRILLIANT!! My kids would love that in their room! And what a great tip about rubbing chalk all over it so it will erase well - I never knew that!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Tabitha said...

That's so much fun. I love that idea. You did an awesome job.

CK said...

What/??!?!?! This is SO, so, COOL!

Ellen aka Ellie said...

I like this idea so much better than a mural on the wall, those can be a dickens to cover.

May he enjoy it!

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

This is truly amazing, Cecily. Fantastic!

Jamie @ DIY Home Sweet Home said...

What a great idea. Love the chalkboard paint. I'm a new follower I hope to see you at http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/

P.S. I have a link party every Monday. I would love for you to stop by next week and link up your table.

Michele {The Scrap Shoppe} said...

Cecily! This is fantastic! You did a magnificent job, and its so creative!

Emily Thompson said...

Love it! So creative!!!

Finding Charm said...

Great way to utilize all your wall space.
I wonder if HGTV's website would have something that could help with the texture removal???

Homemade Heather said...

We sprayed water on our textured ceiling and scrapped it off with putty knives. {not fun} I'd love for you to link up at http://www.twindragonflydesigns.blogspot.com/ Thanks for sharing!

Abby said...

Dang! Did you just do that today? What a lucky kid.

KendasCrafts said...

Awesome! What a great idea!

KendasCrafts said...

Awesome! What a great idea!

Ashley said...

this totally rocks!!! i bet he LOVES it!!!!
soooo awesome:)

Megan Gunyan said...

Oh man, that is a wonderful idea! I bet he loved it--did he love it? I love the tree mural, you did a fantastic job!

AsylumTanya said...

I am sure he will think it is the best thing ever made by the best person ever! Thanks for sharing!

Aubrey@My Forever House said...

So cute! I bet that will provide many hours of entertainment!

Angela said...

I love murals! I love to paint them and then paint over it and do it again. My friends totally make fun of me! I love this idea though. It's very clever!

Would you consider linking this up to my linky party Simply Creative at 365 days to Simplicity? Your project is perfect.

Angela
365 days to simplicity

http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/06/in-celebration-of-almost-hitting-100.html

Denise said...

I found you on Thrilling Thursday Linky Party. I didn’t join since I haven’t created anything but I had to check out the projects everyone else did. Creative people inspire me and this project is an example of why so I am now following you. This is such a unique and incredible idea. I wish I had been your child! I hope you will follow me back http://talesfrommyjournal.blogspot.com I can be found in facebook too http://www.facebook.com/DeniseMartin.LillaRose and twitter @DeniseLillaRose If you like/follow me there I will do the same for you. When you stop by my blog, please check out my kind of fashion (hair jewelry).

marsharebel said...

I agree with Ellie. This is MUCH better than a typical mural. He can make his own now!! Great idea. Great work. You rock, GF.

Julie said...

That is beautiful.. You did an excellent job and he is going to love it! Thank you so much for linking up to It's Stinkin' Cute Craft Thursday!!!

Sixty-Fifth Avenue said...

I can't get enough chalkboard paint...this is so very Cute!!

angie said...

this is SO FUN!!! i'm sure his reaction was priceless :)

thanks so much for stopping by and commenting on my chalkboard wall ~ i really appreciate it!! yay to us for finally doing our chalkboard walls :)

Terri @ A Creative Princess said...

I honestly don't know what to say! You did such an awesome job!! I know he loves it and you have to be so proud! You are so creative! Keep up the good work!

Angela said...

Thank you for joining me his week at the Simply Creative blog party at 365 days to Simplicity! Please join me every Thursday and we’ll party like it’s 1999!

Carol, The Answer Is Chocolate said...

So much fun. My son would have LOVED this when he was younger ( OK he'd probably still love it but he'll be leaving for college soon!) Thanks for linking up.

Unknown said...

this is so cute and so fabulous for the kids in our busy lives..You win in my book
KAT

Jill said...

Hi there
Just stopped by to let you know that I featured this fantastic project on my round tuit post this week!
Round Tuit 53
Thanks again for linking up! Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success

Creatively Content said...

Hi there. I love this project. This is so full of imagination for kids. I love it. I took some time to browse your blog and I enjoy it and your sense of creation and art so I am your new follower. :) If you have a few you can stop by my blog. http://bloggingthemoments.blogspot.com

I love originality!
Becky

Ginger@gingersnapcrafts.com said...

Very cute. Love the buckets. :) New follower from I love to craft. Would love to have you link this up to my {wow me} wednesday link up party going on over on my blog right now. The most viewed link will win a set of fancy rectangle chalkboard labels. This week I’m co-hosting with Reasons to Skip the Housework…so links will show up on both blogs! How fun!

Ginger
gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com

Jenn Erickson said...

Wow, Cec, WOW!! This is INCREDIBLE! I've seen a lot of stuff done with chalkboard paint -- great stuff, original stuff, and really inspiring projects -- but yours, absolutely positively takes the cake. The treehouse motif is not only brilliant, but so artfully executed. I love the extra creative touches like the chalk buckets and the owl hole in the tree.

I just can't say enough or thank you enough for linking up to my party!

Your friend,
Jenn

Karissa said...

OMG! Sooo cute! What a neat project!