Giant Framed Chalkboard Tutorial

 I think I'm a little behind on the chalkboard trend. I made a few chalkboard things, all smaller though. But then I started to redo my front room and my mind went straight to 'chalkboard' to fill a newly vacant spot. I imagined a rather large chalkboard, but something movable. So I went through my leftover wood pile and found a great board to use. My husband had bought it to use it for his poker table he made (kudos to him for that by the way. It turned out great!)...Anyway. I think it's like a wood veneer. I'm not sure. But I know any board would work for this. I liked the thinness of this so it didn't add much weight. And, it was the perfect size! Bonus! :)

So, here's the list of supplies you'll need:
Large board
Molding to cover size of board
Chalkboard spraypaint/paint
Wood glue and screws

I contemplated making my own chalkboard paint for this or to spray paint. Spray painting won, although I think it took much longer than if I were just to paint it. And I'm not sure about the finish :) I probably needed another coat but I didn't want to have to buy another can lol. So, this is only two coats.

 Now to frame it. For the sides I used some mdf that you find in the molding aisle, but not usually by the casing/floorboards section, but by it. Anyway. It's a lot cheaper than the actual plain molding that looks the same. It's about 70 cents per foot for the 1x4 instead of about $1.50. For the top and bottom, I used some a thick baseboard that was about $1.50 per foot.

 Now, this board was huge, 6' by 2.5'. But for some reason, I wanted to get all the inches I could out of it, so instead of just placing the baseboards on the edges, I wanted to put them a little higher. So I measured about 5 inches down from the edge on one side and marked it. Did the same to the other side, then lined up the board. This gave me about an extra inch or two on each side.

 I secured the board first using wood glue. Then lined up the 1x4 board on the edge and glued that on, I did the same thing with the other  1x4 board.

 Before the glue dried, I made sure to check the square on each angle. Once these were dry enough, I added the bottom baseboard.

 After the glue was completely dried. I then turned it over and added some screws to make sure it was super secured :)

 I love how this turned out, and think it will be perfect for little hands to have fun with later on...of course I'll have to find a way to secure so it won't fall over by then, but for now, it's just propped up against the wall. I'm thinking of putting it on large easel that I have in my basement eventually. We'll see.

 I'm not sure what's going on with the black in these pictures lol. I 'seasoned' it and then used a wet rag to removed the chalk, and well, that's what I got...just a bunch of smeared chalk lol :) It's not too bad looking in person, just looks used.

Her was this section of my front room before. A little dull and boring. I think I had those sticks in there for at least a couple of years...maybe ever since we moved in. It was about time for change!

I love how bright and cheery it is now. Makes me happy :) Plus this being the first room people see when they come and visit, it probably should be bright and happy and not ....well....blah like how it was before. Although, I admit, I really did like it before for some reason....maybe I'm just a blah sort of person ??? :/

The cost of this project was about $15 for the molding. I can't wait to show you the whole room when it's done! I'm so excited for some change in this room...it's been a long time coming :) (although it's been changed like 20 times...but this is a big change).

Now I need to come up with or find some great big long quotes to fill this board up with. Any suggestions??