It All Started With Paint

Our Home. My Canvas.

going batty on all hallows eve …

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Seems like each year at Halloween I add a few more elements to my house décor.  This year I came across this fun door decorated with bats …
bats-across-door-halloween-decoration
Country Living
…  and thought I’d add it around my front door.
I started with a bat stencil I found here on marthastewart.com. I wanted the bat dimensions to be varied, so I made two additional sizes of the stencil.
On black poster board I used chalk to trace and then cut out six large bats, 18 medium and 10 small:
Using Command damage-free poster strips …
… I arranged the bats so they appeared to be flying across the front door. 
Then I stepped back and admired my handiwork.


My next door neighbor actually called me from her cell phone as she was pulling away from the house to comment on my door! She said it was worthy of immediate recognition.

bats-flying-across-door-for-halloween


chalkboard door: from builder grade to a+

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Chalkboard Door DIY: From Builder Grade to Fabulous for $30. 
 
Chalkboard Door DIY From Foam Core Board and Chalkboard Paint
 
chalkboard-door-kitchen-how-to-make-own
 
 
I don’t know about you, but my home is littered with these cheap, hollow, faux wood manufactured doors – including the basement access door in our kitchen.
 
 
 
 
What I really coveted in the kitchen was this:
 
 
Country Living
Domino
 
 
 

               
 
Chalkboard doors!
 
These chalkboard doors can range anywhere from $400 to upwards of a few thousand.  Way beyond my budget.  Not to mention the additional costs for hardware and installation (hanging a new door is not an easy DIY, especially when your home’s foundation was constructed in the late 19th century).
 
 
 
So I put on my thinking cap and came up with an idea to turn our builder grade door into a chalkboard door – for a mere $30.00.
 

How To Turn Builder Grade Door Into A Chalkboard Door

 
I started by gathering my supplies:
 
 
 
 
I had most of these on-hand.  I only needed to purchase the chalkboard paint (from JoAnn’s for $5.00); the black foam core (from Office Depot for $10.00 for a two 30” x 40” boards); and the 1 3/8” x 3/8” trim (from the Home Depot for $.79/foot).  Total:  $30.00.
 
 
 
The foam core worked perfectly as the blackboard base because it’s substantial … yet lightweight … yet not too thick … that when framed out with trim would make the panels look recessed.
 
 
 
Step 1:  Use the X-Acto knife to cut your foam core to size.  I used a yardstick to keep the line straight.
 
 
 
 
Step 2:  Apply two coats of the chalkboard paint to the foam core panels.  (Unfortunately, since they’re porous, the foam core started to curve upwards at the edges. I needed a perfectly flat surface so I let the paint dry completely for a full day, turned over the panels and put a coat of chalkboard paint on the back side.  By the next day, the panels were perfectly flat).
 
 
 
Step 3:  Use the miter box to cut the trim pieces. I used simple joint corners:
 
 
 
 
Step 4:  Give the trim two coats of paint that matches your door. (I used Benjamin Moore white semi-gloss)
 
 
 
Step 5:  Apply the power grip to the back of the foam core chalkboards and attach to the door.  Use your level to make sure they are, well, level.  Hold in place for 3-to-5 minutes to make sure contact is made.  If you use painter’s tape to hold the foam core chalkboard in place it may damage your chalkboard like this:
 
 
 
 
Step 5:  Apply the Power Grip to your trim pieces and affix to the door.  Use painter’s tape to hold in place while it dries.  Just be sure not to attach the painters tape to the foam core board.
 
 
 
 
Step 6:  Caulk along the outside edge and corners and touch up with the semi-gloss
 
 
 
 
In the end you’ll turn a previously boring door into something both beautiful and functional: An easy DIY chalkboard door!
 
 
 
 
 
I loved my new DIY chalkboard door so much that I re-created it on the powder room door too …
 
 
 
🙂 
 
Vintage Grocery Sign
 
 
Kitchen Faucet Installation - Kohler Kitchen Faucet

welcome to my blog!

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This is my inaugural post and it only seems fitting to begin with the DIY chalkboard door project (pictured below) that tipped the scale of “should I or shouldn’t I” write a do-it-yourself home décor blog.




This past spring – I know, I’m a late to this party — I discovered these amazing, handy, crafty women with their Heirloom White spray paint, Mod Podge, glue guns, power tools, and magazine picture-perfect blogs.  Even more exciting:  They didn’t just show you their beautifully decorated homes and envy-inducing DIY projects — but gave step-by-step tutorials of how to do it yourself.  Yep, complete with pictures of the exact products used and the exact (or close to) prices of said products.

 Wow!  Pass the Kool-Aid.  I’m hooked.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  In the fall of 2010 I embarked on a “Honey, I’m going to repaint the kitchen walls” idea that turned into a much, much more involved on-a-budget (really?) kitchen re-do (click here for that story).  Once the kitchen was shiny and (kinda) new, everything else started looking old and dusty and in need of a refresh – myself included.

Then, out of the blue, I decided to quit smoking. After 25 years. On Valentine’s Day, of all days.  Here in Chicago, I spent close to $10 a pack.  I smoked a pack (and sometimes more) a day.  Yea, it wasn’t pretty.  I’ll let you do the math …

So I thought I could use the savings to “spruce up” our home. Room-by-room.  Month-by-month.  On a pack a day budget …

And check out my next post where I give step-by-step instructions on how you can turn your cheap, hollow builder’s grade interior doors into beautiful and practical chalkboard doors like the one pictured above.

we’ve been ghosted!

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Woke up the other morning and found this on our front porch:
 
Turns out we’ve been “ghosted.”
This is a Halloween tradition that started on our block about five years ago or so.  (Mike and I are 99% sure we know who starts it each year – but I won’t “out” her on the blog).  It’s fun to watch as it spreads around the neighborhood.
 
As the instructions state, it’s our turn to “ghost” two others so I hit the dollar section at Target to pick up supplies.
 
The kids and I will make our “ghost” deliveries under the cover of dark.
I think I need one of those $1 “BOO” signs for myself.  There’s an orange version that will look festive hanging under my wreath.
If you want to start your own “ghosted” tradition, here’s all you need:
 
 
 
 
 
Now go forth and spread the ghostly spirit!