Jumping On the Chalkboard Bandwagon!

I frequent design blogs often and over the past several years chalkboard paint has emerged as a big, style trend. Whenever I see it used in homes, Im always drawn to it. But then my practical side (which usually stays dormant most of the year) weighs in. "I could never do that," it says. On any given day, my house is quite messy. Our home is very "lived in" and along with the wear and tear of our family of four is cat hair, dirt, dust and clutter. Although I love how chalkboard paint looks, the idea of chalk residue on the floors and on the walls is something that was hard for me to reconcile. I had convinced myself it couldnt be done. Not in our house.

Then something crazy happened. In late January during an uneventful weekend, I threw away reason and impulsively painted a small area of our house with chalkboard paint. It was rash and impulsive - totally an ADHD move. ha ha! In my fantasies, there was only one place I could see me using chalkboard paint: in the foyer of our backdoor. We are one of those weird families who never uses the front door; we use the back. Most of our family clutter like jackets, bookbags, umbrellas, hats and shoes end up there. Its a small space and it still had the original flat paint from when we bought our house 11 years ago. Undeniably, the back door foyer is the most used part of our house.

Like I said before, I didnt think much of what I was doing at the time. Im not sure I even asked Matt's permission. I think I believed I would lose my nerve if I didnt seize the opportunity while the inspiration was hot. Throwing caution to the wind, I jumped in with two feet and began painting with very little prep.


You know what? I love it.This little home project took less than a day to do and it has made such a world of a difference in that yucky little foyer. Every time I spy the chalk in that room, I smile and feel grateful. One of the coolest things about the chalkboard walls is that the boys, Matt, and other family members have begun to write things on the wall too. Recently, when Matt left for a week in Virigina he wrote "I love you" as a parting gesture above the doorway. I wrote on the wall "I love Matt, Seamus and Finn" and a few weeks ago it made me smile super big to see that someone (Im assuming it was my sister, though it doesnt look like her writing) extended the sentiment and wrote "Dama Shan, Eli and Abbey" alongside their names. Seamus wrote "Have a nice day" above the back door and everytime I leave our house I see it and smile.


So why am I sharing this? For one, Im proud of how it turned out. I wont lie - part of this post is pure boasting on my part. But Im also sharing this on the blog today because I really didnt think this would be something I would ever do. I had convinced myself that chalkboard paint wouldnt work in my house. But you know what? It DOES work. Im pretty jazzed that I took that leap into the unknown and it paid off.

Happy Tuesday. :)