this morning i took my photo for the challenge on the overlooked blog. oh, here is the flickr group too.
the idea behind this challenge blog is to photograph, jot down, and possibly journal/scrapbook the little big things in our lives. right up my alley. the first challenge was your favorite coffee mug. i dont drink coffee very often, so mine is my hot tea with milk and sugar mug.
and while i was in my kitchen this morning, i finally took photos of my kitchen cabinets with the new black paint and chalkboard paint insets. a few of you have commented/emailed that you’d love to see the results. here is a before photo:
(this is all i could find, a photo that is almost a year old-look at my four year old girl! she has changed so much this year. you can see the cabinets used to be typical oak.)
and what they are now:
to be honest, it was a fight to get this done. jeff did not want chalkboard at all. but i think he now secretly loves them. our friends and family leave us notes, (see j. lewis and associates? that is our friend who has his own law firm in riverside-he wanted some free advertising) the kids love to climb up and draw things, and they are AWESOME for me to jot something down so i dont forget. plus, they make the austere blackness of them a bit more playful and not so formal. i highly recommend. unless you are a neat freak. the chalk dust will settle on your countertops.
on another note, i was window shopping online last night and i stopped in at pottery barn. they have a new thing “whats your style” and one of the ones listed was “urban nest”. i LOVE that. here is the description: “a little modern. a lot of warmth. and enough personal detail to make you feel at home.” that is totally what my home is to me. what my style is. im kind of on a home kick right now actually……
so if you come over, you will be expected to get some chalk on your hands. please leave your mark.
Yeah! I for one am very happy that you decided to go for the chalk board cabinets. Now Anna and I don’t have to draw on the ground outside in the cold we can just doodle all over the cabinets inside. :-)
OMG! I have to do this!!! what an amazing idea!!
Love that! We were planning to redo our cabinets black already. Maybe I can sneak some chalkboard paint on there! My hubby doesn’t like sidewalk chalk or anything like that…think he’d go for it??? Are they easy to clean??
amy yea totally-i just use a wet washcloth when i want to clean the whole cupboard, or an eraser for one or two things.
rachel-glad you like overlooked-fun huh?
tara–
I TOTALLY LOVE THEM!
and it’s just so cooL!
i would totally do this!!!
tara
eek- your kitchen looks amazing!
Your Urban Nest is so homey!
Thanks!
my local cafe gave me a briliant tip – use flat coke to clean down chalk boards. it REALLY cleans them up.. and leaves with without the chalky swirls
For those that don’t want to paint, there are removable chalkboard panels (I prefer the black, then school green) here:
http://www.walldecorshops.com/groupchalkboard.html
I painted a 4’x4′ Masonite panel and hung it up on our back porch:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbreenbo/514832527/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbreenbo/1105456192/
I found lots of cool chalkboard ideas doing a flickr search:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=chalkboard&w=all&s=int
Way too fun!! I once saw a fridge all done in chalkboard paint (just think, smudgy fingerprints would look good on it!) and eventually I want to do that too! Unless I decide on fire engine red, like the rest of the accents in our kitchen. I saw on “Design on a Dime” that you can convert pretty much any fridge at home (except stainless, unfortunately) by sanding it down and then using special spray paint for appliances. One day, I swear! :)
thanks lanne, karen, and trude!
trude-i saw on a green blog a guy who painted his fridge with green chalkboard paint. i LOVED IT. i have a garage fridge for sodas and extras and i think i will paint it.
Very cool! I love the cabinets black better than the wood anyways, and the fact they are chalkboard makes it all the more better :)
love, love, love what you have done with your kitchen! besides being infatuated with photography (besides my husband and kids of course) I am an interior design junkie – thanks for sharing!
tara, your cabinets are amazing! Did you do it yourself?…how time consuming was that? I really want to paint our oak cabinets, but I’m scared that I’m gonna royally mess them up.
love the pb urban nest description. :)
cathy-yes and no. :)
we hired a painter to paint the cabinets and take the doors off, etc. it is definitely a job i COULD have done on my own, but i didnt have the time or patience to complete it. he used oil based paint and a brush.
then i painted the fronts with the chalkboard paint after he was done.
oooo, those are a LOT neater then i expected them to be. i may have to try those myself some day. they look fun and playful.
Love your cabinets, Tara! In our other house my daughter had one wall painted with chalkboard paint. Her friends would love to come over and write notes, draw things, and play games. I used to take pics of it all the time because some of the art work was amazing! Unfortunately those photos were in an album that was destroyed by water, but we still remember all the fun the kids had drawing all over that wall. Thanks for sharing yours.
Pam
i’m going to be one of the few to comment on the mug, because i have that very mug!! i have the light blue version too. i gave them to my close friend as well. i love them for the same reason as you…fits the hand well and holds a lot of stuff.
–janice
LOVE IT!!!
i did this in a basement on a wall but NEVER thought about doing it on kitchen cabinets….sooo cool.
awesome. love them.
INCREDIBLE! Just makes your kitchen so cozy & friendly!
LOVE the kitchen cabinet idea. We did our downstairs bathroom walls with ‘chalkboard’ paint (I just used flat black paint…much cheaper and works just as well). It’s always fun reading the messages after a party. LOL!!!! ~
after your post when you first said you were going to this i told my hubby about it and he said let’s do it! so we did all of our cupboards in the chalkboard paint too.
and we LOVE it. and sage thinks it’s the best thing ever. so thanks for the idea! :)
i love them, looks awesome! :)
LOVE THEM! Was it SO worth it to have someone else do it? I really want to paint mine green. :)
Your cabinets turned out great, love them!! I have chalk boards all over my house and have painted an old wooden chest of drawers with chalkboard paint too.
Looks awesome, Tara! Love the extra personal touch it gives the kitchen… especially since that always ends up being the “main” room of the house anyway!
hey- I have a huge chalkboard in our kitchen as well and the dust did get to me after a while so I did a hunt for the vibrant chalk colors restaurants use and found them at http://www.chalkink.com we use these markers for schedules and anything we write that we don’t change very often- and we use regular chalk for things like the grocery list and quick notes. Half the dust- twice the color! hope you enjoy.
Your kitchen rocks! It’s funky and fresh and fun! I love it! My best friend used to keep a poloroid on top of her frig and anytime someone new would come to their house their picture got taken. They’d have to sign it and then their picture was put on her frig. She just moved to a new house and before she did the whole frig was covered. So cool! She’s starting fresh at the new house.
Love the cabinets!! I would go crazy trying to keep them clean, a little OCD I know… I think I will find something to paint the chalkboard paint on. I’ve been told I can do a magnet paint first then the chalkboard over it and have two-in-one, our fridge is stainless so nothing sticks.
I am delurking (although I may have once before) to say I love this idea. I’m wondering if you changed your blind to match the new cabinets…and if so..what color?
I once saw your son’s room with all the photo frames lined up like a chair rail. I’ve been secretly obsessed with that idea ever since.
i do secretly love them darnit!
How freaking fun and cool!
love them too! So fun! I was also very curious if you knew the color of paint on your walls? We are in the process of picking out paint (which we have a hard time doing!!) and are loving your color! have a blessed day!
So … do you ask for permission or do you ask for forgiveness. Or, do you trust that something is going to look good and just forge ahead. Love love LOVE that you did black chalkboard paint.
I look at your blog everyday and LOVE it but almost never post. I just had to tell you that I have the same mug and it is my daily little big thing and it fits my hand and my moods perfectly! Last night my hubby offered it to a guest I was VERY jealous that she was using MY mug!
Thanks!
Shari
Love the cabinets. Did you brush on the paint or have them sprayed?
I am about to paint my own wood cabinets and curious what you did.
hi tara, they look great. i emailed you, check it out…:) cindy
I LOVE those cupboards!! THEY ROCK!! I need them!! Mostly for leaving reminder notes for my dear sweet hubby!! I think we should invest in that!!! That is SUCH a cool idea!!!
So funny! I had the same though on the PB style . . . only difference is, I applied it to my photography. Just wanted to share. Love your cabinets! You never cease to inspire me!
Ok, it’s official, I am loving the chalkboard cabinets! That is TOO cool….
J
Tara-
In love with your whole decorating scheme. You have truly captured a personality in your home. The cabinets are such a great idea! I love your photography, but find myself checking your blog for all your house shots also!
I wanna come play at YOUR house!
I finished painting my kitchen cabinets black right before Christmas. I love it – here’s a picture of my before and after: http://thinkoutsidethebox2.blogspot.com/search/label/interior%20design
I love the chalk board idea. I don’t think mine would have worked as well because of the type of material mine were – cheap! Now it’s onto re-painting the walls, adding crown molding and backsplash.
Your finished product is great!
how AWESOME does this look? It makes the whole kitchen seem so cozy and inviting, i just love it!!