Magnetic Chalkboard Door

I was inspired by some crafty bloggers out there to create my own magnetic chalkboard. Unlike some of the amazing rooms I saw, where one whole wall was converted to a chalkboard, I decided to just do one door.



The inside part of my craft room door of course. I also didn’t want to make a framed board. Instead, I painted the stuff directly onto the door and then added a wooden frame around it. I figured what’s the big deal? That door was obviously the most beat up door in the house, so if it came down to it, we would just replace the door. I also didn’t want a giant framed board banging against the door should it get slammed or anything

First let me start off with a little rant about Krylon spray paint. I do NOT understand why everyone in the blogging world loves Krylon paint. I loath the spray nozzle, which I’ve heard others rave about as a non-dripping/non-splattering nozzle. All of my experience has been that Krylon spray cans have splattered and dripped. In fact, my hands get covered in paint just from touching the nozzle. And a lot of their “cool” products don’t really work. For example, regarding Krylon’s chalkboard spray, they admittedly know (if you call customer service) that their chalk board spray cancels out their own magnetic spray! Ridiculous! They also fail to mention! on their magnetic paint can that it needs to set for 5 days before the paint actually becomes magnetic. Preposterous! Why would you not print that on the back for everyone to know?!?

Why, oh why, does anyone use Krylon??

Now I’ve had a lot of success with the “cheaper” lines. I bought both the magnetic paint and chalk paint on clearance from Wal-Mart. The magnetic paint was a paint-on paint. The chalk paint was a spray kind. Both cans cautioned to paint with smooth, even strokes otherwise the surface would get very lumpy and bumpy. Both cans cautioned to let each layer fully “set,” not just dry, before applying a second layer. The magnetic can clearly stated it would take 5 days to set and that a second coat was recommended for full magnetization. Both cans mentioned they were compatible with the other. Everything was clearly stated, and when I followed them exactly, it all worked! True, I did struggle with painting the magnetic paint in smooth, even strokes. True, it did come out lumpy and bumpy. It still works though. And I kinda like how it looks. It looks like an old-school slate chalkboard.

I also made some other mistakes. For example, I overshot the chalk spray and got it on the rest of the door. Darn it! To help cover the over spray I decided to add a corkboard at the bottom.



But all of my cork material was free from my mom and pretty old. I managed to put it all on the door, successfully covering the bottom, but the stuff started to crumble almost immediately. I guess it was just too old.



So I ripped it all off and was faced with the over spray problem again. Darn it! In the end I decided to use a metal shelf from my new shelving unit (post about that to follow later) and attach it to the door to cover the over spray. Lee really, really struggled with figuring out how to mount it to the door. Thank you, sweetie! I also painted a small wooden frame to put around the chalkboard, and I painted it the wrong color. So I’ll have to repaint it. Sigh. I’m not sure this will ever end. Really.

Abby loves it though! She has magnetic Dinosaur Train characters who stick to the board and she can draw scenes around them in chalk. I’ve really enjoyed some of her creations. She also uses the board to practice her writing. I went into the room one day and was pleasantly surprised by a clear “I love my daddy” message with hearts all over. Too sweet. So I love it too!

I highly recommend that all parents should have a large chalkboard at kid height if they can manage it!