Chalkboard Paint Colors or Glass?

Chalkboard paint has taken off in recent years. It's a stunning social media success story, because bloggers shared their projects which inspired more projects and motivated people to experiment with chalkboard paint. The original chalkboard paint colors were black, black or black. It's exciting that you can now get chalkboard paint in almost any color.

For unknown reasons (share your ides below), people seem willing to use bright, bold paint chalkboard paint colors in ways they never did with regular paint. This might be because you're not planning to paint an entire room in chalkboard paint. You might paint one accent wall for the kids to draw on, or provide the foundation for a family communication center. Chalkboard paint colors also make more sense with a smaller footprint, like the back side of doors, cabinets or furniture.

Chalkboard Paint Colors without the Chalk

As a quilter who loves bright, bold colors, it's always bothered me that people shy away from bold paint colors in their homes. (Read: Color Trends: Where Do They Come From?) I've been using bold colors forever. In my first apartment with hand-me-down furniture and nothing to put on the walls, I painted a big, horizontal stripe across my living room wall (see it here), to dress the room up.

Bold colors in kitchens are great because you don't have a lot of wall space for artwork. You also don't want to clutter up counter tops because you need it for more important things. But guess what?

Bold Colors When Your Walls Aren't Flat

My new house in Arizona is wonderful and I'm enjoying the views tremendously. We decided to have the house painted while it was vacant, to make our transition smoother. I expected to wallpaper or paint a few accent walls later, and now find myself challenged with 2 big problems.

Problem #1 – The open floor plan in my new house is square and there's a high cathedral ceiling, with all sorts of southwestern nooks that I've never had to deal with before. In my Portsmouth, NH kitchen, I was able to tuck the red accent walls into the L-shape so they didn't dominate the family room. With the blue Hampton condo, the ceiling duct work separated the various spaces – kitchen, dining room and living room.

Problem #2 – The walls aren't flat, another first in our 14th house, it brings a whole new set of challenges. Regardless of the color, you expect to write on chalkboard paint. That simply won't work with the knockdown texture on every wall in the house (ceilings too).

So how do I decorate with the bold colors I love?

That's why this chalkboard alternative is today's fabulous Friday find. This glassboard is both colorful and functional, and checks off so many of my “must haves” when doing anything around the house. In fact I'm think I might do a series of three in the hallway leading away from my open living, so keep following my blog and we'll show you how to make one of these glassboards for your home!

Photo (small collage photos) credit to BenjaminMoore.com.