Condo Blues: Chalkboard Paint Kitchen Backsplash

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Chalkboard Paint Kitchen Backsplash

Husband and I couldn’t agree on what type of tile we wanted to use on our kitchen backsplash. I wanted something sleek like recycled glass or stainless steel tile. He wanted a Byzantine pattern in travertine tile.

In the meantime, when I wiped the walls with nothing more than water, paint came off on my damp sponge because the builder used cheap watered down paint to paint our house. The wall needed something to protect it as we fought over what tile to use.

As a temporary fix, I broke out the chalkboard paint.

Chalkboard kitchen backsplash!

rst, I primed the walls with a grey stain blocking primer to protect my walls. I used colored primer because I was going to use black chalkboard paint and did not want to do more than a couple coats of paint.


Grey stain blocking primer coat

The advantages of being short – laying on the countertops to paint!

Husband called me Michelangelo and snapped this picture.

Two coats of chalkboard paint later I have a new kitchen backsplash!


Husband and I are having so much fun drawing on the walls! We like it so much that we are keeping the chalkboard backsplash permanently!

Esspresso...NomNomNom...

Do you know who else likes my cheap and stylish backsplash? This Old House Magazine!

This is my issue of This Old House Magazine!

They featured me and my chalkboard paint backsplash in their July/Augst 2010 Cheapskate Hall of Fame. Beecause instead of spending over a $1000 on tile I spent $30 on paint for a killer backsplash. I have a ton of left over chalkboard paint for more projects. What shall I do next?

Upadate May 2, 2014: I get a ton of emails asking me how well my chalkboard backsplash holds up. It still looks good after four years and is holding up well. It get dirty from cooking and water splashes like every other backsplash I've had and just as easy to clean with a little soap and water. We love that we can Happy Birthday, Holdiay messages or just silly things like Dinner Machine over the stove. We're nuts.
Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed  or to Condo Blues by Email.


30 comments :

mudnessa said...

Oh the fun I could have with chalkboard paint, too bad I live in an apartment. Of course I would probably go overboard and have it EVERYWHERE and then regret it. Guess I'll have to live vicariously thorough you. ;)

Robj98168 said...

Very Cool you. Does Blitzy get on the cupboard to help paint???

Kristin - The Goat said...

How cool that you were in This Old House Magazine! My sister gets that magazine, I'll have to tell her that I know you (via blogging of course!) I think it's a fabulous idea.

I have quite a few chalkboard tips on my blog, just put Chalkboard into the search box.

Have a great day!

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

Rob - Blitzkrieg supervises. Very.Well.

kirby - OH, I will definately check that out!

Sawdust Girl said...

Your backsplash is really cool and how fun to be featured in This Old House Magazine. Congrats!

Marti @ The Next Fifty Years said...

Wow, you're famous now! Your backsplash looks great. I hope you post updated pictures on it so we can see how it wears over time. I don't know what you are painting upside down, but you did a really nice job. It looks just perfect.

The Pennington Point said...

What a fun idea! I love the picture of you laying on the kitchen counter. Lisa~

Christine said...

Love the backsplash! Very, very clever...don't know if I could talk my husband into it though...hmmm :)

Debbie said...

What a fun idea! So cool to be featured in a magazine.
Debbie@houseatthelake

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

Marti - I had to lay on the counter to paint the back corner. I'm too short to reach it over the counter.

Christine - Husband wasn't digging it until we went to a friend's house and he saw that they painted a square in their kitchen with chalkboard paint to use as a message center. Once he saw an example, he was OK with it.

I'll keep everyone posted on the kitchen redo process. After 6 years of wavering - WE HAVE FINALLY PICKED A PAINT COLOR FOR THE WALLS!

Lisa said...

What a fun idea! And congrats on being featured in the magazine! That's such a huge accomplishment!

Mad in Crafts said...

Congratulations! That is a really fun idea!

Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!

Sue said...

How very, very fun and frugal!!! You can use all those wild colored chalk pens to write notes and draw. I love mine, especially the florescent ones.
Congrats on the magazine feature.
:-) Sue

Barbara Jean said...

wow! How fun and creative!

thanks for showing us.

blessings
barbara jean

Unknown said...

Too cool! Congrats on the magazine feature, too!

Is it easy to clean? That'd be my concern as my backsplash lives up to its name - SPLASH, as in grease. (Hubs does the cooking).

I'm hosting a 4th of July party on the next 3 Thursdays - crafts, decor, traditions, anything related to the 4th. Would love it if you'd stop by.

Rory from Tools Are For Women Too! said...

I hadn't thought of using the paint here...what a great idea! Thanks for linking to Modern Craftswoman Monday! Rory

Ela@NewFamilyOnTheBlock.com said...

Would love it if you would join me for my 2nd linky party tonight!!

http://lifeinmypjs.blogspot.com/2010/06/pajama-party-2.html

~Ela

Corinna Lyons-Revello said...

This is absolutely FABULOUS! I have been planning on painting every other cabinet door and pantry door in my kitchen, but never thought about the backsplash. I hate my backsplash! And I probably would never have thought to buy gray primer to THANK YOU for saving me extra unnecessary painting cause I totally would have used white! Woo hoo! You rock :)

Corinna

Kat said...

I love the chalkboard backsplash. I never thought of that as an option but it is so cute! Good job!

Jenny @ Words on Wendhurst said...

This is a great idea. Love that you guys ended up finding a compromise that you actually liked better! And how awesome about the feature! :-)

Prior said...

How cool to be featured and I love it! Lezlee

Unknown said...

FAB. U. LOUS!!! I wonder if I could paint my boring white tile with chalkboard paint. Hmmm...

Prior said...

Thanks so much for joining my Prior Lives Party. You already know I love your back-splash! Lezlee

Lucrecia said...

I love it! I've been wanting to do this myself, I might take the plunge this weekend!

Sew Can Do said...

Love the concept (I totally agree with T.O.H. on this being better than $1000 tile) & come on by the week of July 5th for chalkboard paint projects during CraftShare & add yours to the Flickr pool! Thanks for sharing with Craftastic Monday:)

Liz Amason said...

My Grandma always said, "Dynamite comes in small packages!"
Great job!

Lacy said...

Great and frugal idea! I would've never thought of using chalkboard paint there.

Rose :: FineCraftGuild.com said...

Thank you for contributing this to http://www.FineCraftGuild.com's DIY Tutorial Linky Party.

It's beautiful.

If you have a new & equally wonderful tutorial you wish to share with us this week, come on over. We just opened a new linky party for this week's greatest talented artisans out there! (and you are one of them ;-0)

Candace Silvasy said...

Wow congrats! and thanks so much for coming to the SpaHome launch, I put your kitchen tip on our wrap up post. See you at fni - let me know if you want the link. Candy

Anonymous said...

I have a bathroom off of the kitchen (really old, old house). I primed the kitchen side of the door with magnetic paint, then top coated it with black chalkboard paint. Love the black door, and the grandkids have somewhere to put all of their magnets (instead of the fridge) and they can play safely while I do things in the kitchen.

Post a Comment

I love comments and read them all! If you’re shy and don’t want your opinions made public, you can always email me at condoblues [at] gmail [dot] com.