So in our little house, we have a kitchen. And in the kitchen, there’s this blank wall that none of us are quite sure what to do with. We could put a map on it, but it’s a little too small for my big map poster, and a small little poster would just make it look more empty. What to do??

Well, there’s these windows in the attic that I’ve been lusting after for weeks now. Ever since I discovered them up there, I’ve been racking my brain for a creative way to use them! Then I found it…

the chalkboard window.

That’s right, you take an old window, some chalkboard paint, and go crazy. Simple, right? NOT.

This project takes a lot more planning than I was thinking when I went to Home Depot this morning to get supplies. For instance, they recommend on the box that you prime your surface before you paint. Whoops. AND, you should really wait 3 hours before applying a second coat. Whoops.

Who thinks about these things, really? I just wanted to make a window board for our wall.

Anyway, here’s the steps I ended up doing…so far. We’ll call this project “in progress.”

First, find a window. Luckily, as I said, we had some laying around in our attic from who knows where. Old windows are big these days so you could find them in antique stores or flea markets, or just rip out an old window from a barn…kidding.

You’ll need: chalk board paint {found at any hardware store, for the most part}, a foam brush {bristles can make the paint harder to write on…they actually recommend using a roller, but my surface is too small for that}, and lots of newspaper or paper towels.

I started by cleaning off all the extra paint around the edges of the glass. I didn’t quite get it all, but I was in a bit of a hurry. I’ll go back and paint it later. Then you’ll need to clean the glass surface, as well as the wood, just so you can do more with that later.

Next, I started to apply the paint {after I stirred it carefully} to the glass panes. I didn’t take the time or money to buy painters tape to protect the edges, I’ll just go back and paint over them later with another color when I work with the wood {that’ll be phase 2}.

Apply the paint smoothly, thickly, and carefully! This is something to write on! You want it to be smooth. It should dry to the touch in about 30 minutes, according to the box.

And there you have it….part one! In three hours, I’ll come back and do a second coat for sure…I don’t think it’s quite thick enough yet. Keep checking back to see when I get phase 2 done…it’s sure to be awesome!