Awkward Wall Gets a Chalkboard Paint Makeover

by Bubbles and Boxwood

We have one of those awkward curved walls in our game room that you just can't hang anything on without it sticking out or rocking back and forth every time someone walks by. It's a good sized wall too, and right at the entrance to the room so it stuck out like a sore thumb as blank space in an otherwise fully decorated room. Here's a pick of the wall before we moved in:

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Having added a mural to my master bedroom and my daughter's room, I thought that might be one way to do something with it, but decided against another mural in the house for the sake of overkill. And then my husband asked me, "what about a chalkboard wall?" (I think I am rubbing off on him.) THIS was exactly what we needed to do! I mean, it IS a game room, which is supposed to be fun, and we do have 2 kids - one of which draws all day every day - so why hadn't I thought of this sooner?

So I headed to that place we all go for inspiration - PINTEREST - and found this picture I had saved a while back:

I adore empty gold frames and this had been an idea I remembered pinning once upon a time. Heck, I saved it as the cover for my DIY board!

Now remember, my wall is curved, so these frames were not going to work without sticking out from the wall...BUT... combine the chalkboard wall idea with my mural wall idea, and what do you get? Wall Decals! Yep, I could get this same look with frame decals and each frame would conform to the curve of the wall.

I've used wall decals before - my daughter's toddler room had birdcages and my son's room now is spattered with Seahawks graphics via Fatheads.com - so I know the drill on installation. Easy Peasy. I headed over to Etsy to find the perfect baroque frame decals, and found THIS awesome set by DecalGuruWallDecals for about $37:

Then I did my research on chalkboard paint and wall prep. THIS article by FleeceFun.com with 5 things you should know before painting a chalkboard wall was a big help. After reading the reviews, I chose Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint in Flat Black at Home Depot based on the online comments about good coverage, texture and long wear.

You can see step by step process and keys to success with Chalkboard Paint on the attached blog post link.

After the paint process, I cut around my decals (they came several decals to a page of backing) so I could tape them to the wall with plastic washi tape and get an idea where I wanted them to go. I then started by installing my largest central frame and worked my way out from there to adjust spacing as needed. They came with easy instructions and a scraper tool.

Here's the final look...

And here's my little artiste about 5 minutes later...

The contrast catches your eye, the kids love that they can update the wall as often as they want, and it totally solved our curved wall dilemma. (On a side note, you can see we changed the flooring in this area to wood prior to moving as well, so the cleanup is easier that with carpet for sure.)

What do you think? If you've been thinking about adding chalkboard paint to a space in your home, I hope this gives you that little push you needed to get it done!

Have a great week everyone!

You can see my step by step process for working with chalkboard paint and tips for the steps you DON'T WANT TO SKIP in my full post here: