Since we have been updating Analiese’s room – you can see the platform bed we built for her, we knew that we would have to eventually paint the walls. A couple years ago I put a decal on Analiese’s wall. It was really cute but as most kids do, she outgrew it and we pulled it off the wall. Big Mistake!
It took off not only the paint but also the top layer of plaster on the wall. So, not only did we have to come up with a new plan for her wall, but we had to fix the wall first. Because the room was this blue color when we moved in, we didn’t have the paint to match it, so we had to come up with a new idea. Considering that Analiese loves to draw, we thought a chalkboard wall would be the way to go and right on trend.
Here’s what the wall looked like when we pulled the decal off.
Ooops!
As you can see, the paint and top layer of plaster came off. Trying to paint directly over that and the paint would have looked horrible. So we had to repair the plaster first by putting a skim coat of compound on it. Even if you don’t have plaster walls like we do, you might have drywall that has some damaged areas or highs and lows within the texture. This technique will work to create an even surface perfect for painting.
Tools needed were joint compound, mud pan and taping knife (the long flat metal spatula). We had a smaller paint spatula that we used to mix also, but you could use a paint stick to mix if you wanted.
Scoop a small amount of compound in your mixing tray. You can mix up what you might need whether it’s more or less than what we needed. Then, to make it a little more fluid, add a few sprinkles of water.
Mix the water into the compound until it resembles thick pancake batter. Add water as needed, just make sure to add a little at a time.
Using the taping knife, spread the compound mixture onto the wall as thinly and evenly as possible, let dry. Repeat as many times as needed until the wall is level and smooth, letting it dry in between each application.
Once the compound is dry, smooth it out (without sanding!) with a wet rag. This will knock down any rough edges that might remain without the mess of sanding.
Finally! Ready for paint. We used Sherwin Williams Ovation in Extra White from Lowes. It had primer mixed into the paint, so we didn’t have to add in primer. It still took 2 coats to cover that dark blue. Once we figured out the colors, we knew we wanted to add a little bit of a modern design aesthetic to it. We decided to tape off an angle for the chalkboard wall.
It turned out perfect. Don’t forget to season your chalkboard wall by rubbing the entire surface with the side of your chalk and wiping away with a rag or eraser. What area do you think you’ll be adding a chalkboard wall?
