We’re excited to bring you this fun winning project from the Creating with the Stars promotion that was hosted on East Coast Creative. We absolutely love the creativity Melissa from 5 Foot 12 Creations displayed in this project. See how Melissa completed this project and how you could have something similar in your home:
Our basement is better known as “the kid cave.” When we arranged it, we set it up in “stations”–kitchen area, dress-up area, puppet theater, arts & craft studio and a “school room”for my future teacher. I love the way chalkboard paint looks and although it is not a new concept, I have always wanted to use it in our basement. The wall I chose for this project is approximately 21 feet long and I thought it would be neat to create an interactive chalkboard wall.
First, I painted the wall using Rustoleum Black Chalkboard Paint. While it recommends two coats of paint, I went ahead and gave it three coats, as the wall seemed to really soak in the first coat. In designing the chalkboard wall, I knew I wanted lots of space for the kids to draw and create, but I also wanted to put some things that would be permanent, instead of just having a 21 foot chalkboard. I decided to include a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. I printed a map of the U.S. onto an overhead transparency and used an overhead projector to trace the map onto the wall. I used a permanent white paint sharpie marker to trace the map. 
I also wanted to have some fun and whimsical frames on the wall as well. So using the same method as the U.S.A. map, I chose the following “hanging doodle frames” from PrintCandee.com:
Next, I designed a large interactive tic-tac-toe board. Similar to the map and frames, I traced the board onto the wall. I bought five “X’s” and five “O’s” from the craft store…you may have to go to a few craft stores–they have plenty of “O’s” but don’t stock many “X’s”! Also at the craft store, I bought self-adhesive magnet strips. At Home Depot, I bought nine two-inch washers. After painting the “X’s” and “O’s”, I super-glued the washers onto the letters, and fastened the magnet strips onto the wall.
(I forgot to take picture of painting on the red and blue! Sorry!)
I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors…
Not only are they great for setting the game pieces and chalk on, but they are extremely sturdy stools and perfect for giving little kids a boost for drawing and playing on the wall.
I have always adored these giraffe and elephant hooks from Anthropologie… and I love the way they add a fun (and helpful!) detail to the chalkboard wall:
Finally I added some framed artwork courtesy of the kids…they were so excited to help with this project!
There are multiple ways you can use paint to change up your space. We hope this creative idea inspires you to transform a room into something you’ll love.
Christine is the Content Marketing Coordinator for Homes.com. She's a small town girl at heart, who currently lives in Norfolk, VA with her husband and their fur baby. When she's not working, she enjoys cooking, decorating, traveling, and binge watching Netflix. As a proud Virginia Tech alum, she also loves cheering on the Hokies!
