Using 'Chalkboard Paint' on Walls

Just painted my girls closet doors this past summer. Other than what others have said about the dust and using a damp cloth to fully erase it...no other problems and it works great. Neither of those two issues is that big of deal to not do it, though, at least for me.

I haven't used it on the wall, but I have made 2 large chalkboards on plywood for outside use. It works great on that surface and would likely be great on a wall too... the only worry I would have with indoor use is the chalk dust.

I brought in the outside one for some rainy days here and the dust really accumulates. You might consider some sort of tray to catch it, although the kids might play in it. I used black paint.

When my kids were younger, I painted a wall in each of their rooms with the chalkboard paint. They loved it. You do have to use a damp cloth every once in a while to get the chalk entirely off. Also, the chalk dust was a little problematic and required regular dusting of the baseboards on those walls.

My MIL used this about 8 years ago. She has since had to paint over that wall. The kids loved it!!! The only complaint I remember was that the chalk didn't erase well, and they had to use a damp cloth instead of a traditional eraser. No biggy.

Have fun! Hope the kids love it!

I had friends who did that in their living room and it was really cute. I always wondered, though, if chalk dust was a problem. That would be one thing I'd be curious about.

Do not think they can paint on chalkboard paint. The name chalkboard means just that.

I am a quirky kind of decorator. I never use much the way it is intended.

I have 2 living spaces and in one it is kind of supposed to be formal but it works for us to have a ping pong table in it! No basements in Texas :(
Any way that leaves the problem of what to do the the one wall that has giant picture frame moulding on one wall. How to make it more playful and less formal.

Well, picture frame moulding must mean it needs to frame a picture, right? We are talking 3 panels of 4 foot by 9-10 feet. I primed it and painted the border about 6 inches around with white and then a one inch border of gray for a feeling of depth, like a mat on a picture. Then the chalkboard paint in black. It is very thin paint and will sprinkle all over when you do it so keep everything covered. I did 2 coats. I meant for it to be a perminate frame for temporary art. I bought $3 worth of side walk chalk and did a drawing of the dandelion seed heads. It is like a triptic because there are three spaces and the drawing overlaps on each one. Everybody, child, teen and adult loves it and doesn't want me to change it. The chalk dust was a problem when I did the drawing. Part of my problem is the knockdown textured walls. It makes more dust. Stll, if you have carpet under the wall, best to cover it from colored chalk. But I LOVE it.

We painted one big wall in the basement "chalkboard black" - it's great because any color chalk works fine. My son is quite a bit older than your kids but his buddies enjoy writing dumb stuff on it, plus they play ping pong and pool down there and keep score on the walls.

If you think the room would look way too dark, you can use a lighter color but I haven't seen anyone use those. The people I know used black. Once a bunch of light chalk is on it, it becomes a decor item. We even painted my son's room a very dark gray (regular, not chalkboard paint), with black furniture and white woodwork and lampshades, plus a white/black comforter. It looks great.

We painted our daughter's closet door with black chalkboard paint. She loved it and it turned out really well. We had to paint a few coats of it, though ... maybe 3? We liked black the best, personally, because all the colored chalks showed up really well.

my son's short wall in his room has magnet paint under the chalk board paint and he loves it. i agree with Gidget though about the need for a damp cloth, cuts down on the dust aspect and works best all around. Have fun!! S.