Did you see my awesome new extra large chalkboard in my office reveal last Friday? If you missed it, here’s what it looks like.
But it didn’t always look this glamorous, in fact, it had very humble beginnings.
The frame was actually in our house when we moved in and I wanted so badly to throw it away (because it was so ugly) but it’s hard to find frames that big so I held onto it, knowing someday it could be turned into something beautiful. You can’t tell in this picture but the frame actually had a faux crackle finish to it, very 80’s. 🙂
Right after we moved in I took it off the wall and it’s been sitting in the garage ever since. About 6 months ago I found this picture on Pinterest and fell in love.
At that point I was finally glad I had saved the big, ugly frame! A couple weeks ago I finally got to work transforming the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.
I started by spray painting the frame with Rust-Oluem Metaillic Gold spray paint. I don’t have a picture because I’m the worst at taking before pictures, but I sprayed the frame with 2 coats to make sure the paint filled in the 80’s “crackle” look.
Next I laid the glass out on my kitchen table and gave it a good washing. While I was flipping the glass over it slipped and totally sliced up both my hands! They don’t make glass thin like they used to, which is a good thing!
My hands were so cut up that I had to take a picture! This is what I call the “ugly side of DIY”. I think I had a total of 8 cuts, some much deeper than others (which is why my fingers are purple, I was trying to cut off the blood flow).
After bandaging myself up (with Frozen Band-aids) I used a foam roller to paint the glass with 5 coats of Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint. I painted one coat, dried it with my hair dryer, painted another coat, and so on and so forth. I know 5 coats seems like a lot but I wanted to make sure it had enough coats on it so that I couldn’t scratch through the paint to the glass.
After the frame and the glass were dry I put the glass back into the frame. The whole time I was thinking, “this better not break!” I figured if the end result was beautiful then the cuts on my hands were worth it, if it broke, I’d just be pissed. 🙂
Luckily the glass didn’t break and it turned out just as beautiful as I’d hoped!
Next I primed the chalkboard with chalk and wiped it off.
I really like the boxwood wreath in the inspiration picture but when I found this light pink hydrangea wreath at Pier 1, I knew it was “the one”. I hung it up with a ribbon and added a verse I love, that reminds me daily, to “do everything in love”.
I think it’s the perfect addition to my office, don’t you?
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