Hello Friends!! It has been a week of projects here at our homefront. I took on a project I have never done before and never imagined doing…I removed a toilet. :/ It was actually very simple. I must say I was very intimidated by it at first. But YouTube to the rescue! I LOVE YouTube!! You can truly learn how to do anything. But don’t worry, that’s not what I’m going to share with you today. I won’t bore you with the details of “how to remove a toilet”. Instead, I bring to you a super-easy project. A chalkboard wall frame.

Last week, I finished painting my parents’ basement. This was quite the task…Originally my mom, wanting to go with an Ohio State theme, chose slate gray paint for underneath the chair rail running throughout the basement. And light gray paint for above the chair rail. However, because the trim is all painted a burnt red color it was causing the gray paint to appear blue. The two paint colors were competing with one another. The red is a warm tone and the gray lends itself to a cooler tone. Blue was not the look we were going for.

So after painting one coat and thinking, surely it’s going to get better, we decided to switch gears and go with all white walls. Excellent choice! The light walls brighten up the space and really makes it feel a lot bigger. Which is perfect for a basement.

To add a little pizazz, using black chalkboard paint, we painted an accent wall that sits behind the bar. And then we framed this space with “distressed” wood. I love projects like these…such a simple touch can change a room so much.

How to make an accent chalkboard wall:

Materials needed:

Chalkboard paint

2- 10 foot 1×6 pine boards (the length of the boards depends on how big your space is)

2- 8 foot 1×6 pine boards (for a smaller wall, you might want to go with 1×4’s)

1 & 3/4 nails

60-grit sandpaper

white paint

Annie Sloan Black Wax

Annie Sloan Clear Wax

old rag

Distressed Painting Technique Instructions for the Frame:

1. Cut your boards to the length needed (Home Depot can make your cuts for you, if you don’t have a miter saw)

2. Quickly sand each board with 60-grit sandpaper.

3. Paint each board with white paint…

4. Sand each board, roughing it up a bit…this will help the black wax stick to the parts you want to look distressed…

5. Rub black wax onto a section at a time. Let it sit for about 40 seconds and wipe it off…

6. Rub clear wax over that same section and then immediately wipe it off. This will lighten up the darker spots…

7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 til you get the look you want…

Assembling Frame to the Wall:

1. After you have painted the chalkboard paint on the area you want the chalkboard wall to be, you are ready to attach your boards.

2. I find that attaching the bottom board first works best. (Be sure to use a level to confirm it’s straight)

3. Then attach the left and right boards

4. Lastly, attach the top board

I personally prefer to use my nail gun for projects like these. However, if you don’t have a nail gun, a hammer works just fine.

These pictures really don’t do this wall justice. Here’s one more shot from a distance. Ignore all the stuff…this was before the basement was put back together…

Not sure that’s much better…sorry!! You’ll have to take my word for it…it’s very cool!

To wrap this up, you may be wondering why I removed a toilet, as I mentioned earlier…or maybe you forgot all about that. 🙂

In any case, I am redoing our guest bathroom and can’t wait to show you the final reveal, hopefully soon. But for now, this is what it looks like…

The floors have been sanded down, trim and door have been removed, and of course the infamous toilet is gone…for now. We will be putting that back in. 🙂

What project have you tackled lately? Any off-the-wall ones? Would love to hear what you’re up to or if you have any questions, just hit reply.

Until next time, have a great week!!

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