Rather than just using the same old chalkboard paint and a rectangle picture frame, I turned my attention to the cool, but worn mirror in our dining room. Making things chalkboard friendly with some simple coats of paint is nothing new in the crafter world. But with the ornateness of this frame, imagining this project seemed to have more personality. It felt even more right because the mirror was in terrible shape with lots of scratches and cloudiness that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard I scrubbed.
It was $5 at a garage sale, so that comes with the territory.
I wanted a vintage schoolhouse-y chalkboard green. After the first coat, the color came out looking more bold than what I imagined. I lived with the one coat for some time. I took an instagram poll of whether to keep with the green or switch to typical black. The feedback was almost perfectly split between the two choices!
I considered meeting in the middle and mixing some black paint with the green to get a darker, less bright shade. But then I didn’t. We need more color in this place. I went for full on green and I’m so happy I did. I know overtime, the chalky build-up will tone down the color too.
I’m still searching for some great dining chairs to refurbish. I really would love some thrifted bentwood or thonet ones that need some work. When we move out of this place one day, I hope we will be able to have the dining table set up with all its leaves fully expanded everyday. If I get four chairs now, I can mix it up with several more later. I think our table can seat like twelve at full capacity.
