Tutorial on Magnetic Chalkboard Wall

We have several Chalk board walls in our home: one in baby room & one in kitchen. We LOVE them. We get a lot of questions about our chalkboard walls from family and friends, so we decided to do a tutorial for ya’ll, so you can create your own chalkboard wall! Give us feed back if it was helpful.

Magnetic Chalkboard Wall

There are two options to create a chalkboard wall. You can paint directly on the wall (what we did) or you can cut, measure, and paint a piece of pile wood. If you want a smooth surface, I suggest you do the latter. If you are like us and you are too lazy to take those extra steps like us (lol). In this tutorial, we are showing you the lazy easy way. Creating a chalkboard wall isn't hard to do. It can be very time consuming though. Allocate at least three days to complete.  If you want it to be magnetic, then add another day.

Project difficulty: Easy as pie!

Project duration: 3-5 days (depends on you) It could take you longer if you have a large area you will be painting. Also, if you want it to be magnetic, it will take longer.

Things you will need for this project:

1. Paint brush
2. Mini Roller & Pan
3. Big Roller
4. Drop cloth
5. Magnetic Paint ( We used Rust-Oleum)
6. Chalkboard paint ( We used Valsper)
7. Painter’s tape
8. Tape measure
9. 2 Stir sticks
10. Rags
11. Pencil
12. Hand held Paint Pan
13. Regular roller paint pan
14. Gloves
15. Can opener

Step 1: Preparing the Area

First, you have to measure with the tape measure where you want the chalkboard to be and mark off with the pencil. Then tape it off with the painter’s tape. Next, wipe down the area with a rag to insure there is no dirt, lent, etc... on the wall it can potentially leave unpainted spots on the wall.

Step 2: Apply Magnetic paint (Read back of can)

First, mix the magnetic paint with a stir stick. Then pour paint into the Mini Roller pan. Roll unto side edges with mini roller. Next, use paint brush to get top and bottom edges (you can just use paint brush to do all the edging; however, we found that using roller to do side edges and paint brush to do top worked best for us). Then, pour paint into regular roller pan. Use a big roller to apply the magnetic paint to the rest of the area. Cover area completely with a thick coat. Let dry for about 2 – 4 hours (depends on how ventilated the area is). Repeat as many times as necessary. *We paint about four coats (until the can was empty). Remember, you are going to be putting about two coats of chalkboard paint over the magnetic paint. You want it to be strong enough to hold medium size magnets.

Step 3: Apply Chalkboard Paint

Apply chalkboard paint the same as applying magnetic paint. Except you have to let chalkboard paint dry at least 24 hours! Also, apply at least two coats. Make sure to remove tape while paint is still wet to prevent uneven lines.

Step 4: Enjoy!