Pallet for Home

Chalkboards from Cabinet Doors

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I've been asked how I painted these to get the distressed finish. I didn't take step by step pictures because I was super busy making Christmas gifts-too busy to blog. I went to Restore (the Habitat for Humanity thrift store) and bought a couple of plain, unfinished solid wood cabinet doors that were dying for a makeover. I'm kind of picky when it comes to the framing that I like. These were each only $5. The metal pieces you see on each side were in the drawer knob aisle, just random metal parts. Some were $0.10, others were $1. They were ugly metal, but I spray painted them black and then took some sandpaper to the edges to age them a bit.I used a paint called Green River for this one. I LOVE this color! It looks lighter in the picture because it was FREEZING outside and it fogged up my camera. ;)
After I painted the color, about 3 coats, I painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint in the center. I let it all dry overnight and then roughed up the edges with sandpaper. Then I took a bit of Valspar's antiquing glaze and wiped it quickly on and off the painted areas. You only do one side at a time, because you want to remove most of it before it gets soaked up. You're just looking to age it a bit, not turn the whole thing black.
After that, I added my metal pieces and the upside down drawer pull to hold the chalk, using Amazing E6000 glue. Keep it flat so that the pieces don't slide and let it dry overnight.
I am totally in LOVE with these, I keep searching for more materials each time I check out Restore. You never know what they'll have since it's all donated.

Labels: cabinet door, chalkboard paint