Monday, July 9, 2007

C-Ville Weekly, ABODE, July 2007

Let’s play scribble
How to make any surface into a chalkboard

If your kids (or you, for that matter) can’t stop doodling on the walls, and you’re sick of scrubbing their masterworks off the satin-finish paint, devote a space to homegrown and temporary art by employing chalkboard paint. The stuff is made for virtually any surface, including wood, metal and plastic—even glass.

Buy chalkboard paint from any hardware or arts supply store. Then prep the surface as you would any other painting project. The final step is paint. Voila: instant canvas.

Benjamin Moore makes an acrylic-based chalkboard paint, while Rust-Oleum has a latex version. One quart is about $14. If you want the chalkboard to be magnetic too, simply slather the surface first with a magnetic paint undercoating. Or buy MagnaMagic’s two-in-one magnetic chalkboard paint. One quart covers 25 square feet and costs about $40.

Having your own in-house chalkboard allows you to write all of those things you were afraid to scribble on the Downtown Mall’s Free Speech Monument. Feeling like a censor? Removing the magnetic chalkboard altogether is also easy: Just sand it down and paint over it.—J.P.

Source: July 2007 C-Ville Weekly, ABODE Supplement

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