apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yikes.

So, question, yes, a question. How does one go about repainting, as in painting over chalkboard paint? I've heard horror stories about anti-graffiti paint and it's being unpaintable and wonder if chalkboard paint is the same way.

Is there any software out there that will filter out any blogs with the words "CHALKBOARD PAINT"?

normally I don't really like chalkboard walls, but for a children's book author/illustrator it would be insanely useful!

does anyone know if it comes in white and if it would support charcoal rather than chalk pleasantly? I'm not about to paint my walls, but I'm curious.

he is awesome. check out his books! i hate chalkboards but i'm not an artist. so for mo it's cool :)

Here's the one thing: nobody doesn't know about chalkboard paint. Here's the other thing: this is probably one of the more appropriate examples of chalkboard paint, except it's not a child's room like I thought, it's a dining room. But it's a children's author's dining room. But it's still chalkboard paint. And I know we've seen whole rooms done in chalkboard paint, and I know it was black not green, but it was chalkboard paint.

I will continue my plans to jot random thoughts and notes on my walls of regular paint, secure in the notion that it comes off with a blowdryer, and a moist, soapy rag. Or really get practical and just doodle on a pad. OK, we know about the chalkboard paint. Comes down to the fact that it doesn't matter if you're showing off the home of someone who actually matters - none of us, amirite? Does this report make it more or less special or relevant? It's paint, you can paint with it. WE KNOW.

nashdp and K T G: best comments all week. Now can you take on Keep Calm and Eames chairs?

dn - all research I've performed on this internet suggests you just have to prime over it and then go ahead and paint. If you are unfortunately moving into a space and have to get rid of the offender, that is how you do it. If you own a property and one of your tenants has left you with this mess, that is what you do. If you are toying with the idea of painting your rental with chalkboard paint and then repainting it back before you move out, that is how you get away with it.

foodefafa - as much as I've gleaned in the year's worth of articles on the topic (oh so many chalkboard paints), you can mix colors yourself, including white chalkboard paint, and chalk does come in black, as well as you must be aware, other colors. I cannot recommend charcoal. I would buy a cheap chalkboard and try out charcoal on it to see what happens, but it's two different things that sound like almost the same thing, you understand. Chalk is calcium sulfate in its dihydrate form and charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. I've also learned that there's such a thing as whiteboard paint. Neither chalk nor charcoal will work on this surface - you have to get special markers. The painting instructions will tell you whether it's the dry-erase kind or the wet-erase kind. It should tell you, maybe it wants you to guess.

thanks, KTG-- I usually skip over the chalkboard paint articles (in general, I share your sentiments) and was too sick/lazy to put much effort into looking it up.

and while chalk does come in black, I feel it leaves a rather different mark, particularly as I am fond of vine charcoal. as I lived with very large sheets of paper that would become my senior thesis tacked to the walls of my dorm room back in the day, I can attest that, for an artist, a wall is a very useful working surface. plus, I'd save a a lot (of trees and money) if I could doodle without paper, particularly the larger doodles that aid the creative process. in my dream studio (in my dream house/apartment) I would have a wall devoted to it, (painted or freestanding), kind of like this: http://www.davidbourguignon.net/writings/chalkboard-drawing.html