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Communicative Decor for Busy Households

I remember when my family had dinner together nearly every night. There was plenty of time to talk about the day and plans for the next. But today it can get hectic, with busy household members squeezing in communication wherever they can. Maybe that's the draw of the chalkboard wall?...

 
 

...and whiteboard. And cork. And even the Post-It Note wall.

chalkboard images: 1: green52.org, 2: via Style Files, 3: Southern Living, 4: Look!: Chalkboard Painted Door, 5: Skona Hem

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organizing, paints, stains & finishes, inspiration, painting, fixing & repair, cork, chalkboard, whiteboard

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Comments (9)

i still really like the chalkboard idea when it's well executed.

posted by evamae on August 14th 2009 at 1:39pm
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Though I love everything else in the room (the mix of steel wall on one side, wood (?) on another, that rug! that ceiling!)... I just don't get the chalkboard wall! It just takes me back to school, when those chalkboards could just never really seem clean, and always just looked dirty to me.

posted by criv227 on August 14th 2009 at 1:44pm
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When I was 5 years old I thought it was a good idea to decorate the front door with crayon drawings, so the chalkboard wall has always been an A in my book - who doesn't want to be able to write on the walls and have it be OK?

posted by J Dandy on August 14th 2009 at 3:00pm
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i like the idea of a chalkboard wall if its executed properly too...and Criv227, depending on the decor of the rest of the room, I actually don't mind the dusty/dirty look of a chalkboard

posted by abc123 on August 14th 2009 at 4:41pm
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I just did the chalkboard door in my kitchen this summer and it is a great solution for busy families. I have kids of all ages in my house, as well as a husband, who forgets what I tell them need to be done in the house while I am doing my errands and tasks elsewhere. I just write it all on the board in the morning, they wake up and see it and it gets done! Some days there is a lot of stuff on the board, sometimes nothing - and I always leave space for creative expression...

posted by jgphotomom on August 14th 2009 at 4:57pm
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It bothers me too that you can usually see ghosts of previous notes. One can wash it off with water but now that's just another large surface needing to be washed.

We only had them in elementary school. In HS and now in Uni all my classes use white boards or Smart boards.

posted by tarsengreen on August 14th 2009 at 6:38pm
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I think the best part is that the chalkboard wall is never really clean and you can see ghost of the old notes. It gives it a subtle, mottled look that's more interesting than just flat black. Not that I would ever have this problem, but it keeps the room from being too pristine and perfect.

posted by elissa on August 16th 2009 at 7:43am
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elissa, i totally agree

posted by abc123 on August 16th 2009 at 11:48am
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chalkboard walls can be both tacky and very awesome depending on the application, IMHO.

I recently did the sliding barn door in my hard loft in chalkboard paint as it sits beside my home office in my hard loft and wanted to add some more visual texture to the otherwise all white walls and vintage furniture.

not only visually interesting but actually very useful (has all my work to dos and weekly calendar updated every two weeks).

I went one step farther though than normal chalkboard paint and wet sanded the wall about 6 times so the actual surface is super smooth like a real slate chalkboard.

next addition I'm planning on the same lines is a cork tile wall. I'm into the 60's office space type feeling as you can see in the pics :)

pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25843617@N00/sets/72157621940502383/

R

posted by rkuchinsky on August 17th 2009 at 10:59am
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