I recently painted a small hallway wall with 3 coats of magnetic primer followed by 2 coats of chalkboard paint (rustoleum brand). The paint is not smooth as I had hoped... the magnetic bits in the primer create a texture. Other things I've learned: 1) anti-dust chalk is not, in fact, anti-dust; 2) Crayola chalk seems to work well... we started with another brand our local toy store carries and the marks it left were very faint; 3) cover the whole wall with chalk and then erase it before writing anything, to "season" the paint; and 4) you will need very strong rare earth/neodymium magnets to hold anything on the wall. Regular magnets stick to the wall, but put a piece of paper in between the wall and the magnet, and no dice.

It's a cool idea to have a chalkboard back splash with cool mural but I would worry constantly about it getting rubbed against by pots and pans etc.

I bought the magnetic chalkboard paint and plan on painting a wall in my kitchen next weekend....I'll report back!

I painted the top portion of a kitchen door with chalkboard paint. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we ended up painting over it. It was always messy. I suggest you live with a small space first to see if you can stand the generally grungy look. It always looks so cool on decorator shows and in magazines. But, if you remember back to school, the chalk boards were never very nice except just after they were washed. Hope it works out for you.

For a lower commitment look, take a look at the wallies website. They have peel and stick chalkboard squares that go on in a second and work really well. Think of it as a low cost test run for the chalkboard paint!

Wouldn't you get chalk dust in your food?

I imagine they sealed the mural with a clear topcoat if they wanted to keep the design.

I'm planning on painting my ugly tile fireplace surround with chalkboard paint. I figure it'll look like slate if I get tired of doodling on it.

(At any rate, it'll look better than beige floor tiles around a fireplace.)

we have a small area of the kitchen done in chalkboard paint and it looks tight! we'd totally be unable to function without it now. enough room for fun and festive holiday/birthday/special occasion decorations and notes, plus digits and shopping lists.

i'm definitely going to do the backsplash, too, now that you mention it. the "splashing" of the water should make it an interesting place for "found" art. thanks for the inspiration!