White Tulip Designs » Inspiration, Design, and DIY for all of life's events.

Here’s a bit of inspiration to get you organized for the new year.

This is one of my favorite parts of my kitchen but the funniest thing for me is that men think it’s the most genius thing ever!  Obviously my plumber isn’t as addicted to Pinterest as I am! LOL!  We had a bit of a problem with dumping lunchboxes, purses, book bags, mail, you name it on the counter and I new I needed to create an alternative “dumping” ground in the new kitchen design.

When my contractor was building the wall, I had him add a brace behind where the hooks would be hung to be sure that it would stand up to heavy book bags, purses, jackets, etc. without any problem. I painted out the entire wall using Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint with 2 coats. Then I seasoned it by dragging a large piece of white chalk over the entire surface before erasing it. Since the board is so large, I actually did this twice to be sure I covered everything.

After I was happy that I had completely seasoned the surface and erased it completely and washed it with a wet rag then, my contractor put up the Ikea shelf and hooks.  As he put up the trim throughout the kitchen contractor Tim and I discussed how we could finish the chalkboard wall. He came up with the plan to frame it above the baseboard and below the crown moulding, just like a picture.

I love it! It’s so fun and it keeps us from having a counter top covered with “stuff” at the end of the day. The ledge is a great place to put things that need to be remembered, coupons, etc.  And, we can leave notes and lists for the day as well.

FYI - when it’s time for a change, all I need to do is remove the frame trim, prime, and paint! It will be quite some time before I’m ready for that.

Here’s more of the kitchen, if you missed it: Kitchen Reno Tour.

Linking up over at Metamorphosis Monday