Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Chalkboard Drawers



Are you all organized but can never quite remember what is in which drawer? Keep changing the contents of drawers and can't keep up with the labelmaking? My friends, chalkboard drawers are the answer. I finished this project a few months ago and am excited to finally be sharing it with you! Better late than never, right?

I can't take all the credit for this, I did get the idea from the master.

Start out with plain, smooth wood drawers, mine are from Ikea.



Bring in a can of chalkboard paint. I prefer the spraycan chalkboard paint, partly because it's easier and also because it is a lot cheaper! Since it is spray paint though, you'll want to do this project outside if possible.



Mask off the rest of the drawer to keep it clean and give you a nice clean edge all the way around. Be sure to mask the edges of the open notch with tape and also to seal it off so you don't end up getting spray paint inside the drawer. Stuffing a bit of tissue or something in there works pretty well.

Alternately, you could just go all out, painting every surface of the drawer, inside and out. It won't look any different when the drawers are closed but could be a neat effect with the drawers open.





Add as many coats as you'd like, letting them dry in between. I found I needed at least five coats to give it the nice deep black that I wanted.



Let dry completely, pick up some chalk and label away! It is a little easier to write on the drawers when they're vertical so you might want to label first, fill later.

4 comments:

  1. Haha, "the master". Nice.

    Yes, these are just what I need! And I even have that exact chalkboard spray paint AND an unfinished drawer unit like that from IKEA. Perfect timing, too since I'm about to start re-doing my studio. :)

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  2. labeling boxes like these would solve half of my organizational problems! but i have a nasty habit of letting things out of their boxes and mixing with the others. i think i'm destined to just be disorganized. super job - yours look great!

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  3. Erin-You should totally do it! You'll love them.

    Sarah-Thanks! :)

    Aimee-I'm not terribly organized myself! I tend to let things get pretty messy, so I'm hoping the drawer labeling will help me out with that ;)

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