Chalkboard Love…easy DIY!

So, welcome to my pantry. I NEVER EEEEEEEVER show this counter top to aaaaaanyone. Why? Because it’s the biggest catch-all surface in our house. We’re talkin’ piles of mail, receipts, bobby pins, pennies, phone messages, school papers, ummm ya. It’s shameful. Yesterday I decided it was time to take my pantry back. For cuteness.

First problem. The memo board hanging above this counter was only adding to the mess. So, goodbye messy board. I had a vision of a huge chalkboard that could list the meals for the week. Ok, don’t laugh. I said it could LIST the meals for the week. I didn’t say I was going to COOK them. But hey, this just might inspire me to get domestic.

Which brings me to the second problem. This huge chalkboard I was envisioning. Uhhh, let me check. Nope, don’t have one of those laying around. What I DID have was an old automotive oil drip pan. I picked it up at a cute sale months ago for just a few bucks…wasn’t sure what I would do with it, until today. I taped the edges off with painter’s tape, and using a foam roller, I rolled on a couple coats of chalkboard paint, well 3 to be exact. The whole process only took about 30 minutes, since the sun was out and the paint dried quickly. Voila. Super cute, huge chalkboard. Hardly any investment.

See that grey box on the floor? I put casters on it, and it will be the perfect catch-all for my work stuff. There’s another one on the right side as well, and that one stores the sports drink stash for my teenage son. Because sports drink is not cute. And I’m taking my pantry back for cuteness.

Ok this Mercantile sign. Could it be aaaaaany more perfect in this spot? This was made by my sweet friend Jenny, at Down Grace Lane (If you’re not on Instagram, her Etsy shop is called byjenn2007). I love the crisp, clean look of it.

I sewed the window valance a few months back, using fade-proof outdoor fabric on a tension rod. I’m not much of a seamstress, but this was so basic. I created a pattern out of construction paper, to get the shape right, then just cut it out and stitched it up! Sewing machines are so user-friendly these days. If I can figure it out, ANYONE can. Once you get the needle threaded. And the bobbin threaded. And the iron set up. And you find your just-for-fabric scissors (your kids used them to cut 100 pieces of construction paper). And then you take a quick bathroom break so you can focus on your project. Oh, and just change the load of wash over real quick. But ya, sewing is so easy.

Before you think I’m so super organized and my pantry is perfect, I must admit, there’s one wall of ungreatness left in this room. Directly behind me is a freezer and lots of shelves with welllll, we’ll leave that for another time. Maybe next year. For now, I’ll enjoy THIS side. The side I’m taking back for cuteness.