Chalkboard paint can turn any surface (and space) into a creative playground. It can be used to make fun party backdrops, a creative space on your child’s play-table or even a neat way to keep the family all up to date with a chalkboard wall in the kitchen. Besides saving money, one of the best benefits of mixing your own chalkboard paint is you can mix any color your heart desires. This tutorial shows you how to make the best chalkboard paint by mixing simple ingredients that you may already have lying around the house! We will be painting a flat board to use as a backdrop for family get togethers. When you are planning out your chalkboard project, don’t limit yourself to walls– table tops, flower pots and other kinds of furniture make great chalkboard paint canvases too!

How to make the best chalkboard paint at home:

Supplies You Need:

Matte latex paint – color of your choosing
Non-Sanded tile grout (powdered)
Paint roller
150 Grit Sandpaper (this is for smoothing your surface if needed)
Something to mix the pain with
Mixing container
Chalk

Step 1:

Before you start mixing your chalkboard paint, clean the surface you are about to paint. You may need to sand down some rough spots, so be sure to wipe the surface down to remove any dust. This will help the paint adhere to the surface better as well as make your paint job last longer.

Making Chalkboard Paint at Home — Start by cleaning the surface you are going to paint. Wipe it down to remove any dust so the paint will properly adhere to the surface as well as last longer.

Step 2:

Let’s start mixing! The chalkboard paint mixture doesn’t store as well as regular paint and will start to harden, so you’ll want to mix small batches at a time to reduce waste.

If you’re not sure how much to mix for the size of your surface, a helpful rule to follow is a ratio of one part grout to eight parts paint.

Our surface measures in at 2′-8″ x 4′ so we mixed up 1 cup of paint and 2 tbsp of grout. We were able to get two solid coats out of this amount!

Best Chalkboard Paint | Making Chalkboard Paint at Home — Pour the paint into your mixing canister first.

Step 3:

Once you’ve mix your paint well, grab your brush and start painting! We used a roller for our application process, so we dumped our mixture into a small painting pan. If you’re using a foam brush, just dip the brush directly into your mixing bowl and start painting.

Step 4:

Now, we wait. Before you do anything else to your surface, you’ll need to let it dry

Step 5:

You’ll need to condition (kind of like seasoning) your newly painted chalkboard before you can actually use it as a chalk board. To do this, grab a piece of chalk and rub it across the surface and then wipe it off with a slightly damp paper towel.