The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Even though I’ve been living in my flat for over two years now, I can’t stop thinking about little projects to make it ever more my own.  My new years resolution was to stop thinking about these ideas and actually get on with doing them!

Little details can make the place feel so much more homely and I decided to kick start the year by transforming the last available inches of space in my teeny kitchen into something practical and fun – a chalk memo board.

You Will Need…

Blackboard paint [available in most art shops]
A thick paintbrush
Masking tape
Thick ribbon
5 small nails/tacks
Hammer
Chalk
String

Step 1 – Masking.The hardest part of this project is probably trying to decide where to position your chalkboard. After much deliberation I settled for the kitchen, but might do one in the study too – handy for jotting down ideas and things to do. Once you’ve decided, mask out the area that you want to paint – if it’s near a door, window or cupboard make sure you leave enough room around the sides for the ribbon border.

Step 2 – Painting. Blackboard paint is surprisingly user friendly – it doesn’t smell, dries fast and washes easily out of brushes. Paint a smooth coat of the blackboard paint into the masked area. Allow to dry before painting on a second coat. When this coat is dry, gently peel back the masking tape.

Step 3 – Making the Border. I decided to use a thick fabric ribbon for mine, but alternates are to use an empty picture frame, or even paint a border around the edge.  Cut the ribbon into four strips, a little longer than each edge of your black square. Overlap the ribbon on the corners, and hammer in the tacks to hold in place.

Do the same for all 4 sides.

Step 4 – Attaching the Chalk. Cut a piece of string to roughly the height of the square. Tie one end around a stick of chalk and attach the other to the top corner of the chalkboard with the final tack.

Voila!

I couldn’t resist using the rest of the paint up to transform these plain Ikea storage containers in the same way. You could do these for numerous storage jars and create a striking display whilst also allowing you to know what’s inside each one.