Magnetic Chalk Wall

We are busy finishing our new studio and I was keen to make use of a small corner for organising paperwork and brainstorming. I have previously used a whiteboard for this kind of thing, but in my new studio space I wanted something more fun and creative!

I have a corner which is underused and it pretty much out of sight to the rest of the studio space. The perfect location for a magnetic chalk wall! I love mind-maps and doodling and often run out of area on a whiteboard. I also wanted an area where I could combine text and photos, so I set to work....

I resisted using a combined magnetic chalk paint as I have read they are not too strong so opted for a base of magnetic paint and painted the chalk paint on top.

I masked out an area for the magnetic paint, as I didn't need the entire wall to be magnetic. AS it is a very thick paint, which requires a number of coats, I masked off the area to achieve a neat line, although it is barely visible with the chalk paint on top.

I researched the best paint to use and opted for Smarter Surfaces Magnetic Paint. It is dark grey when dry so an ideal base for black chalk paint. This paint needs to stirring VERY well! I applied with a small soft-pile roller and in total used four coats.

I then masked off the entire wall and applied two coats of Wilko's chalkboard paint. It is one of the least expensive paints of this type, but it has excellent coverage and provides an excellent surface for chalking.

Although the surface is ideal for standard chalk, which wipes off easily, it is not recommende you use chalk pens on it as it they be difficult to remove. I did use chalk pens for titles that I wanted to keep. They will mostly rub off but the wall won't be completelty black after. I do have some chalk paint left over for tidying up these areas at a later date. I found these lovely earthy colours by Chalkola.

We're thrilled with the result, it is such a fun, creative addition to the studio, but as you can see, we have competition from a certain 7 year-old!