courtsey of Cottage Living

1. Pour 1 cup of acrylic latex paint, in the color of your choice, into a clean, 1-gallon bucket.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix into the paint, and mix until the paint is smooth and clump-free. (Use plain grout mix without added pigments to prevent color shifts. We used a kitchen whisk to mix our paint.) Repeat the mixing process until you have enough paint to complete your entire project.

3. If necessary, prepare the wall with a light sanding or priming. Apply the chalkboard mixture to any paintable surface with a roller or brush. (We used two coats of our chalkboard paint to build up a thick surface.)

4. Allow the paint to completely dry, then sand the surface with fine sandpaper until you achieve a texture that accepts chalk. Next, “color” the surface with the wide part of a piece of white chalk to get a chalkboard-like patina.

5. Wipe away excess chalk with a damp cloth.

An interesting twist on the backyard shed, albeit expensive…Modern Shed

For those who know me, they know that I do not advocate ‘green’ products simple for the sake of ‘green.’  Yet, all else being equal, then why not? 

 This company, PaperStone Products, manufactures a stone-like product from post-consumer recycled paper.  It can be used pretty much anywhere natural stone is used – like counters, thresholds, etc.  Interesting.

I am.  For me, visiting an Ikeastore is similar to a trip to Barnes and Noble.  I always leave with more ideas than I entered with.  Its like a brainstorm factory.   Unfortunately since the nearest Ikea store is over 300 miles away in Atlanta I don’t get to visit very often.

For you Ikea fans out there, here are a few great websites to check out:

• Ikeafans– excellent resources for all things Ikea, check out the user forums
• Ikea Hacker– GREAT blog featuring nifty Ikea modifications, this one is on my daily read list
• Ikeahacker Instructables