Living in an old farmhouse with so much charm has been really fun.  Our home has crown molding throughout, amazing old wood doors, large baseboards and old windows.  While the windows are really fun and add to the charm of our house they don’t bode well for keeping the house warm in the winter or cool in the summer as they are all painted shut.  More and more houses in our neighbourhood are removing the old windows and putting in new more energy efficient windows.  We haven’t gotten there yet but it will definitely be in our future.

When walking by our neighbours house recently I noticed that he had old windows sitting in his driveway which looked like he was getting rid of.  The next time I saw him outside I may or may not have run over and asked if I could have his windows.  And just like that I became the owner of 3 beautiful and rustic wood windows just begging to me made into something for my house.  My husband was less than pleased that I had yet another project on my list but I knew the end result would be fabulous because any excuse to make a chalkboard I am happy with.

I started the project by cleaning the window really well.  I have learned in the past that if there is anything on the glass the paint has a hard time sticking to it and the chalk will just scratch the paint right off.  Normally I would use chalkboard spray paint but since I had some leftover chalkboard paint from making the kids desk and it is a pretty raspberry colour I thought it would be perfect for making this project pop.

 

Since I wanted to add cork board to the window as well I knew that I didn’t need to paint the whole thing.  I wanted the majority of the window to be chalkboard so I just measured the width of my cork board, which I got in a 4 pack at Target, and painted just beyond that point.  The glass needs two coats of paint for full coverage, this is after the first coat of paint.  I learned the hard way on this project that you have to follow the directions and wait the whole 4 hours between coats.  I jumped the gun and ended up having a circle rub off.  Thankfully I was able to fix it and you don’t even notice it in the finished product.

When you have an office in your living room you try to reduce the amount of clutter on and around your desk.  This project was perfect for my desk because it gave me a place to keep track of pending pattern tests and blog posts as well as the reference material for the pattern design course I am taking!!!

I love having a little command central at my desk that is not only helpful but also fun and funky addition to the decor.

 

This was a really fun and easy project to complete that adds so much to the space once you are done.  This same application can be done using a picture frame or even an old door it just takes a little bit of chalkboard paint and some cork board pieces and you are set.  I already have plans swirling in my head for the other two windows.

Do you like to take materials that are meant for the dump and repurpose them for your home?  Checkout some of my other refashions on the blog where I do just that.