Over the last week I have tackled alot of things in our new house that I have been wanting to work on, one of which was our refridgerator. There was nothing really wrong with it to start with, but its old, probably new when the house was built in 1992, and someone decided cover the lovely almond color with black as tastes and style changed, and it wasnt that great of a job.
Here is a pic of my fridge before. Yeah, that sort of chaos is how I roll.
So, I started looking for fun ideas to redo it, and since chalkboard is really "in" right now, I thought "Why not paint my ENTIRE fridge with chalkboard paint so the kids can just lose their minds coloring all over it??" :)
Hubby hated the idea, so naturally, I decided thats what I was doing. HA! I searched the internet and asked around, and finally found a tutorial that I thought was detailed enough that I wouldnt screw it up, and set off on my adventure. Well, needless to say Im not linking the tutorial...because though detailed and well documented with pictures, it left out several key points...and they are doozies...SO, I am writing my own. :)Supplies you will need:
fine grit sandpaper
DROP CLOTH (please for the love of all that is holy)
magnetic primer *I will tell you more about this later on -- but HAVE them SHAKE it in the paint shaker!!!
disposable paint rolling tray (trust me)
XYLENE!!! (to CLEAN up if you do decide to use magnetic primer)
dense foam roller and small roller tray (sold as a set at Lowes) and a extra pack of roller heads
small angled brush
painters tape
damp rag
Thats it. You are ready to begin! Pull out your fridge so you can easily reach all areas you want to paint. Lay out your drop cloth to cover at LEAST 2 ft. from the fridge!!! :) Now, use your fine grit sandpaper and gently sand the glossy sheen off of the area you are going to paint. I painted the whole fridge, but you could easily only do 1 side, or a section. Here is what mine looked like after I sanded.
Notice I didnt have a drop cloth. :( I had no idea what I was getting into. There will be quite a bit of dust...if you are sensitive to those types of things, please wear a mask...Next, wipe down the entire area with a damp rag to remove all sanding dust. I was NOT thinking straight, and used one of my favorite kitchen washcloths...(sigh) DONT do that...this is why...
After you have wiped the area down and it is dry, tape off the area to be painted. Our fridge has a weird silver framing, so I taped all of that off, and be SURE to tape off the rubber seal on the sides of the doors so they dont end up with paint on them, or worse, painted shut...lol. :) To do this, I opened the door and placed the tape on the outer edge of the seal, and then folded the tape around to the outside of the door.
after I taped off the framing and doors
close up of how I taped off the seal -- most newer doors wont have the stainless frame, so be sure you cover the whole seal if you plan on painting that area of the door as well!!!
So, now you have sanded, and taped off -- you are ready to start painting!!! Or are you??? :)
I want to take a minute to talk about my newest arch enemy. If the devil himself decided to invent a paint, it would be called magnetic primer. It is the most wreched stuff on the PLANET...and a HUGE mess... so just be aware of that going in...The tutorial that I used used it, so I did...thinking that my fridge would no longer hold magnets if I didnt. But now that I have done it, and used a bit of the primer on another project just to test it, I dont THINK its totally necessary -- I am under the impression that it was used simply because the chalkboard paint suggested you could use it...NONE of the other tutorials I looked at since had used it...so if you want to avoid a major mess, skip it. (my thought process is if you skip it, that the fridge probably only has 1 to 2 coats of spray finish from the factory, you sand 1 off -- then paint 3 coats -- thats 4 coats of paint a magnet has to adhere through --- if you USE it, you still have 3 coats the magnet has to go through...so I really think its unnecessary)
Now, if you DO decide you ARE going to use it...there are several things I will mention. 1)buy the clean up supplies and wear GLOVES!!! I did NOT...I had not a clue how messy the process was going to be, and ended up being completely BLACK from fingertips to elbows for 2 days -- and getting it off of my sink was a nightmare...my poor dish soap bottle is still wearing a magnetic coat ;)
2) magnetic primer is HEAVY, and seperates like a MUTHA...have them shake it for you in the paint shaker at the store and use it RIGHT AWAY...and still stir the can in between coats...I ended up with a heavy, thick, nasty goo at the bottom of my can when I was all done...I thought I had done something wrong.3) its super gritty. if you want your chalkboard to have a smoother, more uniform finish, skip it.
I DO NOT have any pictures of me actually working on this project from here on out...because I made the mistake of underestimating my enemy and didnt wear gloves, so I didnt want to risk ruining my camera...or touching anything for that matter. :) I can tell you that the primer should be a consistant, matte, dark grey color. Wearing gloves, use the disposable tray, and a dense foam roller to do 3, thin, even coats of the primer over the area you are working on. Use the angle brush to do edges and corners that are not reachable with the roller. Allow 30 min. of drying time between each coat -- and dont forget to be SURE to STIR the primer between coats as well!!!
Once you have finished with the primer, and disposed of the nasty tray and roller head (you're welcome), and cleaned your angled brush, allow the primer to sit overnight to dry and cure. It did not say that you had to in the directions on the can, but it definately worked out to let it sit.
When you are ready to chalkboard (or if you are bypassing the primer), get a fresh roller head, and shake the paint. When you open it, it will look NAVY BLUE. :) It dries black...no worries :) I thought it was just me that thought it looked blue till my 2 year old daughter came in and said "pretty blue, Mom!" hahahaha!!!
You are going to want to do 3 thin coats of the chalkboard paint, being sure to use the angled brush to get edges and corners that the roller cant reach. It goes on easy, and fairly smooth, just be sure to not leave hard "edges" by pressing your roller too hard. Clean up is super easy too...soap and water cleans the tray, hands,brush and roller well. :) Allow to dry for a few hours and then remove the tape!!! You now can scribble notes and let the kids go to town coloring on your NEW chalkboard creation!!! :) ENJOY!
my NEW finished chalkboard!!! (after this project, WINE should be on that list ;)
