Guest Post Series: Jennifer Claire from Memento Designs Shares Her Latest DIY Project – A Pantry Door Makeover!

So thrilled to be a guest blogger on A Well Dressed Home. Emily is a treasured friend and a highly appreciated “design counsel” of mine. Together we transformed my master bedroom a few months ago and had a blast. As usual, I recently jumped head first into yet another DYI project…this time a pantry door makeover.

The DIY story goes a little something like this:  My husband and I purchased our home in a complete state of trashed-out disarray. We gutted it. Remodeled it. Made it our own and left only 2 things original to the house: the guest bathroom tile (I love) and the pantry doors (I don’t love). We put off replacing the doors because they are not standard size and therefore have to be custom made, which = $$$$.

Time passed and finally I decided to make these old, thrifty doors my next DIY adventure.  The outcome is super functional and definitely adds character to our kitchen space. While I took a vintage-whimsy approach to my chalkboard, you can tackle this project with any sort of design aesthetic in mind. Just remember…like most DIY endeavors, you just gotta go for it.

Before: plain. boring.

After: a conversation piece. a place to hang inspiration, make daily reminders and express what’s on your mind.

How can you create your own magnetic chalkboard wall? It’s actually quite easy and here’s how:

Supplies:
Magnetic Paint (Lowe’s)
Chalkboard Paint  (Lowe’s)
Paint brushes- one foam roller for smooth surfaces and a few “detail” brushes
Painters tape (if you want to be exact)
Paint for the vintage frame in the colors of your choice; I picked up a few from Joann’s.

Step 1:
Clean your surface thoroughly to make sure the paint adheres properly.

Step 2:
Begin by applying a layer of the magnetic paint. A minimum of 2 coats is required but I recommend 3 thin coats. Let dry for one hour.

Step 3:
Apply your chalkboard paint. Again, 3 thin coats is the way to go. Allow a minimum of 1 hour to dry. If you want to paint over the chalkboard paint with another color, no problem- allow 4 hours for the chalkboard paint to dry and then apply your next coat of latex paint.

Step 4:
Painting the ornate frame border. This frame was a total free hand collaboration that my good friend David and I joined forces on. So fun.

You can see below that it started with just a solid border. We allowed about 30 minutes drying time and then painted went on to the second layer-  the gilded detailing in a dark grey/gold color. We even smudged it with our finger tips a bit to achieve a very rustic, soft whimsy effect.

More photos below of the final DIY creation. Perfect for the eternal graffiti artist like myself or the mom who can’t keep her kids from writing on the walls! Everyone should have their own life size art board.

Emily, you rock and thank you so much for allowing me to share my latest project! Enjoy!!
- Jennifer Claire, Memento Designs

Yet another amazing project by Jennifer Claire! Your new pantry doors look great! I just love adding personal touches like this to make a house a home…I’ve done my share of transformations to our home as well! Thank you so much, Jennifer!

By the way, if you want to see another amazing DIY project by Jennifer Claire…check this out!

- Emily