I love to encourage my little girl to draw and be creative as much as possible.
I looked into those paper and markers that only work with each other….wow they would get expensive. Plus they’re about the size of printer paper. That’s not enough space for a little girl to let her imagination run wild! She needs a BIG canvas.
So a couple of weeks ago my husband came home with this dingy crayon covered coffee table. Yuck! I will admit, it sat in the garage for a while before I realized what I would use it for.

After a day just hanging around the house I looked over at her sidewalk chalk and remembered how much she loves to decorate our driveway. Then it just hit me! Chalkboard table! What’s better is it’s something that she can grow with. I know she’s a toddler now, but when she’s in school this table would be perfect for notes, homework, reminders, the possibilities are endless!
Not to mention it will work with almost any decor depending on how you paint it.

Right now she has been happily drawing for an hour and letting her imagination run wild. What’s more is that chalk is …… Drum roll….. Easy to clean up!

Even if you don’t have children this table would be great for college and high school students. Not to mention for adults too! A coffee table you can write on when you REALLY need to remember something or just like to doodle. Don’t forget those annoying moments when you need to write something down but can’t find a pen or paper.

Endless possibilities and uses!
Have Fun!

!!UPDATE!!

I’ve decided to add detailed tutorial for how to make this table. Seems it’s getting pretty popular!

What you will need:

• A table (any table will do however there will be a slight changes in painting depending on a few variables).
• Primer
• Sander (you can also just use sandpaper or a sanding block. I just used a cheap sander purchased from Lowe’s)
• Paint (in any color you want… this is optional)
• Painters Tape (you will want to keep the chalkboard paint where it belongs so it doesn’t run or drip anywhere).
• Paint remover (if you need it)

Directions:

1. If the table is painted you will want to follow the directions on the paint remover container to take off the paint. Alternatively you can also use to painters tape to section off the area that will be painted with chalkboard and remove the paint from that area. You don’t want to put chalkboard paint over pre-existing paint.
2. Sand that sucker! If you have no paint on the table then skip step one. You will want to sand the area to be painted. If your painting the entire table then sand the entire table. If it’s already bare wood and doesn’t need sanding then you can skip this too (I build furniture and if it’s a table I would have built then the sanding would be unnecessary, already sanded it before and after building.) You can do this with a veneer or as I call them “faux wood” tables as well, you just really need to sand it if the paint is going to stick. Don’t want bubbles or any other imperfections, well, you want to at least avoid them. If you have a “faux wood” table and don’t intend on painting the entire thing then just use painters tape to section off the area to be chalkboarded and sand that area.
3. Prime! If your painting the entire table then prime the entire table. Just a section? Then prime that section. This part is pretty simple. Let that dry all the way. The container will say how long, every primer is different.
4. Paint! Now, there are a few different ways to go about this. If your going to be painting the table in part chalkboard and part regular paint then you will want to do the regular paint first. Use painters tape to mark off where the chalkboard paint will go. I actually did not do this because the lighter paint I used was applied with a brush and I didn’t think I would need to section it off. The paint dripped a little so I would recommend taping it off to avoid that. If you’re using spray paint as the color then you will want to use paper or cardboard or drop cloth and painters tape to keep the chalkboard area free of paint. Not painting the whole thing? Then the section to be chalkboarded should already be marked off. If it is then skip to 5.
5. CHALKBOARD! This is the fun part. Once the regular paint is dry (if you painted). Tape off the area around the area to be chalkboarded so you don’t get chalkboard paint anywhere but where you want it. If you didn’t paint then, again, it’s already taped off for you. You will want to put on a few layers. I put on 3, however I would recommend 4-5 thin coats. Thin coats dont bubble, drip, or run like thick coats do. Make sure you follow the instructions for multiple coats on the can. Mine was 30 minutes in between each layer I believe. I waited an hour just to be sure. Then you wait a full 24 hours to completely dry (believe me you WANT to make sure it’s completely dry before you even touch it with chalk).
6. Remove the tape! Right now you can either enjoy what you’ve made or you can take a 220 sheet of sandpaper and gently sand down the very edge of the chalkboard so it blends a little better into the table and doesn’t have any raised up bits. You will also want to GENTLY sand the entire chalkboard area to remove any bumps.

Seems like a lot. It’s not really, just a couple different ways you can do it depending on your style and what you’re doing. I wanted to cover the different ways.

Enjoy the tutorial!