Drawing table

As the house renovations progress outside, finally I feel as though I can start to dream about tackling the interior of this house. Redecorating, organising and finding places for things. Last weekend we had to clear out the spare bedroom for some work to be done there. It's where I'd been keeping all the artwork to go on the walls. I so miss having the paintings, prints, antique samplers and vintage mirrors up on the walls. The house seems so bare without it, but it'll have to wait a while longer.

The first room to be tackled is Amelie's bedroom and so I've been looking for ideas wherever I go. Just before Christmas we all went for coffee, hot chocolates and milkshakes at a nearby cafe. It's a retro, shabby-chic kind of place and brilliantly one of the tables we sat at had been painted with blackboard paint. There was a little pot of chalks and Amelie was happily entertained. She has been using an old Ikea coffee table as a drawing table in the studio. I thought this would be perfect for the blackboard treatment.

Here's my apprentice all ready with her apron. As you can tell from the background, it really is chaos here at the moment!

The little chair was to get the treatment too. First we had to wash off the paint that Amelie had added one day...

We used Annie Sloan chalk paint which is perfect for the lazy decorator as no prep is needed and it's waterbased so clean up is easy, luckily. We painted the legs and sides of the table and the frame of the chair.

It says on the tin that one coat is often enough, but we found that two was better. Once the white was dry, and Amelie was in bed, I painted the top with blackboard paint. It takes two coats with a light sand between, but it water based and really easy to use.

It dried overnight and was put to the test first thing the next day. It's going to be perfect up in her room! Like the idea, but don't have a small table to use? Why not frame a piece of MDF or hardboard painted with blackboard paint to make a funky drawing board for a child's bedroom? Or perhaps you could upcycle an old wooden tray, that'd be just perfect too.

Thanks for dropping by,
Laura
xx