The Intersection of Design & Motherhood
Fridge works fine but it’s an eyesore? I love this brilliant fix from Danny Seo. All hail chalkboard paint!
Don’t you think Springtime brings out the DIY-instincts? All I want to do these days is make and redo and transform. But mostly, my desire to finish out these last 6 weeks of pregnancy eating ice cream and napping beats out my DIY instincts — thank goodness I can live vicariously through all the creative people on the internet. : )
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New to Design Mom? Here are 10 posts to get you started:
What to Wear To Middle School
Napoleon Dynamite
Our Birth Announcements
Potato Print Clothing
Having Another Child
Young Einstein Birthday Party
Little Red LightHouse Outing
Porch Makeover
Waving Goodbye To The Atlantic Ocean
Build Two Toddler Beds for $75
Pimp My Ride: Family Edition
We love coming up with fun valentines to make and give. Here are some of our favorites (many are candy free!):
3-D Lollipop Valentines - Easy! And a big hit.
Wild Animal Valentines - Family Fun Magazine requested my idea for their latest issue.
Mad Lib Valentines - Family Fun requested this idea too!
Friendship Bracelet Valentines
And here are a few more ideas I've featured over the years that I bet you'll love:
- Fresh Fruit Valentines
- Color Theory Valentines
- DIY Scratch Off Valentines
- Shaving Cream Valentines
- Mini Valentine Boxes
Here's something fun. Our family was featured in an episode of House Hunters International! Spoiler: we choose the gorgeous French Farmhouse. It's called La Cressonnière and we take pictures of it all the time. If you're curious, try these links:
The Kitchen
Summer at La Cressonnière
The Halfbath
The Stairwell
The Neighbors
Ralph's Bedroom
The Studio
Springtime at La Cressonnière
The Living Room
Maude's Bedroom
The Artists
Oscar & Betty's Bedroom
The Exterior
The Floors
Olive's Bedroom
The Treehouse
The House: La Cressonnière
I hope you enjoy the house tour! Oh. And if you'd like to see the episode, you can find it on Youtube here (it's in four parts).
I write a weekly column called Inspiration Scout on Cafémom. Find new posts on Thursdays.
I write a daily post (Monday through Friday) for Babble's Family Style blog.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
My friends and I had an apartment in college and we used to keep whiteboard markers in a little magnetic caddy on the fridge. Whenever we had company, we’d encourage our guests to leave a little note or drawing. Everyone loved it and usually signed something elaborately!!
i see so many projects online with chalkboard paint, but no one ever talks about the dust that it leaves behind. all i can ever think of, is the mess i will have to clean up. it’s cute in theory.
Believe it or not, I use dry erase markers directly on the surface of my fridge. I’ve done it for years. Sometimes I need windex to get it all off, but other than that I’ve never had a problem.
Looks totally cool and at the same time so practical!
Amazing! Mine would always say “eggs and goat cheese” on it too.
This is awesome, and saves paper. A very economical and green idea..
i love chalkboards in the kitchen!
I have a quart of chalkboard paint that I can’t decide what to do with… I can’t use it on the fridge, but I will find a place for it!
How fun!
We painted our ugly old cream fridge with chalkboard paint a few months back and I LOVE it! It looks SO much better than before. Also, Stephanie, it hasn’t caused a mess, at least in my home…
i dream of this fridge…
Um this fridge is amazing. I need to turn something into chalkboard.
super duper…..this may be a possibility for me….the fridge is on the blink!
adorable! i was just talking with a friend about how fun it would be to have a chalkboard wall. the fridge is brilliant!!
xoxo
http://bibliochicshop.blogspot.com/
I think it is a cute idea but looks cheap. How can a chalkboard fridge look good with granite counter tops, and other nice appliances? Even if you do black it only is cute for a while…I don’t like when people are too trendy…this will look ridiculous in a few years.
Wow! Now that is putting chalkboard paint to a use I would have NEVER thought of! Brilliant!
We did this to an old fridge once, but we left love notes and doodled silly ideas. The idea of a shopping list on the fridge is cute, but totally impractical as you have to write your list down again to take with you to the store! Oof.
Genuis!! Now to find the time to do it :)
I painted the sink backsplash in my kitchen with chalkboard paint. It’s been really handy!
So glad you posted this! I had this project earmarked quite a while ago, but had lost it! I love it, and the flat green would look great in my kitchen!
So happy to see the comments of Ashlea Walter and Stephanie. The way I see it, making a grocery list on a chalkboard which is fixed in your house is absurd. Particularly when it’s a fridge. Are you then going to drag that fridge to the store with you? In one magazine I saw a rangehood painted in chalkboard paint….chalk dust over cooking food? And why is it that everyone with a chalkboard in there kitchen is always in need of fresh herbs but never toilet paper? Sorry to be a party pooper…I just don’t understand the obsession.
Saw this a while ago and someone recommended chalkboard contact paper. Even better! We also did some doors and a few other spots around the house. Whole project took seven minutes. As far as the dust goes, I’ve been using the chalk markers and that has helped loads.
Thanks for the great comments everybody.
Heather, Ashlea, Stephanie — I hear you. It’s true that a grocery list would need to be transferred to another source (paper/iphone/etc) if you wanted to take it to the store. I think what people are excited about goes way beyond that. The grocery list idea is just one example of what one could do with a chalkboard fridge. How about a place for phone messages, a place for kids to doodle, a place to write down a recipe or idea that comes to you while you’re in the kitchen, a place to leave a love note for your sweetheart.
Certainly, it doesn’t appeal to everyone (what idea does), but if you’re stuck with an ugly refridgerator, this seems like a fun (and eco-friendly) option while you’re saving for an upgrade.
Oh……..yet another fabulous chalkboard paint idea I’d love to try!!
What a great idea – genius!
Yes, I love this… and the kids could draw on it, to liven it up a bit. Cute idea!
Brilliant!
I am in love. We have a downstairs kitchen close to our boys’ playroom, and the fridge in there is ugly anyway! This is a perfect idea–especially, since we’re all word-nerds in my home.