I’ve already confessed that I am no Jenny (of Little Green Notebook). But I had a great idea for my closet that prompted a little do-it-yourself … tzd style!
If you are facing the entrance of my closet (from the inside), there’s a tiny little space to the left of the door that is occupied only by a light switch. I had hung a little – and I mean really, really little - ribbon memo board above the light switch so that I could stick up photos, memorabilia, and little odds-and-ends. Obviously, the board couldn’t hold much … but I figured it was better to use that space for something rather than nothing.
But then I had a brainstorm and decided to use …
Rust-Oleum Magnetic Primer! Have you heard about magnetic primer before? Most of the buzz you read is about chalkboard paint this, and chalkboard paint that. Well, I am just too much of an allergic neat freak to tolerate chalkboard dust. But a magnetic bulletin board – now, that’s no mess, no fuss … and, like a diy chalkboard, you can use every last inch of your space!
Here’s how easy it is – slap the primer up on the wall and paint over it with any color you fancy. That’s it … and voila!
So what do you think? It’s the black space to the left of the French doors. Now I can use the entire space, from baseboard to overhead shelf, to post anything I please. You can see a few things that I’ve put up already – pictures of my precious goddaughter, a Chanel ad that I think is just fabulous, and a Polaroid from long ago.
Can’t you imagine all kinds of uses for this magnetic board project? I would totally use it in a child’s playroom, in a mudroom or other main “family” entry to the house, or even a wall in a kitchen. If you don’t want to do an entire wall, but instead a defined area, you could frame it out with inexpensive pieces of molding. Super cute way to get organized … and cheap!
I do have a few little tips to make it even easier and more successful. First, the Rust-Oleum packaging suggests that three thin coats are better than two thick ones. This only makes sense really – you need the tiny, tiny pieces of metal in the primer to be spread as evenly as possible over your surface. Without the little pieces of metal in a particular area, your magnet won’t stick. For that reason, I used five thin coats of paint. In my space, the magnets are sticking really well, although you still can’t use a super-heavy magnet (like a clip-style magnet). But it is more than sufficient for holding up photos and magazine tear sheets. Also, you can paint any color you want over the magnetic primer, which makes the wall surface magnetic and able to blend into any surrounding space. As you might imagine, however, the primer is a dark gray … so if you go for a light color, it will likely require more than a few coats. Because I already have black French doors at the entry to my closet, I just decided to do my “magnet board” black as well. I ran to Home Depot and purchased a Behr Premium Plus Ultra sample size ($2.99!), mixed up in Ralph Lauren Bone Black. That little jar did the trick for my small space!
Are you going to try this diy project in your own home? I’d love to see your photos! You can send them to me at traci@tracizeller.com or upload them to my Traci Zeller Designs fan page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/tracizellerdesigns).
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