A Framed Magnetic Chalkboard

Happy Tuesday!

I wanted to be sure to swing by today to share this little big project of mine that I've had finished for a couple of months now...

Long story short, Henry needed a place in his room to practice his letters and words, draw pictures, more specifically to draw out his "garbage machines," as he would call them, all while being able to hang up his original works of art.

I immediately thought to myself, "magnetic chalkboard!"  The idea originally came from my sister's house, who, in her dining room, has half the wall painted with magnetic chalkboard paint.

It's pretty awesome and her kids love it!

I decided to make Henry a framed magnetic chalkboard so that we can move it around his room, especially since I have a slight case of OCD when it comes to furniture arrangement...in all rooms of the house...including his...I have problems...

Ahem.

Seriously though, I love this thing.  The kids love it, too!  It's so fun and soooo easy to make!

First of all, pick a size for your board.  I went with a 3x4 piece of plywood.  

There are smoother and lighter options out there.  Although, I needed specific dimensions and I wanted it to be large enough so that both kiddos could be drawing at the same time without have a sibling brawl for coveted space in front of the chalkboard. <insert nervous laughter here> ;)

Once you have your board picked out, be sure to check for staples or knots in the wood.  Find which side you plan to use.

You are now ready to paint - I highly suggest painting outside.

Like I said, this is a magnetic chalkboard, so I primed first with Rust-Oleum's Magnetic Primer Paint. I knew I'd be stirring quite a bit, so I put on safety goggles in case I stirred too quickly and some paint splatter got in my eye.  Safety first, right!?

This paint, after lots of stirring, should resemble the appearance of tar.  So stir, stir, stir.

I applied two coats of the Primer and let it dry.

After a couple hours, I applied the actual chalkboard paint, which was, Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint.  I was lucky to have some on hand over here, so I shook the can like I was preparing a martini, stirred it (despite what James Bond would have me do) and painted on two coats.

I needed a frame, so off to Home Depot I went.  While there, I spotted this barn wood.

Have you seen these?  

Have.You.Seen.These?!

Oh my stars, I was pumped - PUMPED, I say - to have found this barn wood in the store.  I knew I wanted these to be the framing around my newly painted plywood!

I had them cut to size by an employee at Home Depot.

Easy Peasy.

Luckily, Jon had bought me a nail gun for my birthday, so I had these boards nailed down in seconds.  Oh and can I just say how scary/fun it is to use a nail gun?!  It was intimidating, to say the least, but once you get going, it becomes exhilarating!  I'm sure Jon saw a side of me he's never seen before...

Think Tim the Toolman Taylor, with a ponytail.  Yeah.  Totally me.

Grunt and all.

Haha!

Okay, so - here it is!

Ta-Da!

What do you think?

Oh and here's some proof of my "nail gunning skills."  <---Yeah, it's a thing.

Stay tuned for a tour of Henry's bedroom, featuring this magnetic chalkboard!

Thanks for stopping by today, guys!

Marie :)

I'm linking over at at Totally Terrific Tuesday and Creative Gallery Link Party and Inspiration Gallery and Work It Wednesday.

*This post contains affiliated links.

Summer Home Tour - 2016

Hi guys and welcome to the Waterside Home Tour!

Today is an exciting day, because it's the first home tour that I've ever been asked to join as a participant of a week long home tour series!  Yay!  You guys, I couldn't be more thrilled...and not to mention, nervous!  I must say though, Emily, blogger extraordinaire over at Table and Hearth and designer/planner/architect of this amazing home tour series, has made me feel soooo comfortable amongst this amazing group of talented women.

Please be sure to join us throughout the week as we share our coastal homes, believe me, you'll be happy you did.  Oh and just to warn you, your Pinterest account will have several new pins...I can promise you that.  ;)

Monday, June 20

Table & Hearth 

The Happy Housie 

In My Own Style 

The Space Between 

DIY Passion 

Brian & Kaylor

Wednesday, June 22

Starfish Cottage 

Family and the Lake House 

What Meegan Makes 

Migonis Home 

Up to Date Interiors

Friday, June 24

Nina Hendrick
Simple Nature Decor

Shabbyfufu 

Slightly Coastal 

Setting for Four

So, if this is your first time visiting my blog - Welcome!

I'm Marie - Wife to Jon and Mommy to Henry (5) and Eliza (3).  We live in Michigan and come spring, when the snow and ice finally thaw, we're outside and out on the lake.

We like to ski, wakeboard, tube and swim.

As for our home decor - we like to mix the old with the new.  It's a lakehouse/farmhouse/cottage vibe going on in the inside and a nautical theme on the outside.

So, wakeboard to our dock, park your boat and come on over!

Welcome to our home.  Come on up!

Take a seat and enjoy the view.

Care for some lemon water?

I love these happy paper straws.  I buy them all the time - they're just too fun!

Sidenote:  Am I the only one who currently has a cute paper napkin and adorable straw collection?

Please tell me I'm not alone...  ;)

Oh, and of course, our Michigan summer wouldn't be complete without our Michigan cutting board being put to good use.  For you fellow Michiganders, a similar cutting board can be found here.

Come on out of the sun and let's walk over to our covered deck.

I love drinking an afternoon cup of coffee up here in this shaded space.  It's so relaxing and it's a blast to watch all the boat traffic go by, especially on the weekends!

Welp, I suppose we should head inside and I'll show you around...

We have a little command center/mudroom/office off of the deck.  I call it our "moffice."  It's a drop center for everything...and I do mean, everything.  Hence the fact that I'm going to skip right on by this area and move on toward the kitchen.

Just close your eyes as you walk by and try not to step on a Lego...mmm-kay?!

Hey, just keeping it real here, folks. ;)

Okay, so past the "moffice" is the kitchen.

Our vintage wooden oars stay up all year and for good reason.

A couple years ago I looked everywhere for these bad boys and when I eventually found these oars - while on vacation and at an old antique shop - I had decided I wasn't leaving without them.  While wearing a long maxi dress I carried both oars as I biked the mile long journey back to our vacation rental.

It was no easy feat.

So, there they are - proudly displayed for all to see!

Next up is our dining space and it's the first place you see when you walk through our front door and it's the most frequented room in our home.  It sits back from the deck area, but it still makes for great lake viewing.

So many wonderful memories are made daily while gathered around this table.

Well, that is until Paw Patrol comes on the tv, then the kids beeline it to the couch...sippy cups in hand!

I painted and stenciled these chairs about a year ago and I still loooove them!  They were inspired by, who else, but the amazing Joanna Gaines.

You can read more about these chairs here.

As for our summer decor, nothing fits our home better than lots of lanterns and small vases to finish off the light and airy lakeside feel that I tend to lean toward when decorating this space.

As we all know, dishes need to be washed and put away.  Luckily, we get a nice breeze that comes through the house from the lake.  It makes doing chores seem not so bad.  :)

Let's venture on into the living room, shall we?

This space is currently my happy place.  I ordered this piece of furniture about four months ago and it just arrived this past weekend, so I'm beyond thrilled to be sharing it here on this home tour!  I literally just blogged all about it on Monday!  Feel free to read more about it here.  The track hardware can be found here.  :)

I was able to style it a bit for this tour, although, I can tell you that the shelves already look different.  It's so fun to move around decor and change the look of this unit.  I've loved displaying our propeller, that scale, those baskets and some of our favorite books!

I'm obsessed.  Obsessed, I say.

The lower cabinets are currently housing games, puzzles, photo albums and baby books.  It serves not only as an entertainment center, but also as a larger than life storage unit!

Why not, right?!

The more storage, the better!  Who's with me?!

As for our mantel, I'm keeping it simple for now.  Yeaaaaaah, we'll see how long that'll last! ;)

There you have it!

Thanks so very much for stopping by my Waterside Home Tour today!

This tour was so much fun to put together!  

Happy summer, stay cool, breathe in deep and don't forget to enjoy a sunrise or two...

Thanks again.  :)

Summer Wishes,

Marie :)

I'm linking up over at Work It Wednesday and Inspiration Gallery Link Party and The Creative Gallery Link Party!

This post contains affiliate links.

She's Here - Welcome Home, Sliding Barn Door White Entertainment Unit!

That's right.  We have a new addition in our lives, that of which we affectionately and otherwise refer to as, Bertha.

Welcome home, Bertha!

Let me give you a little history on this lovely lady...

About six months ago, Jon gave me the green light to order an entertainment center.  You guys, I'd been begging to get one fooooorever and it was finally time!  My mind was racing with ideas, especially after staring at the area and previous tv stand night after night while watching everything on Bravo PBS. ;)  As much as I wanted to order one from Pottery Barn or from somewhere off the internet, I just couldn't get a particular image out of my head.  

I drew up a quick sketch, thought about it some more and then drew up a couple more sketches.  By February I had finalized my sketch and had decided to take it to a woman named, Darci, who had just opened a "pop-up" shop in our downtown.  I had originally met her at a festival last September and  I remembered her saying that she worked with an Amish man who could build custom furniture for half the cost you'd pay elsewhere.

I was sold.

I eventually marched my booty into her store and nervously showed her my drawing.  My sketch wasn't the prettiest, but Darci could see it.  She saw my dream and she made it a reality.

Four months later, my small little sketch is now sitting in my living room, all thanks to an amazing woman named, Darci, the man who built it, Reuben, and his horse, Dory, who helped make the tools work.

All built by hand.  So cool.

I'm loving this piece and I can't believe it's mine.  I can't believe it's in my home.  It adds so much character and warmth to the room.  I'm in love.  In looooove with this furniture.

Stay tuned for my summer home tour coming this week.  I'll show you how I've styled her...so far.  ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by, Bertha says, "thank you," as well.

one - two - three - four - five

I also wanted to include this one.  I think it's really pretty, but just came upon it, so it's not included up in that graphic...

***UPDATE:  I've been getting asked a lot about this piece and being the bad blogger and responder I am (so sorry), I thought I'd jump on this little corner of the internet and include a little bit of info about the hardware!  Here's a link to the hardware we used - click here.  Lots of sizes to choose from!

Talk to you soon, friends!

Marie :)

I'm joining the Creative Gallery Link Up Party, DIY Sunday Showcase, and Totally Terrific Tuesday

*This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission based on purchases.