Notice Me

If you’re disorganised, you’re on notice. Sarah Withell has just the project for you.

As a busy mum, I’m constantly forgetting things because I haven’t written them down. In an effort to get more organised, this month’s project is a stylish noticeboard (two, to be exact) for a kitchen or home office. The best thing about these noticeboards is that they are painted in blackboard paint, so they are perfect for scribbling and erasing all your lists.

Make a notice board

Even better, I loaded them up underneath with hard-working magnetic paint too, so you can add magnets to hold receipts and photos or create your own noticeboard works of art. As well as functional, they are a bit more fashionable than your average stationery-store noticeboard too, thanks to the shabby-chic paint finish that is very easy to achieve. This project can be comfortably completed over a weekend, so you can have them up on the wall in time for the start of a new week.

For this project you will need

2 x picture frames, the larger the better. New or used.
Resene Smooth Surface Sealer*
(*you will only need this if your frame is not made from timber)
Resene paint in Sea Foam
Resene Blackboard Paint

Resene Magnetic Paint.
Small roller brush and a medium-sized paintbrush
A small amount of beeswax or similar wax product
1 x piece of sandpaper in a fine grade.

Step one
Take your frames apart, removing the glass and matt board. Keep the frame and the hard backing board to work with. Start by giving your frames a light sand to prepare them for painting. If your frames are not made of timber, apply a coat of Smooth Surface Sealer.

Step two
Apply the paint colour to your frames using a paintbrush. I chose Sea Foam. Pastel-based colours work best when going for a vintage look. Don’t worry about achieving a perfect finish, since you will be scuffing it up later. You will need to apply two coats.

Step three
While your frames are drying, apply two to three generous coats of magnetic paint to your backing boards. The more coats you apply, the stronger the magnetic effect will be. You can use a roller or paintbrush for this; I used both and got a nice finish either way. (Tip: make sure to shake and then stir the paint well to evenly distribute all the metal particles that may have sunk to the bottom of the can).

Step four
Once you have painted all your layers of magnetic paint and it has dried completely, roll on your blackboard paint. Apply two coats.

Step five
Apply the paint colour to your frames using a paintbrush. I chose Sea Foam. Pastel-based colours work best when going for a vintage look. Don’t worry about achieving a perfect finish, since you will be scuffing it up later. You will need to apply two coats.

Step six
Place the backing boards back into the frames, then hang them up on the wall and go crazy with chalk and magnets! You could even create a chalk work of art, and protect it by returning the original glass to the frame. Memo board or work of art, it’s up to you!

Words and pictures by Sarah Withell. 2015

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View more project ideas from Your Weekend magazine in the Resene weekend DIY projects section.

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