L: before, R: after
I had decided to repaint the red doors on the kids' Via Toy Box cube tower, and though I had some glossy Ralph Lauren black paint left over after refinishing all the doors in the house, I also had some Yoyamart magnetic chalkboard paint left over from an Ikea chalkboard kids table experiment that went horribly awry. I went with the latter.
The paint is thick, but it doesn't spread very much, so I put three coats on, with some sanding in between. Though the can recommends 120-grit sandpaper, I have to assume that's a typo; it seems like it'd just chew up the paint, not smooth it to a slate-like finish.
As it turns out, the 320-grit paper I used did a pretty good job, and now the doors have a velvety matte finish. The greyish black kind of goes with the dark grey milk crate tower that's now rubber-strapped to the wall, tighter'n The Gimp. It looks so good, I celebrated by breaking out my stash of flat grey nylon shop switchplate and outlet covers, and just kind of going to town. Starts the new year off right.
For anyone worrying about the psychological effects on a kid of an anthracite and black nursery, relax; the framer and the quilter are on your side.
Previously: Via Toy Box: unboxing, enbuilding, entowering
DT Checklist: modular storage to fill the kids' room gap
Looks pretty sweet.
have you let your daughter try marking it up with chalk? I'm not quite sure how much i'd want chalk dust all over the house. yesterday was our first foray into the world of glue-sticks, and I can tell you we're already taking a few month hiatus from that!!
[no way, man, there'd be chalk dust everywhere! -ed.]
I like your rocking bird. I saw the same one in yellow in a second hand shop and wondered what it was (where it's from). Where did you get yours?
[ours was a gift from the kid's granddad. it's from Playsam, the Swedish company who makes those awesome little dome-shaped wood cars, though I think it's discontinued. You should snap up that yellow one if you still can. -ed.]
Looks good, Greg. How do you think the Via boxes would do as a dresser (in the right configuration)? If we fold and stack clothing, just placing it inside and close the doors would that suffice? We have been looking for another dresser that fits the context of the room and so far have come up empty.
[that's basically how we're using them, and so far, they seem to work great. It'd be awesome to have an interior shelf option, though with the placement of the holes, I don't see how that's possible. two shelves, maybe, but not one. Also, I'd probably go with the finishing cap on top, so there aren't connector holes showing. It's not necessary, but it's nice. -ed.]