DIY Chalkboard from a Thrift Store Frame

You’ve seen my pair of chalkboards countless times; they flank the open shelving in our dining room.  I posted on the shelves just a few days ago {here} and originally {here}.

I’ve actually gotten quite a few questions over the past year about the frames–mostly people wondering where I bought them.  Since they were an easy DIY project, I thought it would be fun to share.

I actually bought the frames at Goodwill about five years ago.  They were a whopping $10 each (Goodwill has figured out that lots of people love vintage stuff and raised their prices accordingly, IMHO).  The frames originally looked like this:

Now, I had no problem with the prints (or the gorgeous frames) as they were.  For quite a few years, they hung in our formal living room in our North Carolina house (they’re to the right of the window in this photo):

But when I decided I wanted a more casual look in our dining room, in the hope that we would use it more, I decided to give the frames a makeover.

I gave the frames a quick spray with semi-gloss white spray paint, and then I removed the glass and spray painted it with chalkboard spray paint.  The floral prints are still in there, behind the glass, and I can pull them out and use them again if I want to.

The frames flank our open shelving and I usually update the chalkboard art seasonally.

Now that gold is back in again, the frames might get another coat of paint in the future, and that’s the fun of spray paint, isn’t it?!

But, seriously, $20 for two chalkboard frames is hard to beat, and one of the reasons that I love thrifting.  What are your favorite repurposed finds?

Thanks for stopping by!