It took about five coats of chalkboard paint on both the cabinet doors and the cabinets themselves to create a legit chalkboard that could be written on & erased. Without several coats of chalkboard paint, chalk won’t show up properly on your project and you may have a hard time erasing.

Bottom line: the more coats the better. When you think you’re done, add another… trust me.

When the chalkboard painting is done, you’ll need to “condition” your new chalkboard. To do this, simply scribble all over the chalkboard…

…and then erase the chalkboard. Done & done. Simple enough… right? This will give your chalkboard an authentic, worn-out look, rather than a crisp, clean, black paint look. Plus, the chalkboard conditioning will help make future erasing much easier.

The only thing missing from these new cabinets? Hardware. Can you guess how I glammed up the original hardware?

About two coats of sparkle later, I felt like these gems were way too fancy for a garage. Then I realized, who doesn’t want a little glamour in their garage?

After thirty years of grease, these cabinets and especially this hardware, deserved to be spoiled with a splash of glitter. It’s the least I could do…

Check out the before & after.

From old and orange to sparkling chalkboard, thanks for sticking with our two day journey of cabinet drama. I promise we’ll be back with something colorful, crafty, and less garage-ish tomorrow!