My "New" Kitchen Wall

I have been really picky about what goes back up on our freshly painted kitchen walls. It has taken me weeks to finally finish decorating this small wall. I made the chalkboard by giving this frame a very light coat of cream paint and a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. Previously it was gold and held a Louis the Somethingth print. I used the Lowe's house brand, Valspar, chalkboard paint. Two coats went on a thin particle board sheet of wood I had out in the garage.

I was inspired to hang the beat up cream plates backwards by an article I remembered poring over in a Mary Engelbriet's Home Companion magazine years ago. The more crackles, stains and chips the better.

Then two days ago, I figured out how to hold some chalk and the eraser close by. I found this tin strainer thingy at a flea market in Paris last spring.

It held both things perfectly! It is hanging from a vintage piece of a locking mechanism. Hubba hubba - I grin every time I see this wall. -- Beth