Back when I was at IKEA shopping for Frankie's kitchen a few months ago, I picked up this guy, the LUNS chalkboard, with staging in mind.
It's lacking a bit of personality, but for $15 I knew I could Tim Gunn it ("Make it work!")
In reality, as you can see from the pic below, the wood was very light- nice for some spaces, but clashed a bit with the wood cabinets in the kitchen where I planned to put it.
Luckily, light wood is problem easily remedied with a bit of stain, so I attacked it with Minwax Polyshades in Bombay Mahogany that I already had in my arsenal.
After one coat, it wasn't drastic, but added the richness needed to stand up against the reddish-brown cabinets.
Stain alone wasn't enough to kick up the personality, so I painted the box below the chalkboard with the wall color and added a fun corner detail.
The top corners each got 2 strategically places screws (for decoration only) and sprayed with a hammered silver spraypaint.
After everything had dried and I pulled off the painters tape, I listened to the little IKEA cartoon man's assembly instructions, then proceeded to have fun playing with chalk.
To help orient you, this little section of wall is in between the living room (left) and the kitchen (right). I'm also making an attempt at not-so-subliminal messages for potential buyers. I think it screams "BUY ME!!" but in a classy way.
Just a few small items left to stage and the upstairs will be ready for it's photo shoot!
The basement, however is another story. Another messy, neglected story that I need to hustle on this week. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for no more snow days and an amazingly productive week!