#1: Don't. If you take this advice, your life will continue in blissful unknowing of the struggle this entails, and you don't need to know anything else about chalkboard paint.
#2: If you disregard my first tip and decide you really want to paint a wall with chalkboard paint, please reconsider. If you decide that your heart is set on this project and my advice will not sway you... you should know:
#3: This stuff is messy. Not regular paint messy. I am talking "I swear I didn't touch that, why is there paint on it" and "soak through the drop-cloth to the carpet" kind of messy. Plan accordingly. Have drop-cloths with plastic backing or any such impermeable barrier if you care about your carpet coming out of this unscathed. Also, prepare to take the time while cutting to do it carefully and also have something on hand to clean up right away. The reason it is so messy is that it is so thin, if you get even just a little too much on your brush or roller, it will be dripping everywhere. It's like trying to eat soup with a fork. It takes a lot of work, a lot of time, and after a while you may decide you are not that hungry.
#4 Another side effect of the consistency is that you have to apply it very thin even though you don't get much opacity with one thin layer. If you try to paint thicker because you think you know better than me, you will turn your smug little face for a minute and look back at the freshly painted part of the wall to find it running with dripping paint, like tears on the face of a soap opera character. Then you will wish you had listened to me.
#5 Do not try to go back over the running paint to smooth it out. Stop looking at it like that. Step away and count to ten, take a deep breath, whatever you have to do. If you have no self control and you try to do it anyway, you will find that the new paint on your brush is sticking to the previously applied paint and lifting it off the surface of the wall. At this point, if you're pretty chill like me, you will not be freaking out yet, but you may notice expletives start to escape your determined little face hole. Just keep going and spread it thin. This would be a good time to make sure there are no children around.
#6 After your first coat is on, you will step away to check out your work and realize it looks like crap. As you wait for it to dry, you may want to do something that makes you regain your faith in yourself as a capable adult. Listen to me. You are not a failure. You're good enough, you're smart enough and goshdarnit, people like you! Now I have good news and bad news. Bad news is there's no turning back. Stop crying. Good news is that it will get better. I'm here with you.
#7 After you put on a second coat, you will look at the wall and conclude that is looks sorta better, but not really. Go back to doing whatever makes you feel good about yourself.
#8 After the third coat, you will probably need to go back to the store for more paint. You need about 3 quarts for a small to medium sized wall. Yes, I know it's expensive. Do you want a constant reminder of that time you decided to do a chalkboard wall and it turned out to be a disaster? I didn't think so.
#9 Keep painting as many coats as it takes to make it look even-ish. When you are all done cleaning up the spills and nicks, you may stand back and try not to think about how much time it took. If you did this for a child, have them come into the room and watch them be swept off their feet with this totally rad thing they have in their room. It may be something like giving birth. You remember the mess and the pain, but you just barely think about it because you feel triumphant. If you did not do this for a child, but yourself, be proud. You have been through a grueling experience and emerged victorious. Also, you have a chalkboard wall. How cool is that?
