Behind Closed Doors {Magnet Wall}

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have had a little inkling that I had a magnet wall planned for the house.  I have been intrigued with magnet walls for a long time but Elizabeth's room was the perfect place to give it a go.  She previously had a disaster of a bulletin board behind her door.  It was a hot mess. I didn't take a true before picture but here is the area right before I took down the bulletin board and (cute) frog barrette holder.  She won't wear barrettes any more (wah!!).

My friend Colleen recommended some magnetic paint that she found on Amazon with good reviews.  It seemed better than the Rustoleum version which I heard is stinky and doesn't work all that well.  after reading all of the reviews, I learned that I had to paint at least 4 coats using a foam roller to limit texturizing the wall.  This stuff is THICK so be sure to stir it well.  I gathered my supplies and started a couple of coats just before we started painting the walls.  

Soon, the wall looked like this.

After a few more (and some paint on the other walls...

After I tested it with 4 coats, I realized it would definitely need a couple more.  I called it quits after our full day of painting.  Sunday morning, I rolled on two more coats before painting the whole wall blue.  Fortunately, two coats of the blue paint covered it beautifully.

Another Amazon review tip was to use strong magnets (also known as neodymium magnets or rare earth magnets) if you want to hold paper up.  They are easily found on Amazon.  I picked up some of these pushpin style magnets to hold up her masterpieces.  Just two of these little guys held up her oversized "getting to know you" school poster.  

She also received a set of magnetic poetry for kids for Christmas (I may have tipped off Grandpa) which has been fun for all of us to play with, especially Handy Hubby...

You can see the slight texture in the paint in the picture above.  It was tough not to have texture but super thin coats seemed to be the way to go.  I just wrapped my roller in a grocery bag between quotes (I waited about an hour or so between layers).  

So, that's the secret behind the door.  I love that when you take all of the magnets off, you cannot even tell it's a magnetic wall.  In the long term, it will be a great place to hang certificates, photographs, and other childhood memorabilia that deserves display.  Perhaps the best part is that only she really sees it since you have to close the door to see the wall - it cannot be seen from the hallway.  

Any fun projects at your house this weekend?