Valentines Chalkboard Art with Chalkola

Whilst we don’t really celebrate Valentines, I can’t help but lust over beautiful themed interiors, especially those on Instagram – where I spend most of my free time scrolling through squares and squares of homes I only wished I owned. If you’re not on Instagram yet, where have you been?! It’s quickly becoming the new Pinterest for home & DIY inspiration and I absolutely love the community on there.

One day we’ll go all out on the decorating-front for a celebration; (any celebration – Easter, Christmas, Valentines – I’m not fussed!) there’ll be bunting, flowers, food, music, it’ll be so pinterest-worthy, all my dreams will have come true. But until then, I’ll make-do with small corners of my home having a touch of festivity instead.

And of course one the easiest ways to bring a touch of theme to a room is through chalkboards! They can be switched to different themes at the touch of some chalk. This  star chalkboard is from a DIY I did last year with Rustoleum (go check it here!) but since then it’s been sat looking pretty depressed in my office waiting for the day I felt creative enough to do something new with it. The problem is, chalk is hard to write with. It kind of just gets everywhere and doesn’t have that crisp chalkboard calligraphy look you see on every pinterest photo going and I just couldn’t get it the way I wanted it.

Until I discovered chalk-pens! These ones are  Chalkola Chalk Markers – a small independent family owned business which can also be found on Amazon. The pens are liquid, but made from chalk. It means you get a clean crisp line, unlike traditional dusty chalk. They dry so that they wont smudge – great if you have little hands that like to touch everything 😉 And no problem with smart-arses changing words like “house” to “ouse” either! But they obviously do erase too, simply by wiping over with a wet cloth. It makes chalkboards much more durable and practical. I love that you can layer colours and even draw art with them too!

They can also be used on any non-porous surface including ceramics, glass, mirrors and whiteboards to mention a few (always test surfaces first though!). I think they’re pretty awesome. Great for leaving notes on random stuff – mugs work a treat! Anyone else need to leave a bazillion reminders for their other-halves? “don’t forget to turn the grill off” and such-like? But of course, with Valentines, you could even get romantic with it 😉

They come in a whole range of different colours and tones – from vibrant neons to earthy tones. The earthy tones are personal faves! I so desperately want to take a calligraphy class (I’m sure they exist!) and become the master of chalkboard writing. But until then, I’ll just practice with my new pens and make a better effort to update this little corner of our home. A countdown to spring is the next idea on the horizon – surely I’m not alone in being fed up of this cold winter weather?!

But for now, here’s the one little festive/themed spot of my home for this Valentines. I hope you all have a wonderful V-day too, even if it’s amongst plaster-dust, like ours! I must deeply thank the Morrisons wine & dine for 2 meals – because there sure as hell wont be any cooking in our non-existent kitchen this Valentines! Who said renovating can’t me romantic?! 😉

PS. If you’re interested in these pens, Chalkola are offering 20% off any of their pens with code: 20OFFSTR