Making Chalkboard Labels

I have a little mini project going on, I feel like it's been going on for quite some time.  It's one of those things that keeps evolving over time.  It involves our laundry room, specifically our storage area (one of the only storage spots in our little house).  Here is where we began, this was right after we moved in and this spot had just become the go-to dump site while we were figuring things out.

It was a hot mess, let's be honest.  So it finally came time for this room to get some attention and it received a bright paint color, white trim and shelving (a little upgrade from what we had).

And then, it was kind of looking like this.  We sort of halfway organized it, still better than the before but still struggling to figure out the right plan for everything.

Oh, and then we got some new laundry bins from crate & barrel - I love these.  That definitely helped the crazy laundry sorting/organization (or lack there of) going on.

So, now we are stuck here - and quite frankly it just isn't working for me.  Part of it is the fact that it still isn't organized correctly and part of it is the aesthetics.  The different colors, the crazy overflowing boxes...  I just don't like it, and so I don't try and keep it neat.  I think that's a thing with me.  If I like the way it looks and functions then I will try harder on keeping it that way.  If I don't, then it turns into a mess and I feel like I'm always battling it. I'm tired of being in constant battle mode with these shelves so a mini project was necessary. My first little project for this space was to get uniformed labels that weren't ugly.  I'm starting small people, you have to start somewhere right?  Here's my current label situation -

I also think I forgot to mention that I'm trying not to spend a fortune on this, and I especially didn't want to spend a lot on labels.  So here was my quick and cheap fix - chalkboard paint.

I grabbed a bunch of labels (I have a ton of these for some reason that I can't remember what for) and a can of chalkboard paint and went to town spraying.  Take it easy, light even coats. 

I ended up doing three light coats until I was pleased with the coverage.

After a day of drying, I was ready to re-label.  I really like the idea of being able to change my mind on what's inside and being able to just erase and re-write plus the whole chalkboard thing is kind of in right now - and I kind of like it.  

If you are wondering about the usability since it is a paper label - it's still totally wipeable.  I actually made extras to test different methods and it even held up well when using a very lightly dampened cloth - so I was sold. 

I'm still busy working on some more easy solutions for my shelves so I will share more later!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!