Making Do Part 3 {A Series}: Chalk It Up

A high half-wall / unusable bar separates our eating area from the kitchen. Since we have one of those really open floor plans, builders do things like that to delineate one space from another I suppose.

{Here's an old picture to show you the "Before."}

I like the half-wall. And I would like the really high bar if I had a ladder to sit on while I drink my coffee. Bar stools tall enough for my bar simply do not exist in real life. The Man and I have discussed modifying the Empire State bar but that would require expertise and supplies. We're a little short on those at the moment.

So, we have just made do without it.

Unfortunately, the half-wall is prone to being bludgeoned by kitchen chairs and sneaker-shod kid feet. It was streaked and smudged and scratched only days after a fresh coat of paint.

{BEFORE}

{Yes, that is a llama. She joins us for school and meals on a regular basis.}

Recently I traded something I no longer wanted for a half-full can of chalkboard paint my neighbor no longer wanted. It was exactly enough to paint the dented and smudged half-wall. Yay!

{AFTER}

{I write our Classical Conversations weekly memory work up here...until Cupcake sees fit to do a little work of his own.}

I don't know why I didn't chalk it up sooner. It took 45 minutes for 2 coats of paint. It's perfect for the space since the kitchen table is also our homeschool area. Best of all, it was free and can be painted over when when I tire of it.

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So that concludes my mini-series on "Making Do." It wasn't until I finished these little projects that I realized the blessing and provision inherent in all of them. The wall and the rug rehab didn't cost me a dime. The hutch needed only paint and a few supplies.

All of them made me crazy happy and met very real needs.

Sometimes I'm completely without the means to make the changes I want...or so I think. It's one thing to have $50 to spend on a rug instead of $500. Fifty dollars is still fifty dollars. But sometimes I have zero.

I'm learning that times of want almost always provide magical options I would have never considered during times of relative plenty. Funny how that works.

I'll bet you have a neighbor who will gladly give you some paint in exchange for a lamp. You may even have a rug with Kool-Aid stains that's just begging to be flipped...

And if you do, I want to hear all about it.

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{Linked up with Kimba's DIY Day {A Soft Place to Land}

{Linked up with Melissa at The Inspired Room.}