Magnet Paint
We just finished another playroom project! We’re so happy with the end result, but to be fair this space had some AWESOME bones to begin with- amazing natural light, über high ceilings, and super deep built-in cabinets. This kind of concealed storage is truly a jackpot in a playroom, buuut it also robbed us of some wall space… and we love wall space. Harumph.
We began brainstorming creative ways to use the doors as decor or make them interactive, and we finally settled on 🥁 MAGNETIC PAINT! We’ve used different techniques for magnetizing surfaces before (galvanized steel, magnetic wall decals), but hadn’t yet tried our hand at magnetic paint.
What made this the perfect project to test it out, you ask?
The two cabinet doors felt reminiscent of a fridge! Automatically nostalgic and cute.
Because there’s no doorframe on these, we thought it would be difficult to safely adhere galvanized steel without having pokey corners or exposed edges. If you want to install galvanized steel for magnet play, you should also include a wooden frame around the perimeter and/or bend the edges and corners back so they’re tucked away from kiddos’ fingers.
We wanted the whole door to be magnetic so they could hang art and posters up top, and the decals only go so high. We did find a space for a little decal too, though! You’ll see on the photo below that one is on the bathroom door to the left of the cabinets. We put a drawing paper roll over it so the magnetic decal would act as a protectant for the door.
How it went
Our painters applied seven coats of Magnetize-It! to ensure the doors were sufficiently magnetic. They also used a smoothing tool instead of a paint brush or roller to apply the paint because it’s so viscous and they didn’t want the end result to be textured. This created a plastered/limewashed look on the doors that we loved! After seven coats, some magnets (Magna-tiles and foam letters) stuck, and some were too heavy, so we found another surface for them.
