12 Surprising Ideas for Chalkboard Decor

To promote its first book, blog Design Sponge toured the West Coast in 2011. At a book signing in Los Angeles, guests could pose in front of—and draw on—a chalkboard backdrop created by event and styling production company Bash Please.

Ronen Rental’s chalkboard bar features chalkboard panels set in an aluminum frame. The bar comes in two sizes: six feet long and four feet long. Available to rent in South Florida, chalk is included. The company can also make custom stencils for easy personalization.

Pressed Cotton sells gray-washed wooden chalkboard boxes, from $19 each, that can be filled with plants or flowers and used as centerpieces. Have the boxes do double duty by using chalk to write table numbers on the side.

Also available through Pressed Cotton are chalkboard tags, $3.50 each, which can be used as signage or place cards or can be hung from the neck of wine bottles to designate tables.

For a corporate event held in one of the hotel kitchens at the Atlanta Hyatt, Steve Bales of Bold American Events & Catering built floor-to-ceiling chalkboard walls on which he personalized each guest’s apron by scrawling his or her name next to it.

To build buzz for its latest product collaboration with charity organization Feed Projects, Target threw a rustic-Americana-theme dinner party underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in June. Freestanding chalkboard signs set up outside the open-air venue in Brooklyn Bridge Park helped guests find their way.

Also at the Target event, chalkboard menus placed near the bar areas displayed the cocktail hour offerings.

At the National Stationery Show in May, black-and-white stripes accented a stationery suite printed on a chalkboard-style background from Something Detailed.

Earlier this year at TEDActive, the official TED conference simulcast held in Palm Springs, TEDx planners from around the world expressed themselves on an interactive chalkboard wall.

The Southern-hospitality-infused welcome bash at the Engage! luxury-wedding business summit, held in June at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, featured a chalkboard map that outlined the various locations of the four-part event.

Available to rent throughout California, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Lounge Appeal’s Beachwood Chalkboard table allows guests to doodle on the surface. The 2- by 4-foot table comes in 42-, 30-, and 18-inch-tall versions.

In 2006 at the Robin Hood Foundation benefit, designer David Stark created towering hand-drawn sketches depicting New York scenes across more than 35,000 square feet of chalkboard. Guests could add to the work with bowls of chalk placed on the highboy tables throughout the cocktail area.