Ugly Wall Project...

I'm sorry to say that I don't have a very good "before" picture of the walls I'm trying to beautify because - well - if I really hate it why would I want to take a picture of it?  I know that is not the best attitude when you are doing renovating or decorating.  But I did get the following photos.  In the background is the old wall with the chalk painting already on it.  Also notice the ugly varnished door (I have plans for that too!!!)  And in the last picture you can see the windows that are above the door the goes into the laundry room.  The windows remind me of what you might have seen in a doctor's office in the olden days....I think.....

I don't know what the person or persons was (were) thinking when they did this to the basement walls.  Our house was built in 1954 and I don't know if this was the in thing back then or if it was added later but WHO CARES???!!!  I want it gone!  There is some kind of machine made texture on what appears to be plywood and then it has varnish over it.  As you can see in the photos, it is shiny and dark.  I should also point out that we have owned the house since 1999 and this is now 2014.  So why didn't we change it sooner?  Good question.  We have thought about it but usually we just stare at it in disbelief and then shake our heads and go watch TV or something.

But now, because Rod is working out of town for weeks at a time, I wanted a challenge and something to occupy my creative brain.  So I mixed up some DIY chalk paint from many internet searches.  I've done a few pieces of furniture and loved the results so - my plan was to paint the walls with the chalk paint and then wax.  But after a few square inches I realized it was a bigger job than I thought.  So another idea came to me.  I looked up "chalk paint as a primer"  and found this chalky-paint-recipe-makes-a-great-primer  My revised plan is to finish priming with the chalk paint and then paint with latex.  This is day one so I will keep you posted.