Complete Your Kitchen's Luxury Look With This Affordable Chalkboard Trend

With the many types of stone you could use for your kitchen countertops, the super expensive appliances to get your water boiling just right, and the occasional high-end kitchen accessory (that might not really be worth the cost), there are a lot of ways to luxe up the heart of a home. Once those semi-permanent items have been installed, further design options may have you scratching your head. Sure, a few magnets can transform your refrigerator into a veritable gallery, but what else is to be done? Consider the occasional trend to expand upon your luxury decor, like the gold-framed chalkboards that are a fashionable and functional way to update your kitchen.

To be fair, we normally advise against this common kitchen renovating trap, since chasing trends can lead to your kitchen falling out of fashion quickly. This is particularly irksome if you plan on moving one day. But these chalkboards are hardly the avocado green style of yesteryear. For one, they can take up as little or as much space as you want to allocate. You can even source them at Dollar Tree for just $1.25 each, and if gold doesn't signal luxury, we don't know what does. The frames also lay flat to hide them away in the event that some flashy new thing takes its place, like so many questionable vintage kitchen trends we're happy to leave in the past.

A key use for your fun, gilded chalkboard, is as an ever-changing shopping list that you can update as you run out of foodstuffs in your household's regular rotation. Snap a photo of it for easier shopping at the supermarket when the time comes, though it could be hilarious if you bring the chalkboard to the store. A wonderful use for it is leaving little love notes for family members, but, of course, there are plenty of other uses for chalkboards.

Use your new gold chalkboard as a menu when hosting, for example. A tidy list of the meat and cheese varieties on a charcuterie board is always helpful. Likewise, you could list the ingredients that's in the punch or batched cocktails. You can also use the chalkboard to delineate something like your trash versus recycling bins for your extra-conscientious guests. This can help make the eventual cleanup a little easier, especially if they don't know where anything goes. Similarly, use your new chalkboard to point guests to the location of extra napkins, utensils, or other fun items, like the sweets table or collection of alcohol.