A few years ago, I decided to paint the closet doors in my living room with flat black chalkboard paint so I could write motivational quotes on them and, y’know. Motivate myself.

Fast forward a few weeks to when I had the better idea to turn my now-black closet doors into the Star Wars opening screen with the iconic “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

So I did that instead.

The process

First, I removed both doors, cleaned them well, took off the hardware, and applied a no-sand primer to the side that faces out. Once it was dry, I applied two coats of chalkboard paint with a roller. The ’60s hardware cleaned up with some scrubbing and turned out to be brass (I love it). Once the paint was dry, I reinstalled the doors and reattached the hardware.

I applied the vinyl lettering weeks later when the paint was bone dry, but you’ll want to wait a few days if you’re doing this in one go. I wanted the phrase at eye height and used tape to hold the pieces in place until I had them positioned exactly where I wanted. Vinyl lettering is removable but you can’t always reposition it without stretching/tearing, so take your time.

The chalkboard paint is from Rustoleum. I’ve painted both closet doors plus another door in the house, and I still have half a quart left. If I redid this project, I wouldn’t use chalkboard paint. It’s been five years since I painted the doors and the paint has held up, but it shows brush strokes and touch-ups in the sun. If I’d intended the Star Wars look from the start, I would’ve selected a regular flat black.

I bought my vinyl lettering from doityourselflettering.com. This was standard calendared vinyl in turquoise, background cut out and removed. The typeface is Franklin Gothic, which was the closest I could match to the one from from the movie. For my specific closet, I ordered these letters 5.92″ high and 40″ wide. You can custom order whatever size you need. I bought from them in 2015 and my cost was under $30. In five years, I’ve never had any instances of peeling or bubbling.

A service guy once took a selfie with these doors. I love them so much.