Checker Border Chalkboard Pantry Door

I am in LOVE with the new look of my pantry door.  Oh, don't you worry.... this is the INSIDE.  It's a little hidden gem that I will love and appreciate very much.  

I completely forgot to take a before pic, but here's the inside of the linen closet that's right next to the pantry.  It's exactly the same except for the door handle.  These doors were painted in Ralph Lauren's Architectural Cream.  When I look really close, I can see brush strokes from the last paint job and notice that they were once painted gray.  Who knows how many layers of paint are on these old 1926 doors?  

My original thought was to just paint a chalkboard on the inside of the door.  It's meant to be used for grocery lists, meal planning, doodling, etc.  I may even leave my husband little love notes.   ; )

It seemed a little plain, so I decided I needed to add a checker border to be the "frame" of the chalkboard.  I'm super happy with the results.  However, I may still add a thin black line on the inside of the checker pattern to help define the frame.

All but the bottom portion of the door was 5 inches.  The actual width of the door was 28 inches.  I kept a 1-inch white boarder around the chalkboard, making all but the bottom portion 4 inches.  This allowed me to do 2x2 squares.  I used my clear 6" Fiskars fabric ruler to measure off the door and pencil in my checker pattern.  I then painted each square black with a sponge brush.  No tape was used for this project.  It's not perfect, but that's what I love about it.  It's so VINTAGE!!!