DIY Framed Chalkboard

Hello again! It’s Kristie from The House on Stanford. Today I’m sharing with you how I made this HUGE chalkboard for my daughter Anna’s room.

What you’ll need:

1: Something for your actual chalkboard.

(You’ll find out in a second how I used an old whiteboard) Any smooth board will work. *You can actually buy smaller chalkboards, ready to go, at any big box hardware store, just not at this size. So, you decide your needs and go from there.

2: Chalkpaint/paint supplies

3: Electric sander (My Mouse sander worked perfectly.)

4: Lumber for the supporting frame. It depends on the size of your chalkboard what you’ll need. For mine I used two 1x2x6 pine boards for the shorter sides, and two 1x2x8 for the longer sides.

5: Lumber for the outer frame. I used two 1x4x6 pine boards, and two 1x4x8 boards.

6: Stain

7: Depending on where you’re hanging your chalkboard, and the weight of it, you might need some wall anchors. These are my favorite.

Since this HUGE chalkboard is going in my daughters room, I decided to get her involved in the process. She had a blast! We started by sanding this once dis-guarded whiteboard, until the surface was rough, so the chalkpaint would adhere. This was a legit whiteboard so we used 60 grit sandpaper.

Once the surface felt rough we wiped it down with a damp cloth and started painting. We used Rust-Oleum’s chalkpaint and a foam roller designed for smooth surfaces. The paint covered nicely with 2 coats, but we painted 3 for extra durability.

Once the chalkboard portion was painted we turned our sights on staining the frame. I wanted a sort of “worn in” “antique” feel to the frame so I used 1 coat of Minwax waterbase stain in Slate and 2 coats of Minwax Polyshades stain in tudor. (I only stained the outer edge of the smaller boards because that’s the only part that shows.) Once the boards were dry, I cut them to size at a 45 degree angle to create a frame. Our finished chalkboard measures 46″x62″.

Once everything was cut it was time for the fun part: Hanging it up! We started with the 1×2 boards to create our supporting frame. Really the bottom board is holding all the weight, so once we knew it was level, we put a 3″ screw in every stud and added a self drilling drywall anchor in the middle for additional support. For the rest of the frame we used a nail gun with 2″ brad nails.

Once the supporting frame was complete, we placed the chalkboard in the middle. After that it was just a matter of nailing on the outer frame that locks the chalkboard in place.

When you create your own chalkboard you have to “prime” it before actually writing on it. Otherwise the erased writing will still have a faint outline. To prime the board you simply place a piece of chalk on it’s side and color over the entire thing. Then you erase it with a dry rag.