DIY Oversized Chalkboard

Wednesday, January 24, 2018


I am so excited to share this week's project for the New Year New Room Refresh Challenge! If you've been following along then you know we are turning our old office into a playroom. In Week 1, I shared my vision for this room. In Week 2, I shared how I created these Land of Nod inspired storage bins. This week, I am bringing you another fun DIY project- an oversized chalkboard! What playroom couldn't use a fun chalkboard for your littles to create on?!

I have created a chalk wall before but never an actual chalkboard so this was a really fun project to complete! Before diving into this DIY project I did my research by scouring pinterest for any and all oversized chalkboards. Most of the tutorials out there are fairly similar to this one but I found that they weren't nearly as detailed as I needed (I like pictures, haha!). I also thought about simply buying a brand new chalkboard but I really wanted to make a statement with a chalkboard so large that it took up almost half of the wall. Buying that new would have been almost $100- and I much prefer to get my hands a little dirty and make my own for a fraction of that!

So, let's get started!

What you will need:
The first step for this project will be painting your chalkboard! I wanted to be a little different so I chose to paint mine using the tintable chalkboard paint by Rustoleum in 'Schoolhouse Green'. I gave my plywood three coats to make sure it was covered!



Once the paint was dry (follow directions on your paint's label- I had to wait 3 days) it is time to 'season' the chalkboard. To do this, you simply cover the chalkboard in a layer of white chalk.


I had a little helper for this step :)
Then, you simply wipe the chalkboard clean with a paper towel or dry rag.


Now, it's time to frame out your chalkboard! Our common boards were already cut to size so once they were stained and dried it was time to adhere them to the chalkboard. I started by wood gluing each board to the side of the chalkboard using clamps to make sure the boards stayed in place while drying. (Side note: I chose to have the top and bottom boards sit flush against the chalkboard while the sizes are about an inch off of the chalkboard- I did this to make sure you could not see any of the chalkboard sticking out of the sides when it was hanging).






After the wood glue had time to dry (about 24 hours) I nailed each board to the plywood chalkboard. I did this to make sure the frame would stay put!




Then, it was time to get this chalkboard ready to hang! I measured about 1 foot down from the top of the chalkboard (on the backside) and screwed into the chalkboard in a spot that it also met with the frame (the reason for this is the chalkboard is relatively thin- so this particular screw would have gone through this plywood).



Once the screws were in place I added the wire from the picture hanging kit. You will want to make sure this is nice and tight so that there is no give when you go to hang your chalkboard.


Now, it's time to get this chalkboard on the wall! Because of the size of this piece I wanted to make sure that I was hanging this board using two heavy wall hanging nails and at least one stud.



Yay!! I am so excited to see this project completed!! I have always wanted to make a large chalkboard like this and it turned out better than expected (love it when that happens!).


I don't want to give away too much this week- so I promise to post more pictures of this chalkboard next week with the full playroom reveal! :) See you then!

As always, thank you for visiting R&R at home!


2 comments

  1. Replies
    1. Hi there!! Thank you!! I can't believe how big I was able to make this by doing it myself!! Chalkboards this size can be close to $100 normally!! Thank you for stopping by my blog!! :)

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