Truth-be-told I’ve had these chalkboards since our wedding, six years ago. They were for our guests to write comments on and take pictures in our photo booth. Ever since then they’ve be collecting dust and for some reason I can’t get rid of them. It’s not a sentimental reason, I’m just a pack-rat. So I decided to make these into a DIY chalkboard organizer.
So I finally decided to make them useful in our home. I’m in the midst of organizing our downstairs closet and thought these would fit in nicely. The closet is supposed to help me be more organized by reigning in my daughter’s arts & crafts and all my projects in one place. These boards will help remind me of upcoming projects, to do’s and anything else I can think of.
Aside from putting them in the closet, I knew I wanted to to paint the green parts and add a cork board to one. I don’t need three chalkboards, so turning one into a cork board seemed like the best option. I also decided that, instead of going out and purchasing more paint, I would use the acrylics I just bought from the craft store.
Well, turns out I don’t really like any of those colors for this project. Lucky me I found this out after three different applications of paint! I finally decided to call it a day and just paint the darn things white. I thought if I painted over them lightly with white and then sanded them, it would create a more farmhouse look and those three coats of paint wouldn’t be in vain. I’m happy with the end results, but the work I did to get there was unnecessary. Think of it as a learning lesson for all! All you need to do is paint them once with a color, once with a thin white layer and then sand lightly depending on how much color you want to show.
Let’s add the the cork board to one of them now. You’ll need to cut the cork board to size. Then squirt the liquid nails onto cork board and put onto chalk board, press and take off for 1-2 minutes (this is per the liquid chalk directions). After 1-2 minutes, place the cork board back onto chalkboard and place heavy objects on top to secure. For maximum adhesion, let dry overnight. That was easy.
Honest time, I hung the boards up before I decided to paint the chalkboard portion. I realized two things: the light grey was drab and the chalkboard itself wasn’t good quality. So I ended up hanging the boards with the 3-M strips, one on each corner, first.
If you’re thinking ahead, I would paint the chalkboards first! Luckily chalkboard paint is thick so there is no dripping involved. I just slapped two coats on them, drying in between, and called it a day. I recommend a paint brush for this and not a foam brush for streaking reasons. The first coat of chalkboard paint is streaky because I painted with the foam brush. Second coat was with a paint brush, much better.
Learn from the run-around I did with the chalkboard organizer and follow my steps below instead of doing things backwards. And since you’ll have some chalkboard paint laying around…why not paint a wood slice next?
How to Make a DIY Chalkboard Organizer
SUPPLIES
- Three chalkboards
- Painters tape
- Paint – color of your choice and a white
- Paint brush
- Sandpaper (rough)
- X-acto knife
- Liquid nails
- Cork board
- Straight edge, like a ruler
- Pencil
- Chalkboard paint (should your chalkboard suck)
- 3-M Command strips, I used poster strips
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place painters tape on the inside chalk board portion, following the frame around.
- Paint the edges with one thick coat of color. Let dry.
- Paint the edges with a thin coat of white paint. Let dry.
- Once dry, sand the white down slightly so you can see color underneath using a rough sandpaper.
- Cork board – Cut cork board to size using an X-acto knife. Place liquid nails onto cork board and put onto chalk board, press and take off for 1-2 minutes (this is per the liquid chalk directions). After 1-2 minutes, place the cork board back onto chalkboard and place heavy objects on top to secure. Let dry, overnight best.
- Chalkboard paint – Using a paint brush and chalk paint, paint onto the chalk portion, two coats is best. Make sure to dry in between coats.
- If you’re going to hang the boards, place the 3-M command strips on the back. One strip on each corner.
- Hang.
