Chalkboard Memo Board from an old door

I would love to say this chalkboard memo board made from an old storm door is an easy project, well in fact it  IS an easy project, but this post is loaded with pictures. I think it is going to take me longer to explain the tutorial than it did to actually DO the project.

This is the second storm door I’ve gotten from my across the street neighbor. He has a cat that seems to be a little impatient when it comes to wanting indoors. I think she keeps tearing up the screens. By the way–if you don’t happen to have a neighbor giving you old screen doors, Home Depot has them for $22! That makes this a very affordable project even IF you have to buy your own door.

I repurposed the first door he gave me into a craft show display piece. That was a little over 2 years ago. I sort of knew what I wanted to do with this door. But the color (as usual) was a challenge for me. I started by painting it with French Vanilla from Heirloom Traditions Paint.

Then I did a “wash” over it with some green. Cousin Terry said it looked like something (I can’t remember what she said) threw up all over it. Algae? Something like that.

I went to my stash of paint, and found an oops color I had never opened. It looked to me (from that tiny little paint dot) that it was a gray. When I opened it, this is what I saw. I still wasn’t sure what the final outcome would be.

After stirring it, and pouring it into my strainer so I could use my HomeRight Finish Max, I saw that it was a shade of purple. I intended for it to be a “primer” for the next color.

Now, you may wonder why I would get out an electric paint sprayer for such a small chalkboard memo board project. I had already painted it with a brush 3 times. So, I was over it. I knew that it would look good and go so much quicker with my best friend at the wheel.

After I did one quick coat, turned it over and did a quick coat on the back. Because I mixed the oops paint with some Plaster of Paris to make a diy chalky primer, the paint dried really fast.

I put another coat on the front—the paint covered really well using the Finish Max from Homeright.

I set the door aside, and got busy on the lower board that was to be a chalkboard. The last chalkboard I made, I brushed the paint on.

Not this time. This time I strained the chalkboard paint, and got busy.

I used the Finish Max with the chalkboard paint on a piece of underlayment.

You can see that it’s still in the process of drying in this photo. I did about 3 light coats with the Finish Max.

Then I stapled some hardware cloth over the center part of the chalkboard memo board door, thinking I could hang some baskets from it with “s” hooks. Not a good idea, I tried to use some white wax on the back of the top board, but I didn’t like how it looked. So I ended up painting over it with more purple chalky paint primer.

My Ryobi AirStrike was used to attach the chalkboard to the lower portion of the board.

I wanted to give the memo portion a nice clean look. I layered the fabric, batting, foam core board and underlayment. After trying to get it as straight as I could, I stapled it all in place ON THE BACK of the door in a few places.

With those staples holding everything in place, I worked on trimming the batting and fabric then folding it over the back of the board. I used my manual stapler to hold the fabric and batting.

You can see a little dip in the checkered fabric.   After all that hard work, I wasn’t about to take it apart.

I thought I was calling the chalkboard memo board done except for finding some hardware to cover up the former handle holes.

I showed it to my neighbor (with the cat) and he said he thought it needed a shelf.

It got hot, I hauled it into the house, then I went on a little trip. It just hung out in the kitchen for a couple of weeks waiting for me to get back around to it. I cut a 1x scrap, including two little triangles off of the end to use as brackets. Using Gorilla Wood glue and my AirStrike, I secured it in place. I already like it a lot better!

Here is the chalkboard memo board hanging on the wall. I love the way the purple looks against the off white wall.

Isn’t it sweet?

That’s a Scrabble tile holder on the bottom holding the chalk. I haven’t attached it yet, I thought I would let the new family figure out where they want to put it.

I gave the old gal a few embellishments, including some small galvanized buckets and pushpins made from Scrabble tiles and vintage wooden checkers.

This extra large chalkboard memo board can be hung on the wall or leaned against the wall like it is here.

Did you notice the colors are Purple and Green—just like MRL?

gail

disclaimer: I am so happy to be a Homeright Ambassador. It allows me to work on great projects using the best products to make my life easier, and kicks my projects up a notch with a fabulous finish!