DIY Chalkboard–Made With Weathered Wood

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A few months ago, my neighborhood had a bulky trash pick up day, as most neighborhoods do–I am still kicking myself for not driving around to see what treasures my neighbors were tossing to the curb.  

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I remember seeing quite a few people driving around with their trailers piled high of curbside finds, and can’t believe I didn’t have the same thought.  Oh well, now I know for next time… *insert evil laugh*

I did, however, manage to get my head out of the clouds and snatch up a few very weathered fence pickets from my neighbor’s trash pile.  My husband rolled his eyes at me, but I knew I could create something with that old weathered wood.

Well, the day finally came that I decided exactly what I wanted to make.  Decisions never come easy for me, so once I finalized this project in my brain, I knew I had to get started before I changed my mind again.  

What did I decide to make??  A DIY Chalkboard to go in our dining room! 

Here’s what you will need for a DIY chalkboard:

• 1/4″ thick 2’x4′ sheet MDF**
• 10′ of weathered wood (I used fence pickets)
• Miter saw or box and hand saw
• Circular saw
• Nail Gun
• 3/4″ brad nails
• Wood glue*
• picture hanging brackets*
• polyurethane*
• primer
• chalkboard paint*
• rollers and/or paint brush

**Home Depot does carry MDF that is already coated with chalkboard paint, but I chose not to use these.  Most of them in the store were pretty banged up so I would have had to paint them anyway. 

Start by cutting the MDF to size.  The size I used was 24″x 30″.  I used this size because the MDF was already 24″ wide, and I wanted the chalkboard taller than wide.

My hubby was so nice to cut my MDF to size for me, because there is no way I could cut a straight line with our circular saw. 

After that, and a quick run through of how our miter saw worked from my hubby, I was off. 

I created the frame for my DIY chalkboard pretty quickly.  I cut the boards for the frame 2″ longer than the MDF, so I would have overlap to attach the two when I was finished. 

After I cut the pieces for the frame, I gave them a quick sanding to get rid of any splinters.  Then I put 2 coats of polyeurathane on each piece.  I love how the poly brought out the grain and different colors in the weathered wood.

While that was drying, I primed the MDF, and painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint on top.  

Since it was 100+ degrees WITH humidity, it took 24 hours for everything to dry completely.

Next I used a little bit of glue, and the nail gun, to attach the frame pieces to the MDF.  I didn’t take any pictures of this, but it was pretty easy.  I laid out the MDF, put some wood glue on the edges, then set my frame pieces on top.  Once they were set how I wanted, I used the nail gun to nail it together.  

I let the glue dry for another 24 hours before setting it up.

It’s the perfect addition to our dining room, and I love having a large chalkboard to change out for each season.  

I love how this chalkboard turned out, and it was SO easy to do.  Even if you don’t have any old weathered wood, you can still make a frame out of 1×4’s and stain. Just note that you may need 1″ brad nails vs. 3/4″. 

I still have some pieces of fence left, and my head is already swimming with what I can do with them!

What are some of your favorite curbside finds?

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If you liked this post, be sure to check out my other chalkboard creations!

DIY Chalkboard Menu

Chalkboard Labeled Planters