Outdoor Chalkboard Door

Around my house doors seem to get a lot more use than just separating two rooms. Take for example this plain hollow core door. It has 4 jobs in life thus far. It started as a door, as most doors do. Years ago when I lived in an apartment and long before kids and a husband I covered it in faux leopard skin fabric and it served as a headboard. When I started my own business I needed a large desk and the fur came off and the yellow paint went on. The doors latest incarnation is as a chalkboard for my daughter in the backyard.

My husband recently built me a new and exciting fancy work bench so I thought my friend the door was going to be put out with the bulk trash. As a matter of fact it lived a few weeks sitting next to our garage and trash cans waiting for bulk trash pick up. About a week before we were to part ways I said to Chris I would like to make an outdoor chalkboard for Tallulah to play with. We don’t really have a drive way of patio for her to use chalk on so we needed to create our own. Chris came up with the brilliant idea of recycling the old door!

Chalkboard paint comes in many forms, we used Krylon spray paint. Apparently you can even make your own custom colors. We laid the door in the grass and coated it with spray paint. After the paint dries you need to cover the whole thing in chalk and give it a good wipe down, this primes the surface.

We nailed the door to our fence at a height where Tallulah could have full access. The jumbo sidewalk chalk she uses sits nicely atop the chalk board door right where she can reach it. Currently we ‘erase’ the door with the water hose and rain, but eventually I intend to invest in or make an eraser.

Have you made a chalkboard for your kiddlet? I’d love to hear all about it.

Posted November 9, 2010 & filed under Crafty, Gardening, Kids.