In this post: Learn how to make your own large hanging chalkboard with Kristi! Make one for yourself in just a few hours and enjoy through the seasons!

Our friend Kristi is here to share her tutorial for how to make your own large hanging chalkboard!

Hi everyone! I’m Kristi from Making it in the Mountains here to share this large DIY chalkboard tutorial! Most of the tutorials I came across for DIY chalkboards were mounted directly to the wall or, if they did hang like a picture, they were much smaller than I had been hoping for. So, we actually designed ours to be the best of both worlds…

Large DIY Chalkboard

Here’s how to create your own DIY chalkboard.

Supplies

• MDF or hardboard (48″ x 60″ or so)
• primer
• chalkboard paint
• 1″ x 3″ x 48″ qty 4, mitered corner
• 1″x 3″ x 60″ qty 4 mitered corner
• Minwax Provincial Stain
• two paint brushes
• lint free cloths
• finishing nails
• two d-ring hangers
• picture hanging hardware

Instructions

1. Cut an inexpensive sheet of mdf or hardboard to the desired size (ours measured 4’x5′).

2. Then paint it out with one coat of primer and at least two coats of chalkboard paint (I did three for good measure). Be sure to let it cure for the required amount of time (as listed on the package). 

3. Build a frame around the back. If you want your chalkboard to be able to hang on the wall like a picture, you’ll need to build out a frame for the back, which gives the thin wood of the chalkboard some support to stand straight and also provides a strong area to attach the hanger(s) to. If you don’t want to “hang” your chalkboard and are comfortable just nailing the whole thing straight to the wall, then you can skip this step. We used some pieces of 1×3, cut to length with metered corners and attached them all to the back of our chalkboard with some finishing nails, creating a frame around the outside edge.

4. Build a frame around the front of your chalkboard. Exactly as you did with the back, construct a frame for the front of your chalkboard, except don’t actually nail on the pieces yet, as they’ll be easier to stain before they’re attached.

5. Stain the frames. Paint on, then wipe off your desired wood stain your frame pieces, don’t forget to stain the outer edges of the back framing attached to your chalkboard as well. I went with Minwax’s Provincial stain and wiped it off almost immediately to keep the colour a bit lighter.

For a step-by-step tutorial on how to stain wood, check out this post. 

6. Attach the frame pieces to the front of your chalkboard. Using some finishing nails, fasten each piece of trim to the front of your chalkboard, taking care to match the edges to one another and to the edge of your chalkboard.

7. Attach hangers. Be sure to find hangers that are designed to withstand the weight of the chalkboard (it’s not incredibly heavy, but still) – we found D ring hangers work well. Attach one to the back frame on either side, making sure that they are level with one another.

Before using your chalkboard, be sure to cover the ENTIRE thing with chalk. This is called seasoning the board. Just rub the whole surface with the side of a piece of chalk. Classroom dustless chalk works particularly well for this. Then wipe it with a chalkboard brush or a clean dry cloth. 

Nothing adds rustic farmhouse character like a chalkboard! And the bigger, the better, right?