Chalkboard Menu Board - do it yourself!

I have had an idea about making my own menu board for the kitchen since I started menu planning a year or so ago. Menu planning saves us time and money. If I know what we are eating for the week, I might as well write it out on a cute menu board. It will be more useful once my kids can actually read it, but for now Tim (maybe) reads it, and it is a nice addition to our rustic retro kitchen.

Here are the supplies Tim and I used for this project.

Let me give you a run down on the supplies!

For the backing -the part that'd be painted with the chalk paint to create the writing surface- I wanted to use something we had on hand. It needed to be smooth and flat. We had some left over beadboard panels that were perfect. You could purchase a sheet of mdf or plywood, or try cardboard.

The wood lath we had from helping Tim's brother gut a house. The outside frame is made up of full-width pieces, and the horizontal pieces used to frame the boxes were cut length-ways in half. Tim lightly used the white spray paint to give it a nice weathered look. This is another time when you can adapt something you have or purchase a material that is right for you. You could buy trim pieces and paint or stain them to match your decor.

We used the spray paint version of chalkboard paint, but you could also get a can to roll or brush on. There are also recipes online to make your own in any color you'd like.  I'm partial to the classic black look.

The tools we used are pretty interchangeable.  If you don't have nail gun with brad nails, small finishing nails and a hammer would work just fine. I was hoping to use wood glue to adhere the lath to the backing, but since the wood was reclaimed, it was warped and didn't sit flat enough on the mdf. Instead of a miter saw, you could use any other type of saw available to you.

The chalk pen I bought when I got my vinyl chalkboard calendar. I love it! So does Ivy, so I have to keep it up high on my desk. It is wet erase, which makes it a little tricky when using the chalkboard paint because scrubbing with a wet cloth can rub some the of the paint off, or at least rough it up a bit.  Regular chalk would work just as well, it's just harder to write pretty with.  

I got my white stickers from the scrapbooking section at WalMart.  They are foam, and I wasn't sure how they'd look; but I love that they standout and create a three dimensional effect.

To make a chalkboard menu for your own kitchen, here are the basic steps:

1. Decide how large you want your menu board to be, and cut your backing piece to size.
2. Paint the mdf (plywood, etc) with the chalkboard paint to create a writing surface. Give it two coats, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second.
3. Select pieces to frame your writing surface and cut them to size.  We attached the two vertical pieces first and measured the distance between them for the horizontal pieces to create a rectangle.
4. In order to create equal-sized boxes for the days of the week, you'll have to first make some decisions. Decide how many boxes you want.  We did six: Monday - Friday and one box for Saturday and Sunday because we don't eat at home much those days. Maybe you just want five for Monday - Friday, or maybe you want each day of the week to get its own box. So first, decide how many boxes.
5. Now for the math.  Measure the height of the inside of your rectangle frame and the width of the  horizontal wood pieces. Let's say your writing surface is 47 inches, your frame pieces are 1 inch wide, and you want 6 boxes, meaning you'll need 5 horizontal pieces.  At 1 inch wide they'll take up 5 inches of your writing surface, leaving you with 42 inches to work with.  Take the height of your remaining work surface (42) and divide it by the number boxes (6).  Each box will be 7 inches tall.  Lay out your horizontal pieces every seven inches and attach to your writing surface. 
6. Use white stickers to label boxes with the days of the week accordingly.
7. Hang and fill in your weekly menu! Tim nailed a sawtooth hanger thing on the back so we could hang it on the wall.

   

   Here it is hanging in the kitchen

You could also make yours to go horizontally! I wish I had taken a picture of it on its side before putting the stickers on.

Soon I will be writing a post about menu planning that will hopefully give you some perspective on why I do it and why I wanted a menu board in my kitchen.

When I was getting ready to take the pic of it hanging in the kitchen, I just wrote in six of my favorite meals, homemade beef stroganoff being at the top of the list. It is fun to make and delicious to eat. Let me know what some of your family's favorite meals are by leaving a comment below! I like to add in some new foods to our rotation.

Love,

Kenz

p.s. - Would you rather purchase a menu board than make one? Contact me to get your own or one to give as gift!

Diy globe pendant lighting

These globe lights are perfect finishing touch in Reid's nursery. And, making them was super easy. Learn how to take an old globe and turn it into beautiful lighting.

Diy wooden map letters

These decorated wooden letters are a super easy diy with big impact and endless possibilities. I've done some for both kids' rooms, but these map ones are my favorite.

our diy kitchen desk: style, workspace, and organization

Remember that farm(house) fresh cabinet Tim and I picked up at Junkstock and made into a sweet desk? Well, it only took about six months, but we've put it to good use with styling and organization, to create an adorable and useful kitchen desk!

Kitchen Desk Tutorial

Well, I am officially in love with this desk.  I especially love that we made it from reclaimed pieces!  The cabinet we bought farm-fresh from Junkstock and the wood is actually pieces of the waterbed frame that came with our house.  You can buy similar base cabinets from Lowes, Home Depot, etc.  There are also tutorials online to build your own.  I encourage you to find reclaimed pieces for the top, but they can also be purchased at the lumber yard. When buying boards you have the luxury of getting them cut to fit, which would have saved us some of the hassle in step two.


I looked and looked online for a small desk with our without a hutch to put in our space, but they were either too big, too expensive, or too cheaply made. I even looked at buying a new base cabinet to use, but they were too wide and too expensive.  At Junkstock we were on the hunt for a 36 inch wide desk or a small base cabinet.  Luckily we found the perfect little cabinet from Weston Primitive Co. You can visit their Facebook page by clicking here!  

So, now we have a cabinet, but we needed a topper piece to act as the workstation.  Having a cute used cabinet was not good enough for us, we wanted to find some wood we could reuse for the top.  We had some nice wide boards from an old waterbed frame we had dismantled, and figured they would make a great work surface for our desk.  So, not only is the cabinet used and farmfresh, the wood top is reclaimed. The shelf above the desk is also from the bed frame. 

I have to admit, our craftsmanship is good, but our tutorial making is a bit shoddy.  But, here it goes anyway: a step-by-step for making your own kitchen desk. 

Starting the Master Bedroom Redo

Well, it looks like our master bedroom is the next room we're going to be tackling.  From the wallpaper to the brassy cabinet hardware, it needs it. Actually, we might leave the gold looking goodness.

As with any project, I have painstakingly planned out our new bedroom on Pinterest. You can view my Master Bedroom board by clicking here. A few inspiration pics are after the jump!

Liz's Mint-To-Be Bridal Shower Brunch, part two : diy chalkboard signs

So handy and so cute, I am digging these chalkboard signs!  Here is how I made made my own for Liz's bridal shower brunch.