With some window film and a few minutes you can turn just about anything into your own DIY dry-erase board.
Remember the coffee table from the other week? The one I dismantled and repurposed into a chalkboard command centre and a vignette of rustic candlesticks? Well today I’m using up the last piece of that coffee table – the top – to create an awesome DIY dry-erase board.
Let me start by reminding you what the coffee table looked like when it arrived here:
I started sanding it down, fully intending on refinishing it and using it as a coffee table, but after I’d sanded down the top:
I decided the grain was just too pretty to hide. I decided instead to turn the table top into a dry-erase board so that the wood grain (likely a veneer) could shine through.
After dismantling the coffee table, I watered down some white latex paint at a ratio of about 2 water to 1 paint and painted it on, wiping it off quickly with a clean cloth.
Once it had dried, I taped off the edges of the coffee table top with yellow Frog-tape (because it can be used on freshly painted surfaces) and tested out a new paint colour I received at the Haven Conference – “Matte Metallics” from DecoArt.
It has a really pretty sheen that catches the light, so I thought it would be a nice accent colour to the white-wash on my DIY dry-erase board.
I didn’t prime (shame on me since I preach it so often) and instead painted on two thick coats of the metallic paint.
I wanted to have a sort of command centre look to my “make your own dry-erase board” so I used my Silhouette machine to cut text from some black adhesive vinyl. I thought keeping track of the week’s activities and menu would be helpful and easy for the kids to help with.
I used a speed square to make sure each section of text was straight and then pressed into place.
Now for the last step, and the key ingredient that can turn just about anything into a DIY dry-erase board – window film.
I found this window film on Amazon and thought I’d give it a whirl because it was less expensive than clear acrylic sheets or plastic sheeting and was see-through so that the beautiful grain of that wood would show through.
You could stick this directly to the wall if you wanted or, what I plan to do sometime, cover over a pretty piece of wrapping paper or wallpaper with it.
I rolled the self-adhesive window film over my weekly to-do list and pressed into place.
It was tough to photography my DIY dry-erase board without getting some window glare, but trust me when I say it’s almost a piece of art it’s so pretty.
We tested it out using dry-erase markers, chalk markers and grease pencils and all of them worked perfectly and erased without a trace.
The “notes” section in the bottom corner is a great spot for everyone to write down grocery items.
I thought I’d use different colour markers to differentiate between the menu plan and activities – and having both in one spot makes it easier to plan for those dinners when you have to run out the door quickly.
We don’t usually have a table in this spot, I brought it in for staging purposes – but NOT having it there will make it a lot easier for the kids to be able to fill in the activities on the dry-erase board.
I just LOVE the look of the wood grain! It really takes this piece from blah to YEAH! To think I wouldn’t have been able to make anything as pretty had I not brought a little imagination into a furniture refinishing (turned repurposing) project.
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If you don’t want to dismantle a coffee table (what?!), you could make your own dry-erase board using an old picture from a garage sale. Cover the image with gift wrap or wallpaper and use the glass that is already in the frame. Easier still!
By DIY’ing your own dry-erase board you can customize it to fit your decor (and size it to fit your to-do list) and make it a pretty addition to your home instead of the ugly, sterile white you find at office stores.
Have a great one!
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