Old Cabinet Door TRANSFORMED TO Fun Chalkboard!

Before...

After!

Ok, so you really can't go wrong with a cute chalkboard in your house! Especially when you can make one yourself, for essentially FREE (or pretty darn cheap)!

This project did not cost me a penny! But, that's also because I had all of the supplies on hand already, and I was lucky enough to have found a couple old cabinet doors out at my parents house!

So let's get to it, 

Here's What You Need:

Cabinet door

Sander/Sand paper

Chalkboard Paint

Paint for "Framing"

Paint brush 

Painter's Tape (optional)

Here's How I Did It (in 3 Easy Steps):

1. Sand Cabinet Door. 

I used my electric sander and I used medium grit sand paper. The cabinet door I was using had been stained and had a glossy finish on it, so I sanded until it was pretty much down through the stain, to the natural wood. 

*Be sure to clean off all of the dust on your cabinet door from sanding.

You can see there's still some stain/finish left, but
I was planning to prime, so I didn't get too carried away with sanding.

*OPTIONAL STEP: Prime. 

If you're able to sand down through all of the stain/finish on your cabinet door and get down to the natural wood, then you don't need to prime it all. I chose to prime mine, just because with this specific door there were too many different grooves that were tough to sand good. I chose to just prime these areas and skip the sanding because I was limited on time (...working during Gavin's naps forces me to work much faster than I used to!). I primed the entire cabinet door with one coat, even where I would be painting the chalkboard paint.

**Once my 1 coat of primer was dry, I went back and lightly hand-sanded the entire cabinet door. This just makes sure you have a nice, smooth surface.

2. Chalkboard Paint. 

I used Martha Stewart's Chalkboard Paint that I bought from my local Michael's store. This is where I decided to tape off my cabinet door. I never totally trust painters tape, I feel like every time I use it, paint seeps under it to some extent. So, I chose to do the chalkboard paint BEFORE I finished painting the "framed" part around the chalkboard. This way, any chalkboard paint that runs under the painters tape, I can cover up when I paint the frame. 

Whatever chalkboard paint you use, follow the directions. For what I use, it says to allow 1 hour of dry time between each coat (I always do at least 2, usually 3 coats of chalkboard paint), then to allow at least a full 24 hours for the chalkboard paint to cure, before use.

3. Paint Frame. Last but not least, paint the frame part around the chalkboard! I usually always go with white, but decided since (eventually) I'll have all white doors & trim in the house, I need something besides white! Add some distressing on the corners & edges if you want some extra character! (I almost always distress my projects to some extent, but this one I actually didn't....YET anyway...)

:)

There you go! A super fun & easy DIY project!