Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

Formerly The DIY Bungalow

  • Home
  • About
    • About Karen & the Blog
    • Thirty Days of Gratitude
    • Habitat for Humanity ReStore Workshops
    • Stories from the Bungalow
    • Dogs Who Don’t Eat Pizza
      • Bear, the Original Dog Who Didn’t Eat Pizza
      • Hank Dog
      • Elvis Parsley
  • Project Index
    • DIY
    • Decorating
    • Shopping Tips
    • Repurposing and Upcycling
    • Paint and Color
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Recipes
    • Gardening
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Friday Five
  • Home Tour
    • The 1929 House
    • The First House
    • Room Reveals
  • Advertising
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
    • Advertising
  • Media
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Repurposing and Upcycling / How to Turn a Cabinet Door into a Memo Board

How to Turn a Cabinet Door into a Memo Board

June 9, 2015 By Karen Cooper 2 Comments

Do you have an old cabinet door hanging around, collecting dust? Or did you find one at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore or other salvage store for a price of next to nothing and didn’t know what to do with it (hypothetically)?

I’m going to show you how to turn a cabinet door into a memo board.

How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

FYI: this post contains affiliate links. The links will take you to the product, cost you nothing, and I could earn a little commission to keep the blog in business. Read my full disclosure policy.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Cabinet door: preferably wood or painted wood. Laminate can work, but you’ll need to prime it before painting it.
  • Sandpaper: 180- or 220-grit works best for this project.
  • Painter’s tape: if you want to mark the area for painting.
  • Chalkboard paint: Chalkboard paint comes in black, green, clear, or a tintable base finish. That means you can have any color chalkboard you want! I have said this before, and they don’t pay me to say this, but Rust-Oleum makes the best chalkboard paint. It covers better than any other.
  • Stir stick (or ruler or chopsticks): to stir the paint well (duh).
  • Paint brush: You can use a sponge brush here or a regular paint brush. You could use a roller if that would be easier; for this door, I used a brush because it wasn’t that big of a surface to cover.
  • Damp rags: to clean up sandpaper dust and also to wipe up any drips of paint. You could also use a tack cloth for removing sanding dust, although a damp (not soaking wet) rag works fine.
  • Chalk: you’ll need at least one piece of regular old chalk.
  • D-rings: to hang it on the wall.
  • Accessories: Hooks, containers for chalk, erasers, etc. for the new message center/memo board!

Let’s get started.

1. Remove hardware from cabinet door.

First, take the cabinet door and remove all the hardware.

Remove hinges from cabinet doors - How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

Remove all hardware from cabinet door - How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

Once the hardware is removed, clean the door with a mild soap and water solution, or a mild spray cleaner. Dry or let dry.

If you don’t want the hole from the knob left in the cabinet (i.e., you don’t want to use the knob as a hook or you aren’t going to cover it up with a hook or some other accessory), fill the hole with wood filler. Make sure to use a wood filler that’s paintable so that you can cover the hole like nothing happened.

2. Sand the cabinet door.

Next, decide what part of the cabinet door you want to paint. Sand down any part of the door you are painting (with chalkboard paint or latex paint; if using chalky finish paint, you don’t have to sand first) to remove the glossy finish. You want to create a surface to which the paint can adhere.

Use 180- or 220-grit sandpaper to remove the glossy finish. Don’t dig into the wood with the sandpaper; you just want to create a surface to which the paint will stick.

Sand the cabinet doors - How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

Once you’ve sanded down the door or the area you’re painting, wipe it down with a damp rag or tack cloth to remove the sanding dust. You want a nice, even, clean surface on which to paint.

3. Prime and paint the cabinet door.

If your cabinet door is bare wood or laminate, now is the time to apply a coat of primer.

If you are only painting part of the door with chalkboard paint, use the painter’s tape to mark off the area you’re painting. If you have a door with trim like mine, you can just use the trim as a frame for your chalkboard and you don’t need tape (or you can use tape to be super-neat about it).

If you are painting the rest of the door another color or with a different paint (latex or chalky finish), do that before you paint the chalkboard part.

To paint the chalkboard, start by stirring the chalkboard paint well. You want to make sure that the slate bits in the paint are worked back into the paint.

Paint the chalkboard paint on the door. If you can, paint in the direction of the grain of the wood.

Paint cabinet door with chalkboard paint - How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

Make sure you paint a light, even coat. You don’t want bubbles in or pooling of the paint. You’re going to have to do at least two coats, so don’t worry if the paint doesn’t cover the first time. This is what my first coat looked like:

One coat of chalkboard paint - How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

See? No big whoop – the second coat will cover it!

The first coat will be dry to the touch in about 30 minutes, dry to handle in two hours, and can be recoated in four hours (follow the instructions on the can). I will admit that I don’t usually wait the four hours to recoat. Once it’s dry to the touch, I go ahead and recoat. So far, this hasn’t been a problem. Just don’t recoat when it’s wet or you’ll end up with smudgy patches. When in doubt, wait to recoat.

You’ll need at least two coats.

How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - thediybungalow.com

4. Cure and condition the chalkboard.

Once the paint dries, let it cure for two or three days before using it. Once it’s cured, then you want to condition it by rubbing a piece of chalk all over it and then erasing. That makes it an official chalkboard – or, well, at least easier to write on and erase. In fact, every time you clean it with water or cleaner (not just erase it), you’ll want to re-condition it by rubbing chalk on it.

5. Add hooks, knobs, or other accessories.

Add hooks or knobs to hang bags or a container for chalk. I added small hooks for keys and a larger hook (which covers up the former hole for the knob!) for a little bucket to put chalk in. The sky’s the limit here: you could screw a basket to the frame for keys or chalk, or add more hooks for backpacks and purses.

Hang it up with D-rings and you’ve got yourself a memo board!

Look at these awesome chalkboard memo board makers! I taught a workshop at the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Saturday and we made chalkboard memo boards out of cabinet doors. Check them out!

Habitat for Humanity ReStore Workshop Rock Stars - cabinet door into memo board - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

The ReStore has tons of cabinet doors for this project! Check out the ReStore in your area – here’s the link to find one near you: http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx.

Here’s the link to the Atlanta ReStore: http://www.atlantahabitat.org/restore

We had a blast! If you’re interested in coming to a DIY workshop at the ReStore, subscribe to the ReStore email here to find out about the next one! You can find some of the projects I’ve done for previous Habitat for Humanity workshops here.

But, in the meantime, you should make a memo board from a cabinet door!

How to turn a cabinet door into a memo board - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

Click here for more projects using chalkboard paint!.

Click here for more repurposing and upcycling projects!.

You might also like:

  • The Friday Five: Five Projects Using Old Doors
    The Friday Five: Five Projects Using Old Doors
  • How to Turn an Old Door into a Memo Board
    How to Turn an Old Door into a Memo Board
  • Celebrating Earth Day with Repurposing Projects
    Celebrating Earth Day with Repurposing Projects

Filed Under: DIY, Habitat for Humanity Workshops, Organizing, Paint and Color, Repurposing and Upcycling 2 Comments

About Karen Cooper

Hi! I'm Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer” - I traded in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY adventures. Join me for DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organizing projects and tips as I transform a 1929 Tudor bungalow into our home. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.

« The Friday Five: Five Chalkboard Paint Projects
The Friday Five: Five Big Changes! »




Comments

  1. T L Nolen says

    June 9, 2015 at 7:47 pm

    Hi,

    Great workshop on Saturday at Habitat. The class was great, I was so motivated I think I turned my door into a chalk board. I used two coats and I looking for white chalk to do the final step. I found a pack of colored chalk at Walmart but unsure if this will work as well. I’ll send you a picture.

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      June 9, 2015 at 8:45 pm

      Thanks, TL! Yes, you can use the colored chalk – that will work. You’re going to erase it, so you won’t see the color after that. I can’t wait to see the pictures!! Email them to me! Thanks again!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer,” because I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. This blog is all about DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organization. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.




find projects here!

My Daybed in This Old House Magazine!

Daybed from Old Doors featured in This Old House Magazine
Best of 2016 - Best Blog DIY Category - thediybungalow.com

Disclosure

Dogs Don't Eat Pizza is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  Dogs Don't Eat Pizza also participates in other affiliate programs.

To see my complete disclosure and privacy policy, click HERE.

About Karen

A "recovering lawyer," I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
© Copyright 2012-2021, Dogs Don't Eat Pizza, LLC (formerly The DIY Bungalow LLC).