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So… I have a wall.  I have stared at this wall for 5 years now bored to tears with it.  Not anymore!  Check out my new DIY framed chalkboard wall!

DIY Framed Chalkboard Wall

DIY Framed Chalkboard

How cute is that??  I have such a narrow hall, and the other side is my DIY board and batten wall, so I needed something that would lay very flat.  I love how it turned out!

I built the entire thing for under $30 and had it done in no time!  Here is how I did it!

Supply List

1 – 1x6x8′ Pine or Whitewood board

2 – 1x6x6′ Pine or Whitewood board

Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint

Varathane Stain in American Walnut

Kreg Jig (optional and totally recommended)

Start by making your cuts!

I cut the 8ft board into two 48″ pieces, and then cut each of my 6′ boards to 55″.  I used my Ridgid miter saw for this, but you can also use a cheap hand saw like this one!

Chalkboard Wall Measurements

I used my Kreg Jig to make two 3/4″ pocket holes on each end of both of my 55″ boards.

Kreg Jig Pocket Holes

This is a great beginner Kreg Jig
project!  Many of our readers ask which jig we prefer.  We spent 2 years using the K4 model and love it, but the new K5 is the BOMB!
It’s got so many great new features making it even easier to use (if that’s possible 😉 ) and saves more time!

Line your boards up like this.  The 55″ boards will sit 2″ from the edge of your 48″ board.

Chalkboard Wall How To

Next, I used my Ryobi 18V drill to attach 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.  These go through the pocket holes I made and into my 48″ board holding everything good and tight.

Kreg Jig Chalkboard Frame

Repeat the same thing on the other board to create a frame.  When you are done, it will look a bit like this!

Building Frame for chalkboard

I laid mine on contractors paper to stain it…

Build a framed chalkboard for the wall

I used a new favorite stain line for this project!  You can find it at Home Depot.  It’s called Varathane and I used American Walnut for my color choice.  It is very similar to Rust-Oleum stain that we love.  It has that same GREAT 1 hour dry time, and it only requires one coat… Woohoo!

Varathane Wood Stain

Here she is drying!

Build a framed chalkboard

While that was drying I started on the wall.  For the chalkboard portion, I chose to use Rust-Oleum Chalkboard paint.  This can also be found at Home Depot super cheap.

Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint

Now… my walls are an ‘orange peel’ texture.  They are textured, but I wouldn’t call it heavy at all.  I decided not to sand the wall at all to smooth it.  The texture doesn’t bother me a bit, and I love that I can take this whole thing down, paint the wall a different color and you never know the chalkboard was there.  I think that is the draw to this product.  If you have really heavily textured walls, I would consider putting the paint on a 1/4″ material and framing it.  I would do that before sanding the texture of the wall… Just my 2 cents!  If you sand a large spot on the wall, it’s permanent.  There really is no easy fix to get it back to the original.  You hear me?

So… I started by taping off my wall.  Here are the measurements I went off of.

Measurements of Chalkboard Wall

To apply my paint, I used a roller system I have never used before.  I found it at Home Depot and I LOVE it.  It’s a microfiber roller made by Wooster.  I have found my new favorite rollers for sure… This was so fast and left no paint lines on the wall… Woohoo!

Wooster Paint Roller

I did two coats on my wall… It dries super quick.  It was ready to be framed in under an hour.

Paint Chalkboard Wall

Once that was dry, I attached my frame!

To do this, I held my frame up to the chalkboard wall.  I used a stud finder to mark where my studs in the wall are.  This is the stud finder I use.
This is a very handy tool I would tell anyone to get that plans on hanging anything on the wall…  It saves a ton of time and headache!  You just run it along the wall and it beeps when it finds a stud.

I marked two spots on both of my 48″ boards where my studs were.  Then, I used my drill to pre drill a hole at each spot.  Next, I used 3″ torx screws to attach my frame to the wall.  You can also use wood screws.  The screw goes through the frame and into the wall.  This leaves a small hole in the frame.  To cover that, I used stainable wood filler and touched it up with a bit of stain.  Easy peasy!

DIY Frame for Chalkboard

You really can’t see them at all unless you look close.  Woohoo!

Here are a few more shots of it all finished!

Chalkboard Wall DIY

DIY Framed Chalkboard Wall

DIY Framed Chalkboard

Hallway Chalkboard and Hooks

DIY Chalkboard Wall

What do you think??  My kids are quite pleased with me 😉

This made a boring wall super functional and cute at the same time!  And, did I mention… Under 30 bucks baby.  Bam!

I would love for you to share and PIN my new wall with all your friends!  Let me know if you have any questions at all!

~Whitney

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32 Comments

  1. Just bought my first home, new, so of course everything is builder grade and plain. I am definitely doing this for my boyfriends man cave upstairs. I have a question though, and includes a few other projects. The Kreg Jig is expensive :(. Can I do this project without that tool? More importantly your towel holders that you made, I am in love with, but same thing for the pocket holes, how else can you complete projects like these without the Kreg Jig? And is it going to look crappy without it?
    Please let me know and thanks!! 🙂

  2. Did you use select pine for this? I’m working on this now and my boards do not lay as flat against the wall as yours! =(

  3. Is there another option if you don’t have the Kreg jig? I love the chalkboard! How would I proceed without the jig?

      1. Well mine is a main wall in my kitchen and I feel like it is always dirty. I wash it with water only and I wish it would always look that nice and shiny!

  4. Perfect solution – I was planning to paint a very narrow closet door with chalkboard paint, but thought a completely black door at the bottom of a staircase would look goofy – now I can just make it a bit smaller and frame it out on the door – yea!

  5. I know I could do the math and figure it out but it’s Monday 😉 How much of an overlap to you have for the wood on the ends? I want to do a different size but like the look of the frame you made so I’d like to match that overlap…pretty please