DIY Chalkboard Doors for a Suburban Home

So many of us live in “builder basic” suburban homes that lack the charm and character of older homes or custom homes. Our home was amongst these and I longed to add character without breaking the bank. Over the years I’ve discovered that there are so many simple additions and DIY projects that can be done to elevate a suburban home and make it feel welcoming and full of charm. I’m sharing my DIY chalkboard doors project including a step-by-step tutorial. These doors add character and create a focal point in our dining room.

Do you have a door or set of doors that you’d like to upgrade on a budget? These DIY chalkboard doors may be the perfect weekend project for you. The instructions that follow don’t have exact material amounts or measurements as they will need to be determined based on the dimensions of your existing doors. However, I have included the exact materials I used at the bottom of the post in case you are interested or happen to have the same size doors as I do.

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Inspiration

This project arose as I was renovating our living room/dining room area. I had installed board and batten to the entire space, painted, added open shelves (see post here), and refreshed most of the furniture, and I had planned on installing French doors between the dining room and kitchen. My plans were cut short when I got the quote for the doors- $700! Well, that wasn’t in the budget, so I went to plan B, which consisted of painting the doors.

I knew I wanted to paint the doors in a contrasting colour, but I didn’t think that would be enough to give the doors the character I was envisioning. I had admired the pantry doors of my instagram friends Holly at Our Faux Farmhouse and Dale of Blooming DIYer, and they both provided loads of inspiration. So, I decided to add some chalkboard panels and frame them out to make them look like custom doors. The whole project would have been a lot easier if the doors were simply flat slab doors instead of having the recessed faux panels, but I found a way to work around this dilemma.

*Note- I only applied panels to one side of the doors. However, both sides are painted in the new paint colour. You could apply the panels to both sides.

Supplies

• Existing doors
• Pieces of ¼” thick plywood underlayment cut to the desired chalkboard size
• Picture frame moulding (mine was just over 1” wide)
• No More Nails adhesive
• Primer suitable for raw wood
• Chalkboard paint (I used Benjamin Moore Chalkboard Paint in Racoon Fur)
• Paint for the doors (I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey). Click here to see my comparison of chalk, fusion, and milk paint.
• Paintable caulking – optional
• Spray paint for doorknobs – optional

Tools

• Compound mitre saw, table saw, or mitre-block for hand cuts
• Air compressor, brad nailer, and brads OR hammer, finishing nails, and small countersink
• Screwdriver to remove door hinges and doorknobs
• Measuring tape, pencil
• Paintbrushes

DIY Instructions

Measuring and Prepwork

• Remove the doors from their hinges and remove the doorknobs. These can be spray painted if you desire a different colour. Ours were brushed nickel and I sprayed them in a matte black paint so they would tie in with the black chalkboards.
• Determine where you want the chalkboard panels to be located.  You could do one long panel or two smaller panels. I chose to do two panels per door with the upper panel painted in chalkboard paint and the lower panel painted to match the door colour. If you have recessed panels you want to cover, make sure that the chalkboard panel, or at least the trim, will completely cover the recesses. Determine the measurements for the panels and mark them on the doors with a pencil.

The Panels

• Cut your panel pieces using a compound mitre saw or table saw (or have them cut at the hardware store) and sand them to prepare them for painting.
• Apply 1 coat of primer, and two coats of chalkboard paint to the chalkboard panels. If you are using some panels that will be painted with the door paint, you can wait to paint these. Then, ensure that you let the paint dry between coats.
• After the chalkboard paint has dried for at least a day, affix all the panels to the doors using “No More Nails” adhesive. To do this, apply the adhesive to the backs of the panels. Since my doors are hollow, I didn’t want to use nails to affix the panels. To apply pressure to the panels I placed some VERY heavy boxes on top of the panels and left them overnight.

Trim and Finishing

• The picture frame moulding goes around each panel. Measure and cut mitred corners, then line them up on the doors to see if any adjustments need to be made. Sand the trim pieces prior to painting.
• Prime the trim pieces (prior to affixing them to the door), then apply two coats of paint to the trim and to the doors themselves. You won’t need to paint right up against the chalkboard panels as the trim will soon cover this area.
• To attach the trim pieces, apply “No More Nails” to the backs of the trim pieces and place them on the doors. Then use the brad nailer to secure them in a few spots. If the doors are hollow, then the nails won’t hold in the long term. However, they are useful to keep the trim properly aligned while the adhesive dries. You may want to place a heavy box on each set of trim while the adhesive dries overnight.
• If there are gaps between the trim and the door, you can fill them with paintable caulking and then paint these areas with the door paint.
• Screw the doors back into their hinges and re-install the doorknobs.

Dimensions of My Doors and Wood Used

• My doors are 15 ¾” wide and 80” tall.
• The two upper panels are made from ¼” plywood underlayment cut at 9 ½” wide by 34 ½” tall. The two lower panels are 9 ½” wide by 23 ½” tall.
• I used about 30 feet of trim to surround all 4 panels.

Is there a space in your home that could benefit from these DIY chalkboard doors? I love that we now have a spot to jot down menus for the week, grocery lists, and must-remember events.