Discarded cabinet doors are pretty easy to come by, especially if you have a friend or neighbor upgrading their kitchen. They’re also easy to up-cycle into a number of projects so we usually have a stack sitting around the Studio. When a client asked if we could make personalized bulletin boards for her grandchildren I suggested using the cabinet doors rather than buying bulletin boards to use as the base.

Each cabinet door got a light sanding and thorough cleaning. Instead of a cork board I split the cabinet doors into a chalkboard and a magnetic board. I used Rust-oleum’s Chalkboard Paint and painted the entire base and frame. That way the kids could even write in chalk on the frame if they wanted.

Chalkboard paint takes several coats and it needs to dry between each. One of the cabinet doors had a divider, the other did not so I cut a piece of trim to attach down the center and help to secure the metal flashing.

I adhered metal flashing to one half of the cabinet door with caulk and secured in place with trim. Each board is personalized with the children’s favorite hobbies. Lance is big on music and Shawn, the younger, loves Star Wars. I was able to add a shelf to the top for Shawn so he could display some small Star Wars toys. An upside-down drawer pull is the perfect resting place for chalk.

I decoupaged vintage music sheet papers to trim out the board for Lance and added some music note stickers to jazz it up a bit.

When they were all done I used chalk to season the boards for use. The boys loved them and because they are chalk and magnetic, no worries of thumbtacks falling to the floor!