DIY Weekly Menu Chalkboard from an Old Cabinet Door

Create a chalkboard weekly menu board from an old cabinet door | Upcycled cabinet door becomes days of the week chalkboard | cheap and easy DIY menu board

I’m a firm believer in menu planning as a way to save a lot of money.  I won’t get into the details here, but being committed to a weekly menu saves us hundreds of dollars a month and helps me to always be prepared to cook healthy, home cooked meals for my family.

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Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

For awhile, I was the only one who knew what we were eating for dinner every night, and my husband never really cared the he was in the dark, until the one day I posted our menu for the week – he LOVES it!  Although my girls can’t read yet, they often look at the board and ask what we’re having for dinner, so I know as they grow up they’ll love it as well.

upcycle cabinet doors into chalkboard menu boards

The best part of my DIY chalkboard menu board is that it cost virtually nothing!  I found an old cabinet door at my local ReStore, but I’ve also found them at garage sales, thrift stores, and on the the side of the road as trash.  I’ve also used old picture frames and just painted the glass, just be sure you use this type of chalkboard paintblank, it’s the only type that I’ve found to work on glass.

cabinet door chalkboard

I filled in the knob holes with wood filler and after it dried, I painted the base coat on the frame, and then used hemp oil, one of my favorite ways to distress paint to show a second layer of color.

DIY distressed chalkboard frame

I painted the second color on top, and lightly sanded down the places where I had added the hemp oil. Then, I painted the inside of the cabinet doors with two coats of chalkboard paint.

Create a chalkboard weekly menu board from an old cabinet door | Upcycled cabinet door becomes days of the week chalkboard | cheap and easy DIY menu board

After everything had dried, it was time to write the days of the week.  The trouble is, whenever I try to paint neat lettering on anything, it looks horrible.  Thankfully, I’ve learned a couple of easy ways to take something that has been printed from a computer and make my letters look exactly the same.

Easily transfer letters to paint | How to paint perfect letters | Transfer printed words to paint

I’ve used these techniques a lot and mentioned them in a lot of different posts, but I finally wrote a whole post devoted to the different ways to get perfect letters on our projects.  If you want to try your hand at perfect handwriting, you should check it out.

how to make a chalkboard menu board

After I painted in the words with a paint pen, I let it dry and then seasoned the chalkboard by rubbing the chalk on its side, and then erasing it all.

Create a chalkboard weekly menu board from an old cabinet door | Upcycled cabinet door becomes days of the week chalkboard | cheap and easy DIY menu board

If it were up to my husband, he’d have tacos every night, so this week’s “menu” is for him!

Create a chalkboard weekly menu board from an old cabinet door | Upcycled cabinet door becomes days of the week chalkboard | cheap and easy DIY menu board

I wrote this on all of my menu boards at the last pop-up markets I sold at, and people seemed to enjoy it.  In fact, the four menu boards I made sold out within the first 30 minutes!  Needless to say, I’m planning to make more for my upcoming markets this year.

Create a chalkboard weekly menu board from an old cabinet door | Upcycled cabinet door becomes days of the week chalkboard | cheap and easy DIY menu board

Instead of a menu board, it could also be used as a weekly event or reminder board, too!

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Jenny at Refresh Living (dev.refreshliving.com)

Post by Jenny Leads

Jenny is the voice behind Refresh Living. She has a passion for helping people to create a home they love without spending a lot of money.

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13 Comments

  1. Great idea, it’s no surprise they all sold so quickly. Thanks for sharing at Talk of the Town. By the way…I could eat tacos every night of the week!

  2. These are super cool, Jenny. I love that blue! I’d vote for Fish Tacos (my fav!)
    Thank you for sharing at Brag About It link party (Mondays at Midnight) on VMG206 this week!
    ~ Megin of VMG206

  3. Love this! It turned out so great. Now I need to get my hands on some cabinet doors! Pinned.

    And thank you for sharing at the Wednesday Showcase. We hope to see you again 🙂

  4. What a clever use for an old cupboard door, Jenny. A nice hard surface for the chalkboard and it’s already framed out. I really like the shade of gray you chose and appreciate you sharing the variety of ways to do the lettering 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up your projects with Vintage Charm!

  5. Hello!! I wanted to let you know that your post has been selected as a feature for the Welcome Home Wednesdays Link Party! Stop by and see your post linked up and grab your Featured Button too!! ~Lisa~