While trying to save money and also take a break from work we decided to make our own white boards for the office. There are a few posts about this on the web, but most of them seemed unpolished to us. As we were walking around Lowe’s we found the perfect hardware to get the job done. Each board ended way below $20 each after tax. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Mark R board – If you walk around Lowe’s or Home Depot long enough you can find this stuff. At Lowe’s it was near the planks of wood and it was precut in 4′ x 2.75′ pieces. There was another type of board there that was 8′ x 4′, but that just seemed a little too big for us to carry/transport. Each board was about $10.
- Molding strips – We wanted to dress up the sides of the board so it didn’t look so unfinished so we bought strips of molding. You’ll need enough to cover all the edges obviously. These run about $2 each and you’ll need about 1.5 per board.
- Glue – Any type of glue to bond the the molding to the board is fine.
- Mirror hanging kits – Instead of poking a hole in our white boards we decided to go with mirror hanging kits. These run around $3.
First cut the molding to fit around the white boards. Cut the corners at 45 degree angles so when 2 butt up against each other they form a 90 degree angle. It takes some practice to get a nice clean cut, but if you use a sharp pair of scissors and practice a bit it gets easier.
Next glue the molding to the white board … you don’t need too much glue, just enough to keep it in place.
After that you’re pretty much done. Use the mirror mounting hardware to put these guys up around your office. Be sure to use a level and a measuring tape so everything looks nice. Oh and you might need a stud finder too. The mirror mounting kits are nice because they don’t put holes in your white boards … just your walls. Also the boards lay perfectly flat against the wall too so there’s little to no flex. Enjoy!
The Listia Blog 
This is cool. Not only the concept, but the fact that the you are stretching a dollar, and not just wasting money like most of the now-defunct web companies have. 🙂 Keep up the good work.
The blog post that started all of this DIY crap on Listia.
This is PERFECT!!! Im working on a project in my boys room…trying to “transform” it into a school playroom kind of a theme… and i’ve been searching on nearly all DiY & i havent found one yet that suits what im looking for and this is by far THEEE closest! I was thinking of Sheet metal and then to cover it with self adhesive dry erase paper…then they could use magnets AND draw @ the same time….But i’ll still end up paying how much it would cost if i bought the actual board from walmart,micheals. Thanks for the idea & tip!!!
Commenting just to say that I love this guide!! I was really not looking forward to experimenting with the dry-erase paint or Lexan which most guides point you to. This mark-r-board stuff is really awesome, too! I was worried about the markers staining the board and not many people commented about that anywhere so I will… From a software engineer anyway… You write on it, can leave it up for over a week, erase with no spray (just dry eraser) and almost no stain. Better than some whiteboards I’ve used in professional settings. But not magnetic of course, and personally I love that, too. We put two of the panels end-to-end along our office wall and it is awesome! The mirror hangers are such a great idea, I’m new to DIY and it seems obvious now that you said so but yeah, was a great tip. Thanks!
I really like your blog post.Thank you. !!