I’m so excited to write this DIY post! A couple of years ago I picked up an old frame at a yard sale and because of its odd size (roughly 3 ½ft x 2ft), I had a hard time figuring out what to do with it – both where to hang it and what to put in it. Then one day, my husband said to me, “Remember when we used to have that giant white board in our old apartment? Wouldn’t it be nice if we get another one so we can write stuff down?” That’s when my light bulb went off! I could repurpose the old frame and turn it into a dry-erase board!
This is what you will need:
- Framed art, of course
- A piece of fabric of choice for the background (light colors are better if you have regular dry erase markers, but if you pick a darker piece, you can use a white marker or pastel colors)
- Scissors
- Small pliers
- Duct tape
- Stapler
- Gorilla hooks (to hang the frame)
First, you’ll want to open up the frame by putting it face down on the floor. I used a pair of scissors to remove the craft paper that protects the back of the frame by running the scissors along the edge and ripping out the paper.
Since I was planning on hanging the frame vertically, I didn’t have to change/move the wires. Beneath the craft paper was a foam core board attached to the frame with staples. I tried using a staple remover to pulled the staples out but that didn’t work very well, so I used small pliers instead.
After removing the staples, you should be able to pull the foam board out and remove the art from the frame. I separated the original art from the black mat because I wanted to reuse the mat.
I also reused the foam board since it was white. I simply turned the piece of art over. For the background, I used a piece of chevron fabric that I had left over from another project. I laid the fabric on the white side of the foam board and used a regular stapler to secure the fabric to the board. Then, I laid the black mat on top of the fabric, and carefully placed it back inside the frame.
I used duct tape to secure the foam board back inside the frame. You can also staple it or use small nails, but the tape is easier and faster, and works equally well.
This is the view of the back of the frame. It looks a little messy, but since it will be facing the wall, I didn’t care too much.
And this is the finished product!
To hang it, I used a gorilla hook (30lbs). I picked up a 30 piece set on Amazon for about $8-11. Ever since I discovered them, I have deemed my husband “inessential” since I can now hang heavy stuff around the house without his help nor his power tools. With the gorilla hooks all you have to do is pick a spot, push the sharp end into the drywall, turn it so that the hook end is pointing up, and hang your frame. The only thing you’ll have to be careful of is to not push the hook right into a stud since it won’t go through.
So there you have it. I hung my dry-erase wall next to my desk in my home office, and it compliments my inspiration gallery wall pretty well!
Have you done any projects around the house?
