DIY Erase Board With A Window Pane

I have collected quite a few vintage window panes, over the last couple of years, and each one I have been able to use in one way or another in my home.  My most recent purchase was a six panel window pane with a great looking latch on the front with a rusted patina. Ultimately my plan was to make a DIY erase board. This is actually quite easy to do on the window glass.

Originally, my intent was to use this frame to display 8 x 10 family photos in and hang it in our hallway.  However, with project weddings going on in our house, it quickly became just another piece to my daughter’s vintage wedding theme. A six pane window makes an excellent display for a wedding program sign!  And, since I would want to use the window later, I wanted my sign to be erasable.

Window Pane DIY Erase Board

My problem is that I hate writing with regular chalk, especially if it is for something like a message board where I am going to be constantly erasing and rewriting.  I don’t like how chalk feels or sounds and the mess it makes drives me crazy.

So….I decided to do it a little different.

One of the times that I was visiting a favorite cafe in northern Michigan, I noticed that their menu boards were written in chalk marker but the black surface was super glossy like glass.  I have written on clear glass before, with a chalk marker, and love how easy it is to write, erase and rewrite.  This gave me the idea to paint the back of my window with my chalk board paint instead of the front where I would be writing.

Paint The Back Of The Glass

I applied three coats of the black chalk board paint to the back of the window and let it dry.  Then, I wrote out the wedding program on the six panes of the window.  The white chalk marker really popped against that black background and you still got the feel of a chalkboard.

After the wedding it was super easy to erase the whole thing with just the wipe of a dry rag.

Now I use the window in my office as a message board.  The six panes are perfect for planning my days Monday through Saturday.  Since I am writing on glass, I can easily erase my chalk marker without any mess.

If you don’t like the glossy look of doing it this way and you don’t mind using regular chalk, you can always just paint the front of your window and use it like a normal chalkboard.

Traditional Chalk Option

To show the difference, I flipped my message board around.

I wrote on this side with a chalk marker and then tried to erase it and it wouldn’t come off easily.  I didn’t want to rub too hard and instead would get a magic eraser which should work pretty well.  So…for this side, it would have to be regular chalk.

You can also see where I used chalk board paint on a vintage picture frame to create a permanent sign.  For that I painted the front of the glass and used a chalk marker since I didn’t have to worry about erasing.