Cheap & Easy DIY Glass Whiteboard For Dry Erase

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Wipeboards are handy, but they are generally ugly. This DIY glass whiteboard project will give you a dry-erase board of any size or shape you want. And the project is very easy. This glass dry erase board is a beginner project that looks cool and functions perfectly! The trickiest bit is putting the whiteboard on the wall, but we walk you through how to hang your whiteboard – and in a sleek modern way.

We tried two other ideas before devising this much cooler – yet still affordable – version:

What about Dollar Store Dry Erase boards?

You might recall that schools had to operate from home on and off between 2020-2021. When this first happened, I dashed to the local dollar store to get two large sheets of dry-erase cardboard for each of our kids.

We combined both in our son’s room and he really took to having a nearly 3’x4′ whiteboard. Math, general doodling and comedy ensued. It ended up getting great use over the past few years.

Three years later the old cardboard whiteboard, which looked meh to begin with, was showing its age and quality. It had ratty edges and creases in spots. It was never meant to last for more than a few months, and it didn’t.

So when we started to make over his room this past summer, we knew we would have to include a big whiteboard or chalkboard or something as part of the updated decor.

What about using Dry Erase Paint?

Our next idea was to test out some of the dry-erase paint on the market. It seemed a bit expensive, but we knew it would give us any shape or size whiteboard we wanted.

We found an unopened can for cheap on FB Marketplace, we thought we had it nailed. Normally this paint costs more than we wanted to risk, but for $20, why not?

Score? Not so much…

While our Marketplace steal looked mint, when we opened it up and when to stir the paint, we discovered that all the dry-erase-making goodness had settled to the bottom and coagulated into an unmixable mass and the paint was garbage. (And we had read similar reviews of the paint when purchased online. Once it dries out it is useless – and it dries out more quickly than normal paint).

Lesson learned.

So what to do now?

DIY Dry Erase Board Made from Glass!

But wait, isn’t big sheets of glass expensive? Especially the safer tempered glass?

It can be. Enter our old friend Marketplace:

cheap tempered glass — Old glass tabletops!

When coffee tables, outdoor dining sets or other glass-topped tables have outlived their lives, folks are often looking to get rid of them. And the glass is perfect for this project!

So, with a couple of days of looking, Robin was able to find the perfect material and size to make a tempered glass whiteboard.

We had our perfect material for a fraction of the price of whiteboard paint or even the premade fibreboard panels that are sold in many places too.

Here’s the 411 on how we made this…

How to: DIY Glass Dry Erase Board

Materials:

A sheet of tempered glass that you want to give a cool new life to
this maximum adhesion primer
these mirror mounting clips (also available in black)
these colourful and affordable and well-reviewed 20 pack of dry erase markers
paintbrushes, drill, screwdriver (really basic DIY stuff)

Glass Dry Erase Board How to:

1. Find your dream sheet of glass.

tempered glass DIY wipeboard — Our vision included curved corners for the original concept of the whiteboard, so finding this tempered glass tabletop for $25 was a sign that we needed to use it.

Also, it fit the space we wanted to put it in perfectly.

Just give it a look over to make sure there are no really dramatic scratches or chips. And no cracks!

2. Clean both sides thoroughly and test out your dry-erase markers.

dry erase markers on glass — We found that most worked, but the newer, darker ones worked better than the light colours.

Most glass should work regardless, but still worth testing before you do all the work.

3. Look over both sides carefully and choose the best one to face out.

start with clean glass — There were some minor scratches on our sheet of glass, so put the worst ones on the back to get painted over.

4. Paint the back.

steps to make DIY glass whiteboard — No paint is going to stick perfectly (there might be some special formula somewhere, but it wasn’t in our inventory).

We just used a premium adhesion primer and did several coats.

It’ll all work out because the paint side goes to the back and that protects it from getting scratched off.

5. Expect a longer dry time.

paint on back of glass — We found that we had to wait longer between coats as the paint on glass seemed to dry slower than on walls.

Don’t rush, do several coats (we needed three) and you will be happy with the results.

The most stressful part is carrying your freshly painted glass panel into the room to mount it.

DO NOT scratch or scuff it on anything as the paint will end up with patches removed and you will be angry.

Use 2-3 people if you are moving a large sheet as moving it and mounting it to the wall are the only challenging steps.

6. How to Hang Whiteboard with Style

how to hang diy glass whiteboard — Here is the mounting hardware we used.

It is great because you can put it in place and loosen the cover to fit the glass sheet in, then tight it down to secure.

We used longer screws than what it came with and drilled into studs to hang our glass whiteboard because it was so heavy we didn’t want to risk having it pull out hollow wall anchors.

Predrill the holes and get someone to help while you position the glass. We ended up with a couple tiny bits of paint scraped off by a couple of mounts, but nothing you notice unless you look super-close.

Additional idea – these mounts leave a small gap between the wall and back of the glass – perfect for not scraping the wall, but also an opportunity to backlight your whiteboard with diffuse LED lighting if you were so inclined (we were not, but could be very cool!

back painted glass whiteboard — Done! As you can see – perfect fit in the space and already in use.

Our son loves these colourful dry erase markers – highly recommended!

Let the creativity begin!

Here’s more of our DIY Wall Art Ideas…

FAQs

Can any glass be used as whiteboard?

All the types we tested worked – just be sure it is real glass. Some plexi/acrylic materials may not perform as well, especially with the ‘erase’ part. When looking, carry a sample dry erase marker and eraser to test in a small corner to see how it performs.

Can I use glass for dry erase?

Absolutely! You too can have a wall of dry erase creativity space just like a silicon valley start-up anywhere you have windows or glass.

Can I use regular whiteboard markers on glass?

Yes, you can, just make sure the window is clean and free of oils etc. We found that some markers worked better than others too (the cheapo, Dollar store ones did not work as well as the premium versions – shocking, I know). There are also dedicated markers for windows, so if you really are having trouble, use those.

Robin & Ed Hicken

Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 25 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a Nutritionist and former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Do It Yourself, Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.

Robin & Ed Hicken Creators