This DIY Glass Whiteboard Turns a Whole Wall Into a Space for Creativity (June 26, 2012)

At one company I worked for, we had entire walls on our floors that were painted with whiteboard paint so we could always get up, wander to a wall, and have an impromptu discussion with our coworkers or jot down some ideas. Over at Ikea Hackers, D. Morris wanted something similar for his home office, and found the answer at his local IKEA. A repurposed dining room table-top, a picture ledge, and some whiteboard markers were all it took to add a huge whiteboard¡ªand a great space for brainstorming¡ªto this home office.

All told, the components that D. Morris purchased cost about $100, and the result is a whiteboard wall that still costs less than other whiteboards of the same size (53"x33") is mounted with mirror fixtures so you don't have a huge border to deal with, and since the cover is glass, it's easier to clean than a standard matte whiteboard. If you'd like a huge space to jot down thoughts and priorities and have a c-note to spend, this is an easy DIY project that can make a huge difference in your workflow. This isn't the first glass whiteboard we've mentioned, but is it the best-looking we've seen. For a more permanent solution, you might consider a littledry erase paint instead.

We have that cleaning problem a lot with the real white boards at work. I think the problem is that people use window cleaner instead of white board cleaner on them. Window cleaner leaves a film behind which prevents easy and complete clean up. I started using straight-water on mine and after a couple of washes, the window cleaner film was gone and erasing was good again.

Unfortunately, we no longer can get the real white-board cleaner - corp finance won't let us buy it and we can't mix our own (e.g. roughly 1 - 12oz. bottle of isopropyl alcohol (Heet - red bottle) in water to make a total of 1 gallon of cleaner) because the chemical people won't allow it without the proper commercial labelling.

I agree that the shower board melamine surface can be a bit too thin - although I've found quality varies with the manufacturer.

What about shower board? I've never done it personally, but I know several people who have had shower board cut to size at a local hardware store and used it for a white board. It can be framed to make it a little more ascetically appealing.

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