Sunday, November 2, 2014

Painting Tables with White Board Paint

Working at a 1:1 school, I realized my kiddos still needed a place to work out their problems. Trying to be a paperless or being more realistic, a paper lite classroom, my students needed a workspace that wasn't scratch paper. (That was driving me crazy... having scratch paper everywhere!)

One of my fellow teaching partners painted her tables with whiteboard and I decided to follow suit and create a tutorial!

Step 1: Ask permission! My tables were from circa 1972 and my wonderful principal was on board!

Step 2: Supplies needed:
  • Rust-oleum Dry Erase paint (I used 3 boxes for 5 tables and my U-shaped table) 
  • sand paper (60 or 80 grit) 
  •  A dense foam roll and roller 
  • paint tray 
  • paint sticks
  • painter's tape (I used the blue stuff) 
  • painter's plastic (I painted the tables in my classroom and I didn't want any drips on my new carpet!)
Step 3:  I then sanded all the tabletops and then removed the dust with water and a lint free cloth.

Step 4: To prevent drips, I used the blue painter's tape around the edges of the tables.

Step 5: It is really important to do all the prep work before you mix the paint. You only have an one-hour window to paint once can A and can B are mixed.  Paint one thin coat on all the tables.

Step 6: I convinced my wonderful boyfriend that he wanted to help me paint my tables. We applied three thin coats on each table and used 2 boxes of the paint. We then came back the next day and used one more box and painted on two more coats.  You have to wait 3 days before you can use Expo markers on the tables.

Here are the tables in action!

6 comments:

  1. This seriously is awesome!!! I need to look into it! :) Thanks so much for sharing how you got it done. I bet your kids are loving it!
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

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  2. I LOVE this idea!! No limit to what they can write & erase!! Sometimes my individual whiteboards are too small a space for my kids to write on. Does the paint (once thoroughly dry) seem to resist scratches? Love your blog!

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    1. Kathie! So far the tables look wonderful! On Friday, I was a little nervous because we counted $217 dollars worth of change (from a Coin War Fundraiser) on the tables and they still look great!

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  3. If only I had found this post last week! I did all the steps you mentioned except the sanding as it was school furniture. I got permission to paint but paint can be removed I feared sanding would not be approved. Well I used the whole box for one table and have 4 coats and there are spots you can are already chipping off. Sanding, as it turns out is a MUST do step.

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    1. Oh no! All that work and it didn't even last a week! I just did a light sanding so the paint had something to adhere to. I made my students "placements" for their computers. I didn't want the computers scratching up the table tops. But so far after 4 months, they are still looking really great! What are your plans? Try and repaint?

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  4. Excellent Blog! I have been impressed by your thoughts and the way you ReMARKable whiteboard paint

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