Here's an easy to make wall checkerboard

When I was planning out the room design for House for Hope, I immediately knew I would need help.

I was responsible for furnishing the space and filling the room up and adding accessories and furniture and making giant tic tac toe boards for the wall.

All that furnishing and decorating and accessorizing is a lot.

So I turned to my friends.

One of the first companies that stepped up and said they would sponsor the room and help with the furnishings and partner with me to decorate the walls was FrogTape.

Of course they did.

They are super amazing like that.

We worked together last year to raise $5000 for the Humane Society with the imagination room and this year they are back again, helping me spread a little hope.

To say thank you, I created a fun project for the walls of the House for Hope family game room that allows you to play checkers vertically on the wall.

Here’s the DIY and how to make an oversized checker board that hangs on the wall.

Here's the oversize game board in the room

Here’s the picture of the game board on the bookshelf in the room.

It’s four feet by four feet and actually hangs on the walls of the gameroom, but I can’t show you the entire space yet.

So I just put it up on the bookcase and took pictures.

Here's a detail shot of the checkerboard

The checker pieces are magnetized and you can move them around the board on the squares.

When it’s hung on the wall, each of the sets of checkers will be on the sides to allow players to stand on the floor and play.

It’s a fun interactive piece of art for the space.

How to make an oversize checker board

Oversized Checker Board

supplies

48′ x 48″ piece of panel board (this board needs to be relatively thin to make sure the magnets work)

16 feet of 1″ x 2″ pine boards

24 round discs (I bought these in sets of four at Hobby Lobby)

96 small magnets

dark blue paint

light blue paint

gray paint

stain

Step 1- prime and paint your large board

Step 1:  Prime and paint

Prime and paint your large board.  We used SW Alabaster to paint the board after it was primed.

Frame out the board with the 1″ x 2″ boards.

We just cut them and nailed them directly to the front of the board because it was so thin.Tape off the board for the next step of painting
Frogtape is one of my favorite products

Step 2:  Tape off the boards

I used FrogTape for the project.

There are eight rows of eight squares on the checker board.

Allowing for the frame on the board, each of the squares measures 5 and 5/8.

You can tape off the project in different ways, but we started with the center squares first.

Paint every other square with your contrasting paint

We painted every other square with gray paint.

Like this.

It looked like this when we were done painting

Then we pulled off the tape, let the squares dry and taped off the outer squares on the board.

You could tape off every other square individually, but this made the taping process a little easier.

Then, you'll need to make the game pieces

Step 3:  Make the game pieces.

We painted 12 round discs dark blue and 12 round discs light blue.

A magnet was glued to the back of each one.

You want to get the strongest magnets you can to make sure the pieces stick to the board.

Add your magnets to the back of the board

Step 4:  Add magnets to the back of the board

We lined up the pieces on the front and glued a matching magnet to the back to hold the pieces in place.

I thought about using magnetic paint instead, but sometimes the paint doesn’t really hold that much of a magnetic charge.

Remember when gluing the magnets to use the same side on each piece.  One side of the magnet attracts and one repels.  You want to make sure all your magnets are going the same way to make it easy for the checkers to move from square to square.

Here's another detail of the completed project

I cannot thank FrogTape enough for helping to sponsor the room.

And inspiring me.

FrogTape and I have been friends for years and my heart still beats a little faster when I pull back the tape and the paint line is perfect.

Every. Single. Time.

So here’s to oversized game boards on wall.

Here’s to bringing checkers back.

And here’s to houses and hoping and making this world a little brighter place….

….one game piece at a time. 🙂

And now for a few more tips and creative ideas from some of my favorite bloggers:

DIY Cake Stand

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

All About Burlap

On Sutton Place

Want to know how to decorate your home for free?
Click here to get my FIVE BEST secrets.

Comments

  1. Image for Beverley Beverley

    Love this idea! You may have been able to use a piece of metal too as your board and painted it? Not sure if they would have cost less than the magnets.

  2. Image for Ellen Ellen

    This is another spectacular project! I think that both of these games will provide hours of fun and entertainment. I can't wait for the reveal of your House for Hope room and I know it will be nothing less than perfect!

  3. Image for Cecilia Cecilia

    What a wonderful idea! And good tip about the magnets...definitely don't want them repelling each other! Anyway, I love this idea and the size of the board. I can't wait to see the whole reveal! It sounds like a happy place. hugs, Cecilia

  4. Image for Pamela Pamela

    i just saw your frog tape honeycomb wall in your coach house in their ad in Country Living Magazine p. 55 March 2017!

  5. Image for Michelle Michelle

    Again, a fun and adorable project! I shared your tic tac toe project with my sister as she is currently creating a special guest/fun room in her home specifically for her too-cute-for-words grandkids. Plus, she really adores working with wood. Of course, loved it!! And, of course, I'll be sharing this project with her too :-)

  6. Image for Michele Riggsbee Michele Riggsbee

    What a lovely idea and so perfect for that space! I remember as a kid playing with magnets and seeing how they either repelled each other or how they were drawn to each other! That's wonderful how Frog Tape sponsored this for such a worthy cause!

  7. Image for Sara @ finditfixitorbuildit.com Sara @ finditfixitorbuildit.com

    Love this! What a fun idea...my kids would totally play with something like this all the time. Thanks for sharing at the Home Matters Link Party! #HomeMattersParty

  8. Image for April J Harris April J Harris

    Well done for raising so much money for such a worthy cause! Your Oversized Checker Board looks wonderful and your tutorial makes it very do-able! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Hearth and Soul. Scheduled to pin on Pinterest later today. Hope to 'see' you at Hearth and Soul again this week.

  9. Image for Marian@CMShawStudios Marian@CMShawStudios

    I love this idea. I might need to copy it. And I love that you didn't use magnetic paint. I've done that before and you need 4 or 5 coats and ferocious magnets for it to work. This is so much better. I want one. Today is all about chalkboard painting a giant frame for my family room. Wish me luck! I used frog tape too. The Other Marian

  10. Image for Patty Morris Patty Morris

    Hello, I had contacted you a few years ago when I found you by accident. You had done a nice makeover and I looked so fresh when you did the small porch at your Gate House. I looked everywhere. I had written you preciously about this but I did not receive a response. I ould greatly appreciate one. Thank you, Patty Morris

Comments are closed.