I have entirely too many projects to keep track of inside my increasingly crowded head. This includes two project cars, a finicky daily driver, and all the various issues that come up when you own a house. My wife wanted a whiteboard to attach to the fridge so we could plan weekends and keep a running honey-do list. But even small whiteboards are fairly pricey.
My wife found a cheap idea on some other blog, and we tried it out. The whiteboard failed on the fridge — we couldn’t get the board to stick, and didn’t want to screw into the fridge — but it’s been great in my garage. This project affords plenty of material for all the whiteboard you might want: You’ll start with a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet.

Head to your local home improvement store and get a sheet of glossy, white panel board. (Here are links to these at Lowe’s and Home Depot.) Don’t be concerned about the apparently blank images on the store’s website. It’s a 4-by-8-foot rectangle. A blank picture is exactly what it looks like.
If you have a small car, you can plan ahead by measuring where you want to put it. Find an employee in the lumber section; they’ll be able to cut it down to the size you want. Usually, the first two cuts are free and each additional cut is 25 cents. This way you’ll have a piece exactly the size you want that also (hopefully) fits in your car.
Make sure you grab some dry-erase markers while you’re out, and screws if you don’t have any.

Installation is simple. I just grabbed four of the nearest wood screws and drove them straight through the board and into the wall. You may opt for a cleaner installation with nicer fasteners, but I’m not worried about this falling down.

I screwed a small hook into the wall and another into the marker cap so I could always have the writing implement nearby. There are plenty of other ways to do this. I’ve considered adding a string so I wouldn’t have to hang the pen back up every time: Just recap and release. If you want to get fancy, keep a clean rag to use as an eraser. I usually just use my hand.

Accessorize as desired.

A whiteboard is handy for all manner of minor notes, specs, and mid-project details. I’ve found it allows me to step away in the middle of a project and know pretty well where I’m at when I return.

As for the refrigerator, my wife ended up using some chalkboard paint we had left over from a previous project. Come to think of it, chalkboard paint is a pretty good option for your garage as well—provided you have relatively smooth, finished walls and don’t mind working with chalk.
 
Photos Copyright 2014 Alan Cesar/Hooniverse.