Here's Why You Need A Letterboard In Your Home

Because it's time to upgrade that dry-erase board.

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Do you have something in your home that everyone comments on the moment that they walk through the door?

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Maybe it’s a gorgeous mirror, your gallery wall, or a piece of art. (Or maybe it’s the stain on the carpet, the “custom artwork” your toddler has drawn on the wall, or a present that the cat brought inside.)

For me? It’s my letterboard.

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People eventually get to the artwork (toddler-created and professional alike), but not without noticing my letterboard first. Despite my allegiance to HGTV, I’m not the most creative or innovative person when it comes to decorating my home — but I feel like this board makes it so easy to give my decor a bit of an edge. If you don’t yet have a statement piece for your home and aren't in the market to drop a lot of cash, this is the thing that you need, and here's why.

It’s a great conversation piece.

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I love people, but I’m also an introvert. There’s a lot of awkward involved when you fall into said category: stumbling over words, not knowing how to make small talk, making funny voices when you really don't need to, and general exhaustion. But I’ve learned that if I have a security blanket going into conversations, the rest of the chat thereafter flows pretty naturally. At Christmastime, it was the classic mistletoe that we hung in the entryway, and now it’s the letterboard. And bonus: It’s not seasonal! Which brings me to...

You can put whatever the heck you want on it.

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There have been a variety of things I've used this letterboard for announcing — from reminders to movie quotes to love notes and highly inappropriate song lyrics. This particular letterboard comes with two sets of letters (one big and one small), so you can fit a sonnet or a sentence on there and it won't look awkward either way.

Noncommittal? No problem. You don’t need to fear permanence with the letterboard! Having friends over for Cards Against Humanity on Saturday but having mom over for brunch on Sunday? Change it from your favorite R-rated play of the night to “call mom” in less than five minutes.

Leave love notes for your bae. When my husband and I first got married, we would always have dry-erase markers in the bathroom so that we could leave notes for each other on the mirror. Oh, newlywed life. Since having kids, we have ditched the dry-erase markers (#ToddlerArtist strikes again) and opted to leave notes where little fingers cannot reach.

And finally, it's great for kids too! Not only do they love deciding what goes on the letterboard, but this is a sneaky way to get them to practice spelling.

Rhianon Hoffman / BuzzFeed, amazon.com

I put all of the letters out in front of them and see what they come up with. And if they make a mistake, no biggie. My 5-year-old gets super frustrated when he makes a spelling mistake on his homework, but with the letterboard he just removes the incorrect letter and replaces it with the correct one; no tears involved!

The board is available in seven color combos — all with an oak wood frame — and comes with 650 letters, numbers, and symbols. Get it from Amazon for $26.99.

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Looking for the perfect gift for any occasion? Check out all of BuzzFeed’s gift guides!

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Rhianon Hoffman is a stay-at-home mom of four young boys based in Brooklyn, New York, who blogs regularly on her site Brooklyn Boy Mom.