Kitchen Board v0.0.18: Self-Hosting a Family Wall Planner

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So, you’ve got a family and a chaotic fridge full of sticky notes. Enter Kitchen Board, the v0.0.18 release of an open-source wall planner meant to replace calendar apps your family won’t actually use. It’s not perfect, but hey, nothing is. Here’s how you set it up and what to expect. Spoiler: if you need Google Calendar sync or mobile bells and whistles, this isn’t it. But if you want a no-pressure, local-first dashboard that screams “community project,” Kitchen Board may surprise you.

Why Use Kitchen Board? #

Honestly? I’d pin this on two camps:

You want control: Sick of managing 73 cloud logins for your family? Here’s your logout button.
You hate overkill: No AI calendar assistants, no inbox integrations, just a clean wall display on a Raspberry Pi or an old tablet. A commenter on r/selfhosted (@localroot) called it “old-school in the best way.” Exactly. It’s simple and home-grown. But it’s also still pre-1.0 at v0.0.18, so don’t expect polish. Expect growing pains.

Quick Setup #

Let’s keep it real: this runs fast but assumes you’re sort-of competent with Docker. If copying commands makes you cry, maybe hit pause.

Step 1: Prep Your Environment #

Kitchen Board at v0.0.18 is a lightweight Node.js app bundled with a minimal front-end. It’ll run fine on a Raspberry Pi (4GB RAM is plenty) or a low-tier VPS like Hetzner’s CX11 (€4/month). But for the kitchen, go cheap and local.

OS: Ubuntu 22.04 or similar
Docker: Any modern 23.x release works here.
Free Port: 3000 default, tweak as needed.
Update packages and install Docker:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose

Don’t forget to add yourself to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out/in for changes or newgrp docker to refresh.

Step 2: Repository and Config #

Pull the Kitchen Board repo:

git clone https://github.com/user/kitchen-board.git
cd kitchen-board

This step assumes you’re comfortable editing .env files. Create one in the root directory to tweak settings. The important parts:

PORT=3000
TZ=America/New_York

Step 3: Run the App #

Fire it up with Docker Compose:

docker compose up -d

Hit http://<YourLocalIP>:3000 to check if it’s running. If yes, congrats — you’re 90% of the way to ditching Post-its.

Optional: Auto-start #

For always-on setups (like a Raspberry Pi display), enable a restart policy:

docker update --restart unless-stopped $(docker ps -q --filter "name=kitchen-board")

What Works, What Doesn’t? #

At this version (v0.0.18), Kitchen Board is basic and proud of it: What’s Good:

Simple drag-and-drop widgets: Calendar, grocery lists, family memos. No learning curve.
Lightweight: Less than 150MB RAM, tested idling.
Local-first: Everything is stored on your machine, not someone else’s server. What’s Annoying:
No mobile apps: You’re stuck with “go to the IP in your browser.” Not a dealbreaker, but meh.
Feature gaps: Things like recurring tasks or deep customization are MIA.
Bugs: Expect runtime errors if you play fast and loose with widget settings. A Reddit user (@diyguru) summed it up well: “It’s good if you don’t push it too hard. Perfect for what it’s trying to be.”

FAQ #

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Can I run Kitchen Board on a Raspberry Pi?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Yes! A Raspberry Pi 4 with at least 2GB of RAM should handle Kitchen Board easily. Just don't overload it with other heavy apps."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Does Kitchen Board support Google Calendar sync?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "No, Kitchen Board is local-first and doesn't integrate with cloud services like Google Calendar. For advanced syncing, you might need something like Nextcloud or CalDav."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Can I customize the interface?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "To a degree. You can tweak widgets and layouts, but deeper visual changes may require modifying the source code directly. You’ve got the Git repo — go wild."
      }
    }
  ]
}

There you go. A functional, minimal wall planner that gives your family a fighting chance at organization without drowning in complexity. Will it stay in the rotation after two weeks? Who knows — but it’s a fun project either way.