diy bulletin board project

A few weekends ago, I tackled a small project that I've been thinking about for months - and I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out!

Due to some changes to our living situation, Twin and I now have a designated office space, which is pretty exciting. We've been shifting furniture around for a couple of weeks now, and are having so much fun getting everything settled in new configurations. And, as you know, new furniture arrangements and new spaces mean that there are new walls to fill!

This brings us to my little DIY project - a bulletin board!

I started with this very blue frame, rescued from our frame shop at work. (A definite perk of working there) I popped it apart, but saved the backing & glass to use for later.


I bought a package of cheap corkboard squares at Target - the ones meant to hang directly onto a wall. (If you were really good, you would go buy a roll of cork, which would be wider so that you could have one continuous piece. I couldn't easily find any of those, so this worked out just fine.)

After measuring the inside dimensions of the frame, I trimmed a couple of the corkboard squares with a utility knife so that I could fill the entire frame. Measuring carefully is important here, because you really don't want uneven pieces that will leave gaps and look messy. (I found that putting the pieces against the backing that I pulled out of the frame made measuring much easier.)

Then, using regular clear packing tape, I put all the corkboard together. It's hard to see in this picture, but make sure you tape in at least two directions on each seam. This will help prevent the pieces from pulling apart when you hang stuff on them.


Before painting, I roughed up the surface of the frame with some sandpaper. If you have a brightly colored frame like I did, make sure you cover the carpet or do this somewhere where you don't care about bright blue dust. Then wipe down the entire frame with a damp cloth.

I happened to have a large jug of gesso hanging around from all my art classes in college, so that was my paint of choice. (translation - it was free) I'm sure you could use pretty much whatever paint you want to, although keep in mind that the lighter the color you are using, the more coats you'll need to cover up whatever was underneath. I did two coats, which didn't cover completely, but since Twin and I both liked the slightly distressed look, we decided that a third coat wasn't necessary.

When you're painting, make sure to paint inside the rabbet of the frame so that you don't have the old color showing through next to your corkboard.



Once the frame is completely dry, assemble the bulletin board by putting your corkboard into the frame first, then the glass and backing you took out earlier. An alternative to putting the glass back in would be to use a piece of foam core or gator board (found at your local frame shop) for stability and to fill the depth of your frame.

(I didn't think to grab either of these before leaving work, so just put the glass back in. Also, I wasn't patient enough to wait for the globs inside the rabbet to dry, so when we put it all together, some oozed out onto the corkboard. Oops.)

If you have small finish nails, use these to secure the pieces into the frame by putting them around the edges of the back. I used the packing tape again to hold everything together. Then add either a wire or hooks to hang on the wall!

Here's mine, happily hanging above Twin's printer. Isn't it cute?