Home Office Inspiration Board

I wanted a large inspiration board for the office but couldn't find one big enough that was in my budget.  So, not being afraid of a bit of DIY, I decided to make my own.

I didn't want to start messing around by cutting pieces of wood and trying to make a frame, which would have probably been the cheapest option, instead I decided to use an artist canvas.  Fortunately Michaels was having a 50% off sale on their canvases, and they had a huge one at 40x60 inches.  Perfect size.  Not!  I couldn't get it in my car, and my car isn't even that small.  I tried & tried, and looked really silly in the process.  I didn't want to stick it on top of the car, because that's the kind of thing husbands do, and he wasn't around.  So back to the shop it went.  Fortunately I had my thinking cap on and decided that I would join 2 canvases together.  Sure it would be a bit of work, but not as much effort as calling a friend with a mini van to pick up the larger canvas.

So I started with this:

I pushed a pin into the canvas and decided that it needed some sort of backing that would hold the pin in place.  So out came some foam board which I had to cut in half to fit into the frame.

Next came the tricky part.  What should I use to attach the two canvases together?  After wandering around Lowes aimlessly, I stumbled upon these fastener brace thingies.  They seem to do the job nicely and the board passed the wobble test.  Next step was to cut the fabric to size and staple in place.  I'm getting very good with stapling, but wish I had an electric one to save my poor handie.

After the fabric had been attached, I decided to add some nail heads.  I completely cleaned out JoAnns & Hancock Fabrics of their stock and still didn't have enough, so that part will have to be finished later.

Final step, attach picture hangers and hang.  Fortunately it's level.  You never know with these old houses how things are going to look once hung.  If it's not the floor that's sloping, it's the ceiling, or the door frame, or just about anything else that could make something look wonky!

The fabric I used is called Silhouette by Thomas Paul from Calico Corners.  I wanted to inject another colour other than yellow into the scheme, so I chose turquoise.  I also wanted the print to be organic & graphic at the same time.  I think that this notice board would work equally well with a plain linen fabric.  Maybe when I tire of the print, I'll do something like that.