Easy DIY Giant Gold-Framed Bulletin Board for Under $30 + Bulletin Board Inspiration

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Last week, I revealed my quiet time space in my office, and today I’m revealing my office bulletin board!  One of my first projects when I first started blogging was a massive DIY bulletin board.  (You can see the original post here but please don’t judge my horrible fabric choice and bad photography.  Haha.)  When refreshing my office last year, I knew I wanted to keep the bulletin board, but I wanted to class it up a little bit to match the overall aesthetic in the room after the refresh. 

My inspiration was this gold-framed bulletin board from Pottery Barn… absolutely stunning.  I couldn’t bring myself to buy their actual board, though, because that is a hefty price tag for a bulletin board.  Plus, it wasn’t big enough anyway. 

Job one was to recover my existing board and get rid of that busy black and white fabric that I’ve had on it for the last few years.  I found some simple light khaki fabric at Walmart and I knew it was perfect… now the actual items pinned to the board can shine!

Creating the gold frame was going to be a little bit harder, but I knew there had to be an economical way to do it.  All it took was a few minutes of browsing the lumber department at Lowe’s and I had my solution – quarter round!  Ready for the instructions?

Materials

1 sheet of soundboard, cut to the size you need (a 4 ft. x 8 ft. sheet is only $9.00 at Lowe’s and they will cut it for free)

1.5 yards of linen fabric (I found mine at Walmart and it was only $7.00, but Amazon has this one that looks identical)

2 pieces of 1/2-in. x 8 ft. pine unfinished quarter round, cut to the size of your frame (only $4.48/each at Lowe’s)

Metallic Gold Spray Paint (I like this one from Amazon and it’s just $3.96)

Staple Gun to attach the fabric to the board (this one is highly rated)

4 Long, sturdy screws to hang the board (something similar to these)
Drill (we have this one and love it)

Command Strips to hang the frame (I love these)

Step One

Iron the fabric if it has wrinkles.  I know nobody likes to iron, but you’ll regret it if you don’t and then it’s all wrinkled after you hang it.

Step Two

Lay the fabric face down on the floor and lay the soundboard down on top of it.  My soundboard had a black side and a light brown side, so I tested the push pins on both sides to see which side worked the best.  The push pins seemed to go into both sides equally as smooth, so it doesn’t matter which side you lay down on the fabric.  I laid mine light brown side down. 

Step Three

Use a staple gun (or a hot glue gun if you don’t have a staple gun) and tack all of the edges down to the back of the board.  Be sure to taper the corners so they fold under smoothly and don’t bulge.  Be sure to pull the fabric nice and tight as you staple so it stays even across the front of the board.

Step Four

To hang, you’ll need a drill, four very long screws, and someone strong to hold the board up while you attach it to the wall.  Brian held my board exactly in place where I wanted it to hang while I drilled the holes.  I drilled straight through the fabric and the board and then used the screws to attach it to the wall.  It doesn’t really matter where on the board you drill because you can cover the screws with whatever you pin to the board.  Keep in mind when you’re drilling, the fabric may pucker a little, so be careful. 

Step Five

You should have four pieces that make up the frame (one for each side of the board).  Spray paint all four pieces with the metallic gold paint and let them dry.

Step Six   

Once the framing is dry, use Command Strips to hang them individually around the board.  This means that the frame won’t actually be attached to the board… instead, it just appears to be attached.  That’s how we’re able to do this project so cheap!  Trust me, I looked into doing a custom frame job and you don’t even want to know how much it costs!!  It would have been hundreds of dollars, and I just wasn’t willing to spend that much on a bulletin board.

Inspiration

I just love having the board over my desk to hang special mementos and other random things that made me happy.  I face this wall while I work, sometimes for 6-7 hours a day, so I definitely wanted it to be pretty and inspiring and filled with things that bring me joy.  Some of the items I have displayed on my board are as follows:

-       Artwork that the kids have made for me over the years

-       My blog logo

-       Decals, stickers, and patches of some of my favorite things (my alma mater, Dave Matthews Band, University of Georgia)

-       Inspirational quotes

-       “Hey, y’all” – my signature greeting!  :o)

-       WWJD – a little reminder to be my best self (and also a throwback to my junior high days when everyone wore those bracelets… anybody else?)

-       Special mementos (our wedding invitation, Jacob’s and Olivia’s birth announcements, an ultrasound picture of the baby we lost and a note from my best friend during that hard time afterward, etc.)

-       Favorite family and friends pictures (that one of Jacob holding newborn Olivia… OMG, I die.)

-       A copy of my word for the year – CONNECT for 2020 (I change this out annually)

-       Fun goodies from Young Living and some YL info to keep me motivated

-       A calendar (I refer to it all the time, and Jacob made this one for me so it’s even more special)

-       Some paint swatches from past and current projects

-       Fairy lights!!!!  I have these and they are a complete gamechanger!  You don’t even notice them when they’re off, but when they’re on, they are just magical!!!!

-       Other cute things to “pretty it up” (gold glitter dots, black and white polka dot banner, rainbow felt banner)

All of these things inspire me, motivate me, and make me so happy, and it’s just the best view to have while I work!

Stay tuned, y’all… my office refresh reveal should be up next week!

Happy Wednesday!

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