How to: make an inspiration board for your home office

I’m the first to admit to having a serious addiction to both Instagram and Pinterest. I am a visual learner and well, there are just so many pretty pictures, how can you not be? Yet, I still find myself collecting magazine cutouts and swatches of fabric (surely I can’t be the only person out there doing this?).

I wanted to create an inspiration board for my home office where I could physically pin such finds. I had a bit of a look around online and in stores and couldn’t find anything that matched my decor, let alone any that I was willing to have on show to visitors. All I found were plain boring cork boards or, if you wanted to mix it up, half cork board/half whiteboard and let’s be honest, nothing that looked like that would be going up on my walls! So, as you do, I decided to make my own. Here is what I made and now I’m going to show you just how easy it was to whip up!

Step 1: Decide on a frame and design + Pick up supplies

Being a renter, I needed something relatively light so my trusty 3m velcro strips would hold it up. This threw out my original idea of an ornate vintage frame, so I went for a lightweight and budget friendly option from my local junk shop. I opted for a monochrome pattern that was striking with a relatively easy pattern to paint (given my lack of painting skills).

• Cork board
• White primer paint
• Black water-based acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Masking tape
• Pins

Step 2: Time to prime

I never realised just how absorbent cork board was! It literally soaks up the primer as you’re painting, so you will need to do at least two coats to make sure you have a decent base.

Step 3: Mark out your pattern and paint

This is the most time-consuming part of this relatively quick project. Mark out your pattern with the masking tape. I didn’t use anything fancy, just a tape measure and a lead pencil to make sure my pattern was going to work out evenly across the board.

Then simply paint over the pattern. I would recommend two coats for this stage as well.

Step 4: Affix to wall

Once the paint is dry, remove the masking tape and ta-dah! Your pattern will all make sense. Then all you need to do is affix to your wall and get pinning!

I picked up these gold pins in a pack with gold paperclips and bulldog clips from Kmart for only two bucks!

–Kathryn Bamford is our girl on the ground in Melbourne; you can follow her DIY & design adventures on Instagram @thedesignrookie.