Brainstorming Bulletin Boards

This one's for you Ang......

So a friend called me last night to brainstorm ideas for a bulletin board project she wants to do in her office. He original plan was to buy cork on a roll and put 3 large pannels vertically on the wall. Then she wanted to use crown moulding to create a box frame around each strip. After thinking about it for a bit I had 2 concerns. First, is that cork on a roll really thick enough for thumb tacks? Will you go through the cork and hit the wall? I've had this problem before and when your tacks keep falling out because they are not in far enough....so annoying.

Second, creating molding boxes around something sounds a little easier than it really is. This concept is used frequently on home improvement and decorating blogs but I learned from experience that it is not as easy as it seems. Unless you are fairly handy and can measure perfectly, have a miter saw, braces to get the corners together just right, a nail gun and putty to fill the nail holes I would suggest an alternate route. I'm not saying don't do it but I would rate myself an 8 on the crafty scale and only a 3 on the handy scale and I can't do it myself.

Here are some bulletin board inspiration photos you can use to take your original concept in another direction:

Good for organizing things into different categories or for different people in your household

Image and project from Womensday.com

I like the 2 ideas on the left best, criss crossing ribbon to stick things in and an old frame re purposed with a ribbon accent:

Image courtesy of TheSomedayBlog

And this one adds a decorative touch so you can be organized and pretty at the same time:

My ultimate suggestion, get 3 inexpensive or resale frames and paint them a lacquered white. Add thick cork to the center or cover the cork in fabric. Add a ribbon hanger at the top so that they appear to take up more space on the wall.

And, just in case you move offices or want to take them home at some point, use neutral colors that will coordinate with a variety of spaces and places....Hope that helps!