I promised last week that I would share more about my bulletin board/desk project with you as soon as I could get my new desk organized. The desk isn’t completely done yet but I can show you what I have so far and go into more detail about how I covered the cork board and added the nail heads.
So a little background on the desk first.. I bought this desk from a friend on Facebook who posted that she was getting rid of it. Â The best part is that she only wanted $150.00 for it! It looks brand new and is solid wood! Â So I jumped at it because I loved the idea of using this desk as the starting point for my wrap around desk/counter for my new office/craft room:
I really liked the idea of having everything that I need in one piece like the file cabinets, bulletin boards, the desk itself and the paper sorter and cubbies up top. Â However, tying this piece into the wrap around counter area has really been a design challenge.
Thanks to you guys and your suggestions, after I posted my video update here, we moved the desk over towards the door, raised the desk up 3 inches, added a gift wrap station and we are in the process of adding shelves between the desk and the wall cabinet:
Again, I’m not finished with this area yet and we are adding shelves between the wall cabinet and desk this afternoon. Â I think I am a lot closer to integrating this piece with the rest of the wrap around. Â What do you think? Â I do have a top trim piece that will go on the top of the desk as well (so the top will be level). Â I think I’m getting there!
Once I get the piece completely finished and the shelves in, I will share the details for how we transformed this piece with paint. Â In the meantime, I wanted to share with you how easy it was to do this chic bulletin board treatment:
Covering a free standing or hutch desk bulletin board with fabric and thumb tacks (or nail head tacks) is a great way to incorporate a pop of color/design into a space. Â It doesn’t take much fabric at all, so you can splurge on something really special like this chic Dwell Studio (for Robert Allen Fabric) that I fell in love with for my office:
If you are covering a free standing framed bulletin board, all you need to do is to center and cut your fabric to fit the inside of the frame and add an extra inch on all four sides to tuck under the frame to hide the fabric edges (I use a butter knife to tuck the fabric).
For a desk/hutch bulletin board, you will need to remove the particle board panel on the back the secures the bulletin board in place:
After you remove the panel and the bulletin boards, center and cover the cork with fabric and use tacks or nails in all four corners to hold it in place and put it back in the desk and secure the back panel:
Once you have secured the back panel, you can use a paint scrapper or butter knife to tuck and get your fabric tight and smooth:
Once your fabric is smooth and tight, you can add nail head trim by using standard office tacks. I actually used chrome nail head nails because I had a box of about 1000! However, nail head nails are longer than standard tacks, so I had to add a piece of cardboard on the back on my bulletin boards so the nail heads would go all the way in. Had I used tacks, it would have been a lot easier.
To make sure that my nail head trim was evenly spaced, I started by placing the tacks in the four corners first and then going back around and adding another tack in the middle and then going around again and centering the tacks between the corner and middle and so on.. I hope that makes sense.
There are all kinds of finishes on standard tacks like chrome, brass or painted tacks, so it’s easy to find the perfect coordinating tacks to compliment any color of fabric. Â I thought about using the brass but I loved the look of the chrome.
Well friends, I am heading back to work in my office so I can finally get the finishing touches completed. Â I am beyond ready to get this done!!
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
Cheers!
cyndy
Jenny@EvolutionofStyle says
Looking good! You’re inspiring to pull out my epic fail of a bulletin board, and give it another go! That fabric puts the “fab” in fabric, let me tell you!
Cyndy says
LOL! Thanks Jenny! Yes girl, pull out your bulletin board and bling it out! I bet you have some extra “fab” fabric laying around knowing you!
Megan says
So so gorgeous! I love the fabric and your desk looks beautiful in that color.
Cyndy says
Thanks sweet Megan!! This is turning in to the project that won’t ever end! I’m ready to get in there and do my thing! Big hugs!
Lesa Bell says
What a transformation. So often people neglect their home office even when it’s so important to have a pleasing work environment. This is a quick and great looking fix that I am sharing. Thanks.
Cyndy says
Thank you so much Lesa and I saw where you shared it on your blog! Thank you!! I am already feeling so much better about having a beautiful and calm space to work in. I wish I would have done it a long time ago! Thanks again!
Lois Black says
great job! It’s an inspsiration to keep youself organizecd with such a beautiful spot to work in. Thanks for sharing!
Lois Black says
Great job! It’s an inspiration to keep youself organized with such a beautiful spot to work in. Thanks for sharing!
Robbie says
Beautiful! Love that fabric and how dimensional the look is!
Great how you’re pulling all this together – really enjoying the transformation!
Sarah @ Simply Sarah Style says
Wow! What a difference the white paint and a contrasting background make. Well done!
Deb says
Looking awesome!! Love the color you have painted your new desk!! What color is it??
Anxious to see more photos.
Laura Strack says
From the photos, the bulletin boards have so much dimension. They appear very deep. Your desk definitely looks built-in. I’m sure it would have cost 2K to have it custom built. Love it! Beautiful! You should be so proud!! Have a great weekend 🙂
Lois says
I love this project and the flow of colors.. may I ask what color are the walls and cabinets… Thank you for sharing ..
Lois