Add style and organization to a home office by using decorative items for functional purposes -- for example, colorful pottery to hold pens and paper clips and wooden boxes to store CDs. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden shows how to turn a purely functional bulletin board into a decorative accessory. Materials:
Cork bulletin board
Fabric and batting a bit bigger than the bulletin board
Gimp ribbon
Staple gun
Needle-nose pliers
Tack hammer
Glue gun and glue
Upholstery tacks
- Lay the fabric face down on your work surface, and cover it with a layer of batting. Center the bulletin board face down on the batting.
- Use a staple gun to attach the fabric and batting to the back of the bulletin board. Staple the middle of one side (figure A), then pull the fabric and batting taut and staple the opposite side. Staple alternate sides in this manner. Before stapling the corner fabric, clip off excess batting at the corner so the fabric will lie flat.
- Turn the bulletin board face up, and arrange pieces of gimp ribbon in a crisscross pattern across the front of the board. Pull the ribbon taut, and use upholstery tacks to pin it in place at the edges of the board and at intersection points (figure B). Insert the upholstery tacks by lightly tapping them in place with a tack hammer. If necessary, use needle-nose pliers to hold the tacks while hammering.
- Attach the ends of the ribbon to the back of the bulletin board with hot glue.
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