During our renovation of my sewing room my husband, Doug, had the idea of creating a floor to ceiling tack/inspiration board. We hung the board with velcro instead of nails so that I could change the fabric covering if I ever wanted to and so that you wouldn't see any type of fasteners. I loved the idea of having a place to organize ideas and works in progress that was also attractive and decorative all at the same time. Mine may be a little bit over the top in size but the process is the same no matter what size you make it! We thought someone else may like a board like mine too, so here is a little tutorial on how we made it.
Doug made a frame for the board out of crown and other decorative molding but you could also use a picture frame with the glass removed or paint a faux frame around the board after you hang it, the possibilities are endless just use your imagination!
materials:
- homasote cut to the desired size (can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot and they will cut it to size for you). Make sure you have it cut slightly smaller, about a 1/4", than the inside of your frame so that you have room to place it in the frame after you apply the fabric.
- staple gun and 1/4"staples (larger staples will go through the board)
- hammer or rubber mallet
- muslin or light colored fabric large enough to overlap the edges all the way around your board by 1-2" ( My board measured 80 1/2" x 37 3/4" so I cut my fabric to 84 1/2" x WOF) *** if you are covering your board with dark fabric you can skip this step, I did this because the homasote is somewhat dark and you could see that through the Nicey Jane print that I used. You could also paint the homasote white if you wanted.
- printed fabric cut to the same size as you cut your muslin above
- industrial strength adhesive velcro (available at Home Depot or Lowe's)
- frame of your choice
Step 1
After you have cut the homasote to your desired size, the first thing you want to do is apply the velcro to the back of the homasote (it doesn't matter what side, just pick a side to be the back). The instructions on our velcro said to allow the adhesive to cure for 24 hours to insure maximum hold so be sure to read the directions fully! You may also want to put some staples through the velcro to further secure it. Place a generous amount of velcro strips along the width of your board, make sure you start and stop the strip about 1" away from the edges so that the fabric won't cover the ends of the velcro strips. Then hammer the staples in, just for fun!
Step 2
Next you are going to cover your board with muslin or some other light colored fabric. As I mentioned above, this step is totally optional. I did this because the dark shade of the homasote could be seen through my desired fabric. I used white kona to cover my board.
Place the homasote on a flat surface face down and staple one long edge of your muslin to the wrong side of the homosote, place staples every inch or so along the edge. Only allow about 1-2" of fabric to be on the back side of the board to assure that you will have enough to cover the good side and fold back around to the back on the other side. Be sure to keep the fabric off of the velcro to assure that the velcro can stick to it's other side on the the wall.
Continue to staple all along one long side until the fabric is secured along the entire length of that side.
Step 3
Flip the board over so that it is right side up. Stretch the fabric over the good side of the board. Starting in the middle and working your way out to the corner, pull the fabric taught (but not so tight that it will put stress on the fabric or the board) and wrap it around to the back side of the board. Be sure the homasote is free of any dirt and that there is nothing on the board or fabric that will cause lumps in the fabric when it is stretched across. Make sure you smooth out any puckers or wrinkles before stapling. Secure with staples just like you did on the other side. Make sure you leave the edges of the velcro exposed. Secure all along the length of the board so that now you have completely secured your fabric along the long sides of the board.
Step 4
Now you are going to do the same thing to the other two sides stopping about 1" away from the corner. When you get to the corner, fold the fabric neatly into a mitered corner keeping it as smooth as possible on the back. If there is too much bulk the velcro will not grab onto it's other half and the board will not stay securely on the wall. It doesn't have to be perfect! You will not see the miter, especially if you are placing it in some type of frame. Just make sure there is no puckering on the front before you secure it with the staples on the back. Do the same for the other 3 corners. Trim all of the excess fabric away from the edges and corners.
Step 5
Now you get to do the same thing again with your "good" fabric. Make sure that you iron all of the creases out and that you keep an eye out to make sure it is not getting lopsided as you pull everything taut. The only thing we did differently this time is that we did the whole process right side up so that we could keep an eye out for the fabric alignment. We placed the board on top of a table with the edge hanging over.
Step 6
Once again, you want to trim as much excess fabric away as possible so that the board can be as close to the wall as possible, allowing the velcro to stick.
Step 7
Now that you have your board covered, it is time to hang it! We placed the two sides of the velcro together so that they were stuck together as they would be on the wall. Take the covering off of the back of the velcro exposing the sticky back. Stick it up on the wall where you determined it should go. If your board is large, remove it carefully making sure that the one side of the velcro remains on the wall. This will allow the glue to cure and assure that the hold will be strong enough to bear the weight of the board. We left ours off for 24 hours, like the instructions suggested. Then you can carefully place the board back up on the wall where it belongs. If it is large, start at the bottom and line it up slowly as you edge it into your frame.
Step back and admire your beautiful new inspiration board!
Please let me know if you have any questions or if something isn't clear! I will be happy to help if I can! :) If anyone makes a board using this tutorial, I would love to see it! Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you also enjoyed this sneak peak at a little corner of my new sewing room! The full reveal will come as soon as all is finished! :)
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