Easy DIY Fabric Bulletin Board

I had this vision of an 8 foot long, magnetic bulletin board to go over top of my daughter’s desk. You know who didn’t share that vision? My bank account. So off I went to sort out how to make a DIY Fabric Bulletin Board, a custom sized one no less.

Now, if you want a magnetic bulletin board, sheet metal is really expensive. At least for two pieces in the size that we needed to correspond with the length of the desk. You can find the tutorial for the filing cabinet desk here.

Then there was the factor that it was going in a kids room. While I liked the industrial look, something told me my daughter wouldn’t be too thrilled with the end product versus a bright, colorful bulletin board.

In which case here is the budget friendly way we made the DIY Fabric Bulletin Board.

STEP 1

We went to Home Depot and picked up some Handi-pacs in the insulation aisle. These were 48″ long meaning that two of them side by side would make for an 8 foot long board, to correspond with the length of the desk.

You can easily cut these down to the lengths you need. Amazon also sells smaller sized ones that may be helpful if you’re looking for something smaller.

The fabric used for the bulletin board is IKEA’s ANNBETH fabric. It has sadly since been discontinued.

If you’re looking for something similar, here are several fun striped patterns from Amazon:

STEP 2

Then on a very dark and dreary Fall day, I picked out the section of stripes I wanted with and cut them out.

STEP 3

Pinned the fabric into place to line up my stripes, with flat head thumbtacks.

Got some of my Elmer’s Craft Bond Spray Adhesive and sprayed the glue under the fabric as I removed each pin.

You can also use Aleene’s Tacky Spray, which I used when I made our custom sized storage boxes.

STEP 4

We let the fabric dry.

Afterwards, we used a staple gun to staple the back of the fabric to the foam board. This is important, especially if you’re using striped fabric, because you want to ensure everything is aligned.

Industrial strength Velcro Coins were stuck on the back. This is how the bulletin board could be hung on the wall. It also helps to avoid any gaps between the wall and the boards.

And would you look at that!

A nice, fabric bulletin board that looks like you paid a lot more money for.

DESK LIGHTING

We also added some wireless LED lights to act as a small desk/nightlight. Though they’re currently in heavy competition with the colorful Christmas lights for that title.

These are called Lightmates Wireless Puck Lights. Also available on Amazon but we picked them up at Costco.

This is to tide her over until she’s a bit older and then we’ll have to drill a hole in the desktop to allow for a cord to pass through. The electrical outlet is under her desk so if we want a desk lamp, this has to be done.

Or maybe we’ll just get a solar lamp.

We put the lights under the IKEA EKBY JÄRPEN/ EKBY BJÄRNUM shelves. We have these all over our house and they’re by far my favorite IKEA shelf.

They can turn off individually with an individual click or as a group with the wireless remote.

And finally some $10 LAVER chairs from IKEA, which are shockingly sturdy considering how delicate they look. More importantly, you can wipe crayons and markers off of then with ease.

Just a word to anyone who wants to use the Velcro as a wall adhesive, it holds very well. It won’t fall off if you’re concerned.

But it will sag approximately 1 cm from the height that you put it at once it settles. So hang it a touch higher than where you want it.

Now if anyone wants to build me a pine EXPEDIT type of shelving unit to go next to the desk, I’ll bake you a batch of cookies. Ok, that’s not a promising bribe. A bottle of Wiser’s Whisky perhaps?

Click here for how we made the DIY Filing Cabinet Desk.