apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

go to an art store where they sell cork by the foot. buy a ton of it, and make sure to get it thick enough so that tacks can go all the way in. roll it out on your wall, nail it in or find some adhesive that does the trick.

Magnetic paint + chalkboard paint. Paint a board of the size you want with magnetic paint and then paint chalkboard paint over it. Frame with modling optional. Get chalk in all your favorite colrs and cute magnets and pin and draw away.

Earlier this summer, Martha Stewart showed something similar using Flor Tiles (www.florcatalog.com) - http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel3730174&site=blueprint

Might now be the look you are going for, but I love those Flor tiles!

I have a chalkboard wall in my new apartment- I love it!

I got a 3x4 piece of sheet metal at Home Depot (very cheap) and just screwed it to the wall. A few of those together and a fist full of magnets would look really cool.

How about some magnetic paint? A few coats of that with your desired latex paint colour on top and you've got a limitless magnetic board. Click my name for the link.

We did something like this in my mom's frameshoppe - she was always out of space, but didn't like how the white whiteboards showed seams.

So. We got two different colors, white and a light green, and put them up checkerboard style. It turned out really cute and she loves being able to write on the wall all the time.

What about linoleum tiles in a big 'ol checkerboard pattern?

This is an expensive option but one that I still think is cool:

http://www.walltalkers.com/

Someone posted (I think on AT?) a great idea a month or so ago:

Flor tiles. Get as many of these carpet tiles as you want in whatever colors and nail/stick them up on the wall. Add pushpins and you are done. http://www.interfaceflor.com/service/flor/what_is_flor

I plan on doing this in my place but have nt yet tested if the pile is too deep for the push-pins to stay in. If anybody knows the answer do tell!

Homesote -homasote?- might be your answer. I don't think big box stores carry it, but a local building supply store might. I think it comes in 6x4 foot sheets. Have the place you buy it from cut it to the size you want, b/c it is very hard to cut from what I understand. You can paint it any color you want and it will stand up to years of pinning and re-pinning. Art schools use it. It is a little heavy and would have to be mounted properly, into wall studs, but should leave only screw holes behind when you remove it.

I second the roofing sheet metal (not sure which alloy to ask for, but take a magnet to the store before you buy to make sure). I think my super affixed it to my walls just by screwing it into the drywall.

I've heard magnetic paint (or was it chalkboard or both?) can be a bitch to paint over, though, so be careful if you need to do this anytime soon.

Homasote is the answer and big box stores do sell it (and can cut it for you). The sheets are 4 x 8. I made several and covered them with great fabrics and hung them in the kitchen and kid rooms. Just use picture rings and wire on the back--no frame necessary.

Try P3 ceramic steel. Might cost a bit but should last until beyond the apocalypse. Supposed to be the best whitboard surface out there and is already magnetic.

You could also span picture hanging wire in rows across the width that you want to use above your desk. Then you could use clips from Ikea or an office supply to secure your photos, notes, etc. to the wires. My friend did that in her office and it looks really clean, unlike bulletin boards, which can get overloaded and cluttered.

I did this exact project. You have to use homasote. Go to the lumber store, home depot or the like. I got mine at prince lumber in the city. Then go to the fabric store and pick a fabric you love. you can stretch it over the homasote like a canvas. I used raw silk and it looks great. Homasote is like dry wall but lighter and it is tackable, you do not need to find a stud to hang it, your dry wall can handle the load. I had a lot of fun with this project and the result is pretty classy.

i miss my homasote wall! in my old office, we had an 8'sq section of wall covered with it - screwed right into the brick. it stayed intact even after years of pinning projects & designs on it. it looked fine bare, but you could get creative & pin fabric over it. hmm, i may have to ressurect this idea for my home office.

btw, for those of you who have not seen homasote, it looks very similar to cork. same golden tan color, but a little rougher & fibery.

For my mother's home office, she bought 3 or 4 of the magnetic IKEA boards, covered them with fabric, and mounted them side-by-side over her long desk table, so she has a nearly continuous surface on the wall on which to post work items with magnets. It works great and is very decorative. It cost about $30 to put together.

A friend of mine made me a magnetic board of galvanized metal. She had it cut and then framed it with a traditional picture frame. Then she took vintage buttons and glue-gunned small round magnets to the back of the buttons - it looked great.

actually, you don't need homasote at all.

foamcore, my friend.

the woman on shelteriffic just did a bulletin board by covering foamcore with fabric. she did have some trouble with the depth vs. the length of the tacks, but that would be easy to remedy with either a double thickness of foamcore or some kind of frame to hold it away from the wall. foamcore is light enough that you should be able to stick it to the wall without worrying about studs and nails and such. you can get it in a variety of sizes at your local craft or art supply store -- you can probably get it at Michael's or whatever in 36 x 40 lengths, but specialty shops will have it even larger.

having gone through MANY boards for work, homasote is the way to go.

magnetic paint, while cool in concept, usually requires several coats, and you will still need the super strong magnets to hold up your stuff. and over time, if you continue to paint over it, the magnetic bond gets weaker.

chalk board paint also is cool, but if you are pinning stuff up, then it’s not the answer.

the Flor tile idea on martha are actually hard to tack into.

foamcore breaks down, and shows dents.

i love magnetic boards, but for some reason i like them small. sometimes the magnets are hard to get off, so you'll see me sliding them off to the edge.

the PC 3 tile sounds really cool, but costly.

homasote can be installed as is, or cover it with a fabric that works for your decor. easy to install, and a great board to tack into. and it last.

a few times the people at home depot had no idea what I was asking for, but I have always found it there.

additionally it’s made from recycled material, which is a good thing.

i have a full size board (4x8) at work and love it, and debating a whole wall for my home work room. and for the size, it's actually pretty cost effective.

ya, I would say I love the homasote, but it’s cause i’ve tried so many others….

You guys are incredible! So many thanks to all.
HH-you really summarized well-must be all your experience with such boards. The size of your current board (4x8) at work - would work. How would you attach it to the wall? I think another response said it wouldn't need to be put into the studs - but I'm thinking something that big probably will pull out of the drywall. Also, do you use molly bolts or just screws or thick nails.
I'm thinking of painting it the color of the wall or white and am wondering if the paint chips off with repinning stuff.
Thanks again.

Just to echo the homasote love--we just built a gigantic (fifteen feet long by five feet high) bulletin board to hang our kids' art and pics down a previously stark hallway; we got molding and built a frame around it, then painted it, so the whole thing looks like a giant, kind of Seussian framed artwork. The homasote comes in big sheets and is easy to work with, paint, etc. I put a smaller bulletin board along an entire wall above my desk in my home office, also painted to match the walls. I couldn't be happier with both of them...

we went to our local hardware , riverhead building supply and purhasesd something called "door skin" it is sheet metal that is
6' x 9' almost - and it looked awesome - we drilled it into the wall and bought every maganet we could find - maganets even come with hooks, pockets for yellow stickies etc etc - the bonus was that insted of retaking as with a BB you slide your work round the board
if you purchase any other metal make sure it is magnet first
the door skin ruled until wwe moved

I've made several bulletin boards out of Homosote (a board made from compressed paper and wood pulp). It comes and 4' x 8' sheets and is available at most any lumber supplier (I got mine from Lowe's). I covered mine with fabric (felt or burlap) but you can also prime and paint it if you like the natural texture.

How do you hang the homasote? We are planning on putting it in our office - floor to ceiling (9ft?) and about 4ft across. I want to put fabric over it but don't want nails to show. It needs to be flush with the wall so I'm not sure that a picture-hanging wire will work.

Thanks in advance.

You can get relatively inexpensive plain corkboards--framed or unframed--from teachers' supple houses. It looks nice if you cover it in linen to match your decor. I just bought a remnant and glued it on. Have fun!

In case you are still looking, Forbo makes a fantastic bulletin board material in enormous rolls in a large variety of colors. You can check it out at Aaronson's Flooring. We bought an 8'x5' roll.

for hanging homosote floor to ceiling....i would suggest nailing it to the wall first, then glueing the fabric to the edges and reinforcing it with staples....i thin molding frame can cover the stapled edge by gluing or using finishing nails, counter sunk, filled and painted.....(paint the molding before nailing then just touch up the filled nail areas.