Inspiration Board

For a while I've wanted an inspiration board but when I had a 9-5 along with my side decorating gig, I never had time for one.

Erika of Urban Grace Interiors has a huge one that long ago become my favorite:





Here are some of my other favorites...

{ish and chi}


{Lonny Mag}


{Michelle Adams}

When we first found this apartment, I grumbled a little at the built in desk, how college-apartment is that? However, I turned lemons into lemonade and am working on making it the center of bryn alexandra interiors... because I don't want to get in the habit of working from the sofa (as nice as it sounds).

Luckily, the built in desk had the perfect rectangular nook for an inspiration board. See the "before" here:



I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up corkboard, black burlap, some glue and ribbon.





Then you just wrap and glue your fabric over the corkboard, and it's as simple as that. Then I glued on the ribbon trim outlining the board.

I hung the board onto the wall with no-hole picture hangers (as seen in the above image).

Here is the after, although I should say "work in progress" because I don't have any inspiration pieces yet other than the magazing page I tore out to demonstrate the use:







It's not 100% finished. The fabric isn't as tight as I would like so I am going to try to re-apply the fabric with spray adheasive. It's hard to DIY when all of your DIY tools are on a moving truck ;)

I'd also like to get some vintage buttons to cover the corners were the ribbon meets, something like these:



Do you like the lamp on my desk? Doesn't it look like it's from Restoration Hardware? Guess where it's from....... IKEA!



And the price tag is only $25. Run, don't walk, to your nearest Ikea and pick one up!

The lucite boxes on my desk are also from IKEA. They are actually for the bathroom but when I saw them I knew they'd be perfect for my desk to hold post-its, pens and misc. desk items.


You get all those pieces above for only $8!

(click on the IKEA images to go to the product pages)

So our boxes are supposed to arrive mid next week, I'm relieved. I enjoy unpacking much more than packing.