Corkboard Makeover

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I knew I had to take on a small project to fix what I thought was a very ugly corkboard area when I originally moved into my “new” office.

The corkboards were here when we moved in and was not used while it was Sidney’s bedroom.  Now that it was my new home office / additional guest bedroom space it needed some love and attention.  Removing them wasn’t an option – they were fitted directly to the drywall and I didn’t want to take on a drywall repair project (my Rome adventures in drywall repair and sanding were still too fresh).  Besides, I recently had the walls painted and didn’t want to damage the professional paint job either.

 

The Plan

A bit of Pinterest research told me that ugly corkboards can definitely be made pretty.  I can frame them out and paint the actual boards.  So I started my makeover project by rummaging around in my current supplies.  I found some leftover fabric from when my mom and I made new covers for the benches and decided that fabric would be a perfect solution for these corkboards.  After measuring the boards though, I realized I didn’t have enough fabric to completely cover them.  I would have enough if I added the frame to the inside of the boards.  Sure, this will give me a little less corkboard space, but this way I could use what I have and it will fit in with my benches and window treatments.  As a bonus, placing the frame on the board will also cover up the broken corner.

Supplies

• Leftover Fabric
• 3m Spray Adhesive
• White wooden trim
• Liquid Nails
• White Caulk

The Makeover Process

First I measured and cut my two fabric pieces.  I then applied spray adhesive (I love this one from 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive Glue) directly to the corkboards and placed the fabric in place.  I was worried that the fabric would not stay in place while the adhesive dried so I inserted some push pins in the corners.

I used the outside dimensions to determine the length of the trim pieces, marked them out and cut them using Pieter’s handheld circular saw.  This was a dusty process which I probably should have done in the garage (or even better, outside) but I just did it right there in the office.  I was going to clean the whole office afterwards anyway.

The corners had to be cut with 45-degree angles in order for the pieces to fit together like a proper frame.  After all the sides were cut and dry fitted I used Liquid Nails to glue the trim pieces in place.  I also secured them with a couple of finishing nails to help keep them in place while the glue dried.

I have to confess – my measurements were not 100% accurate (those corners were tricky!!) so I just used some white caulk to fill the gaps.  No need to paint anything, since I bought prepainted white trim.  I did use some white paint on the nail heads to make them blend in better.

I am very happy with my final product and I think it looks ten times better than the raw, ugly corkboard I started with.

How have you updated your ugly corkboards?

Continue reading about my Bookcase Makeover!