. -->

4.23.2020

vintage door = inspiration board

art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards
while i love Pinterest as much as the next girl, i prefer the old school method...
an actual 3-D 'bulletin board', inspiration board, mood board -
whatever you want to call it. and the bigger, the better!

years ago, i had an old door that i turned into an inspiration board
by filling the window area with a large piece of modular ceiling tile.
(you know the kind that drops into the T-bar in the dropped ceilings of every office building?)
 it worked great - but that material is messy as heck. it's like styrofoam.
  
so when i undertook the same project again recently, i needed a new material to use.
turns out, i had what i needed in the garage!

 continue reading to learn how to create a bulletin/inspiration board, 
using an old door or window frame - or even a new window frame, or picture frame.

art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards
first, i needed a door... and i found one at a local vintage show a year ago!
the peely ivory paint and the large window of this beauty were visible in the booth display - 
[a BEAUTIFUL booth display, btw, from the gals at Remember When Antiques ]
and then Paulette told me 'oh, the windows go all the way to the bottom (behind this dresser)
AND it has THIS!' - as she showed me the oh-so-cool brass mail slot!
[not only did i buy it ON THE SPOT, 
i came back the next day to pick it up so she wouldn't have to tear her display apart during the show. 
i've been a vintage show dealer. not gonna' make her work that hard]

this door, shown left, has a huge open 'window' on top - the glass that was there is gone.

below that, there are nine squares - only 3 of those squares still have glass. the rest are open.
i have a note below regarding how to do this if you have a door that still has all of its glass intact.

once home, i was ready to turn it into an inspiration board.
this time, i used a material that is SO easy to find, you can even dumpster dive for it!
CARDBOARD. yep! one large cardboard box from our garage did the trick,
and here's how easy it was to pull this project together:
art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards, how-to, tutorial
1. clean the door - loosen chipped paint, clean remaining paint, clean glass windowpanes.

2. open & flatten a large cardboard box so it is one layer. 
unroll a roll of gift wrap, and attach it to one side of the cardboard using staples on the edge.
(i did this on the floor)

NOTE: if your door still has all of its glass panes, and you don't want to remove them,
you can still do this project...
just pin all of your elements onto the gift wrap side of the cardboard backing
BEFORE you go to step 3.

you can work on it on the ground, then lift it up into position to adhere it to the door -
your 'inspiration board' will be visible through the glass.

3. place the cardboard with the gift wrap facing the back of the door; 
staple in place around all edges with large staples (not the desk stapler kind).
just staple the EDGES - not the center. you need to be able to slide things into those windows.

* i'm going to add a step here that isn't shown - because safety first *
add an L-shaped bracket to the top of your door frame that will secure it to the wall.
screw into the top of the frame, and into a stud on the wall with a long screw.
you only need one to hold it in place and keep it from falling over in an earthquake 
OR to keep a kid from pulling it down because they think the door opens ;) 

now it's time to fill it up with pretty stuff!

art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards

so how do you fill it up? 
my approach is large to small
start with all of the large items and place them first.
[tearsheets/pages from magazines & books, posters, big pieces of patterned paper]
next are the medium-sized items [postcards, cutouts, greeting cards, small artwork]
and finally, the smallest elements [pins, buttons, fake flowers, ribbons, etc.]

how do you attach this stuff to the board?
i use pins and thumbtacks - makes it easier to remove, change, adjust later.

just start pinning, then as you add more, shift & arrange things as you go.
for those areas with the glass still in place,
i chose larger pieces that would slip in behind the glass from one side.
[i actually thought about arranging this board from top to bottom
in ROYGBIVP order (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple-pink)
but that just seemed like waaaaaay too much work! so it's a happy hodgepodge!]

note: this isn't all just flat paper...
one thing i really like to do is add elements that are '3-D' to add dimension to the board.
some cards hang over the wood mullions (glass pane framing), pins and ribbons pop out.
it makes the board a lot more interesting to have dimensional elements.
you'll still be able to do this even if your door has all of its glass -
there will be about an inch and a half of space between the glass and the cardboard,
since you are mounting the cardboard on the back of the door.

art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards
i can't begin to tell you just how long i have had some of the things you see in these photos...
some of the tearsheets from magazines are more than two decades old, 
the art and cards from friends are from even further back.
i have a file system for flat paper resources that i've kept for thirty years... and i USE them!

and it's not done. it's never 'done'. 
i'll keep adding to this, layering on more as i find
more inspiring, colorful, whimsical things that make me smile.
this shot of color is what i see across from my desk, and i LOVE its energy!

[ btw, you don't have to be in a design field to have an inspiration board...
it's just a different form of wall art - a personalized one.
from family recipes and photos to childhood or high school memories,
to magazine photos and ideas for your perfect vacation - or backyard she shed -
you can fill an inspiration board with anything that inspires YOU! ]

in the past, i've created boards that change with each season
and boards filled with neutral content that complimented my office.
i've also created smaller boards and grouped them on a wall.
see more of my ideas for bulletin / inspiration boards:

my first version .  several smaller boards hung on a wall
(scroll down to the 'green office' photos for that)

Pinterest board
(i know, that's kind of ironic - a Pinterest 'inspo board' board!!!)

i also created an inspiration WALL for artist Sharyn Sowell's studio -
it appeared in Where Women Create magazine in 2017:
art, art class, color, color palettes, creative spaces, creativity, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, fast cheap and easy, gift wrapping, inspiration, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, spring, vintage, up-cycling, old doors, vintage doors, bulletin boards, inspiration boards
you can read more about the project here.

shared online:

funky junk interiors | diy salvaged junk projects #524

2 comments:

  1. What a fun idea and perfect use for an old door. Happy Quarantine! Stay Safe- Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Miss Diana! I hope you will stay safe, too!

      Delete