For my 14th birthday, I asked for a cork board for my room and my best friend came through and surprised me with one. Ever since then, I'd experiment and collect things to stick on it and dedicate a day or two to redesigning the board at least once a year. It takes a lot of space, time, and effort to collage the little pieces and have the board looking presentable, but I enjoy doing it so much that if it was possible, I'd be a "cork board designer" by profession.
The cork board is currently mounted on my bedroom's wall and I recently purchased a slightly smaller one (for fun, really) to put in a dorm or unit for when the academic year begins. I spent one morning and afternoon trying to redesign the cork boards, and because I do get a lot of feedback from my friends about my old cork board, I decided to document the process and share on this blog how I put the pieces altogether to look somewhat aesthetically pleasing.
To start, I think it's best to have all materials in your work space grouped together. It's more efficient and organized to have all the things you need close to you. Here are the materials I used for my boards:
The quotes I collated are handwritten and for those I used brush pens, some colored pieces of paper, and a thin sheet of white cardboard paper. The pictures I gathered are of my friends and family. Some of them are dark or overexposed polaroid pictures which I decided to doodle on, as you will see later on in this post. The prints consist of small posters, old tickets from tours, postcards, and if you look closely, a dried flower and my Wanderland 2017 wristband. Most of the cutouts were taken from Scout magazine with a few more from Preview. I like those with bold colors, silly faces, or inspiring words. The usuals include a pair of scissors, a cutter, some glue, nylon string or twine, push pins, tape (both masking and washi/decorative), a stapler (with staple wire, of course), and decorative clothespins. Of course, you wouldn't be able to do anything if you didn't have a cork board or two...but you already knew that.
*optional step*
When I redesigned my cork board last year, I decided to add color to a portion of it by painting it. I didn't do that this year, but here are the steps I followed last year if you wish to do the same with yours.
To do this, I used poster paint, a sponge, and lots of masking tape. I combined blue, green, and white poster paints to get a shade similar to teal and prepped my cork board like this (see photo below) before using my sponge to dab paint on the board.
Note that the paint you prepared will look darker once you apply it to your board. It takes a few hours for the paint to dry on its own.
*end of optional step*
Right, so what I like to do for my cork boards is use a string to hang pictures and prints on. To do this, I tie the string around a push pin (see photo), attach it to one end of the board, and stick another push pin to the opposite end of the board where I would like the string to end. I tie the string on to that push pin as well, making sure that the tightness and looseness of the string is according to my liking.
After setting the string up, I like to use the pictures or some of the smaller prints to test the string and how it bends depending on the weight put on it. When I'm satisfied, I mark where I placed the two push pins and remove them to make it easier for me to arrange and stick the other materials to the board.
Choosing which pieces to put on your cork board may be overwhelming. What I like to do is start with the main pieces I'd like to feature. For my cork boards, I want to use the "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING" pull-out poster from my frankie magazine and my "Hold the vision | Trust the process" quote on thin cardboard. I stick my main pieces first and then try to fill in the spaces with magazine cutouts, more quotes, and pictures. I find that putting the pieces in order of their sizes, working from the bigger ones to the smaller ones, helps me feel less overwhelmed and more in control of what I'm doing. (I get frantic when I'm overwhelmed by the amount of things on my desk)
Before stapling anything to the board, I use the pushpins to keep the pieces in place so I can judge and move things around freely. I don't follow a specific theme when I work on my boards, I just make it a point that whatever I put on it will mean something to me. If it doesn't make me feel anything, at least it would be nice to look at.
After moving pieces around, when I'm satisfied with how it looks, I use the stapler, decorative/washi tape, and the pushpins to keep things together. The last thing I add to the board is the string I prepared earlier. I use the clothespins to hang small prints and pictures on it. I also test my board by making the air conditioning unit blow air directly at it so I know which pieces need to be stuck better.
And voila! I decorated two cork boards today and this is how they turned out:
I hope that in one way or another, I helped you design your very own cork board or at least want to get one and design it. I love redecorating my cork board because it really does paint an accurate picture of who I am at the moment and it's always interesting to see how different I've become after a year.
Show me how you like decorating your cork board or let me know which of the two cork boards I designed today you like better. If I find enough people who enjoy doing this as much as I do, I might just start a club, so send me a holler if you do!
