DIY: Pin Board Grid

In my office reveal I talked about my pin board grid. From the beginning, I knew I needed a place on the wall to display design schemes with paint chips, fabric samples and pictures. I love being able to visually pull together an idea, and the vertical wall space felt like the obvious answer. I nixed the idea of regular cork boards because didn’t love the orange-y tones. Then, I considered wrapping cork boards in a linen fabric, but by the time I purchased enough cork boards it would have been way more expensive than what I wanted. Enter: the pin board grid idea!

I don’t know how exactly I came up with this idea, but, I have to say, it’s pretty genius. The best part? It’s super inexpensive and you get a lot of bang for your buck, which is what I live for. It’s perfect for filling a large wall space. PLUS, it makes a great Zoom background when you have a couple fun things displayed! This pin board grid would be great in an office, craft room, studio space, kid’s bedroom…the sky is the limit! You can display anything you want: pictures, fabric samples (like I do!), notes, reminders, sketches. I use regular tacks to pin up pictures and fabric samples. It works great!

Start to finish, this whole project took maybe a few hours and cost less than $100. I don’t know about you, but that is the cheapest and fastest way I can think of to fill a wall and add a super functional element to your home office.

Secure the Goods.

Here’s all that you need:

2’ by 2’ insulation boards. I used 2’ by 2’ boards, but you can use larger or smaller depending on your space and what you’ll use them for. I thought about using these large 4’ by 8’ insulation boards, but liked the idea of having multiple smaller boards, so I can have one per project.
Large drop cloth, or linen fabric
Scissors
Iron and ironing board
Staple gun and staples (I have this one and I love it!)
Duct tape
Command strips

Directions

Start by laying out your drop cloth with the insulation boards on top. Cut the drop cloth into square that are roughly six inches larger than the insulation boards.

2. Iron the drop cloth squares. It’s easiest to do this step now, rather than trying to smooth out the fabric after it’s attached to the insulation boards.

3. Wrap the drop cloth around the back of the insulation boards and staple along the edge. Staple along the straight edges first and wait to do the corners last - it will make your life a lot easier. Be sure to pull the fabric taut as you go!!

*I put down a pull staples on each straight edge first, pulling the fabric taut. Then worked my way towards the corners, making sure I pulled the fabric taut.*

4. When you get to the corners, make two a half-fold and staple it down. Then, make a second fold and staple down. This is kind of hard to explain in words, so reference the pictures below!

5. Once everything is securely stapled, trim the excess fabric off the back, leaving 1-2 inches. Then, I duct taped over the fabric, staples and insulation board on the back, creating a kind-of frame. (I didn’t get a great picture of this, but you can see what I mean below.) This step is a little excessive, but it helps keep everything secure and keep the fabric taut.