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Budget Friendly Linen-Look Bulletin Board

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A creative, low budget linen look bulletin board


DIY drop cloth covered bulletin board with colored pencils and flowers

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Hello, friends! Today I’ve got an inexpensive way to make a bulletin board. With a little creativity and a large dose of redneck engineering (no offense to any rednecks…I’m one too), I made this using only what I had on hand, so it was a no cost project for me. Perfect for my $100 Room Challenge project! This is the 4th week of the challenge, hosted by Erin at Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry, and next week is the reveal. I’ve really got to kick it into high gear to get the room finished. But most of the big projects are finished so I think I can do it. 

I’ve always thought a bulletin board would be perfect on the wall above the counter but wasn’t sure how to make one. I found a roll of corkboard the other day while out shopping for supplies, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Plus is wasn’t long enough for the wall and I didn’t want a seam, so it was ruled out. 

I racked my brain trying to think of a low cost solution. Foam board wasn’t going to be sturdy enough. I didn’t want to build anything with a wood backing. Finally a light bulb came on in my head…ceiling tiles! 

Yep. I had removed some older ones and replaced them with all new matching ones. I kept a couple of them that were in good shape, in case I needed them for something. And guess what? They were the perfect solution. 

Now, I know that not everyone has a couple of extra ceiling tiles stashed at their home. So you might check at a thrift shop or your local habitat re-store. You could also use these for a low cost version.

Now I’ll share how I did it. Remember, lots of redneck engineering went into this, but I think the final version looks pretty good for zero investment!

Supplies needed:

How to make a low budget bulletin board

1. Measure and cut 

Measure the size you need and mark it on the tile or board. Using a metal straight edge and a utility knife, score the tile. Cut it once more and then it should snap off where you’ve cut it. 

Note – my cuts were a bit rough and uneven. I wish I had used this tool for a cleaner cut.

2. Join the pieces together

Here’s where my degree in redneck engineering came into play. I told you I didn’t spend any money on this project as part of the $100 Room Challenge. To join the pieces, I butted them together, placed used paint stirrers over the joints, and secured them with duct tape. 

I’m almost ashamed to even show it to you, but at the same time I’m pretty proud of solving my problem without any cash being spent. 

Yes, it’s ugly, but it worked!! And nobody will ever see the back!

Here it is after I made sure it fit the space. 

3. Cut and Attach Fabric

You can cover your board with any type of fabric you want, but for this project, I used part of a drop cloth that I had on hand for zero dollars. It actually has a linen look to it so it worked out perfectly. 

I needed to cover 18″, so I measured and marked off and cut a strip that was 21″ so I would have enough to wrap around the edges of the board. I also pressed it to get most of the wrinkles out of it.

I pulled the fabric tight and attached the edges with my staple gun, stapling about every 4″.

Here’s how it looked:

No duct tape or paint stirrers in sight! Also, I still have some painting to finish and some cleanup to do before next week’s reveal. As well as several other little projects. Fingers crossed that I can get it all finished on time!

Here’s a closeup of the fabric. I can’t guarantee that all drop cloths have this linen look to them, but this one does so I’m happy about that.

drop cloth covered bulletin board

And here’s a peek at what I’m working on now to use for some storage since I won’t be bringing the monster utilitarian metal shelves back in here. I’ll share the details of this piece as soon as I’m finished with it.

As a recap, here’s what I’ve done in here so far:

  • Remove everything from the room  ✔
  • Replace the ceiling tiles  ✔
  • Paint the walls   ✔
  • Paint the trim  ✔
  • Make a bulletin board  ✔

And here’s what’s left to do:

  • Finish painting the vintage china cabinet
  • Add wallpaper to the back of the cabinet
  • Bring in a table and or a cart for my cricut machine
  • Add storage for fabrics and other supplies
  • Install window shade
  • Add “fluff” to the space with decor

Be sure to check back next week for the final reveal!

And don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page to see everyone else’s progress on their $100 room projects.

linen-look bulletin board

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7 Comments

  1. Love your creativity. This looks awesome. bulletin boards are always a great thing to have in an office space.

  2. thought of doing this same thing but i was gonna use the styrofoam insulation…haven't done it yet but now that i see yours it might just work

  3. When you see the end product, you would NEVER guess that paint stirrers and duct tape was holding it all together. I'm so impressed with this! It turned out looking amazing!!!

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