Pepper Design Blog

Inspiration: Fabric Bulletin Boards

We’ve all seen so many great examples of fabric bulletin boards, but here’s a roundup that I’m inspired by for the new office. Bulletin boards so practical! And they can be so pretty. I’m building two panels that will lay vertically up against the wall behind the desk – and they’re almost ready for their reveal.

Here are more great examples to fit just about every style:

How awesome is that gold framed bulletin board? It was likely an old mirror that they converted. I had an old dresser mirror that I turned into a map board, mirrors make great bulletin board frames.

A fabric lined bulletin board could be as simple as a classic burlap or tweed – or as ornate as a toile or suzani! Try lining a simpler bulletin board in nailhead trim or ribbon.

That little needlepoint ring is an interesting take on a fabric board (I’m assuming you’d cut your cork to fit the ring?) and here’s a tutorial for unframed fabric panels (like the lower bottom right).

Now back to work on mine!

Sources: DecorPad, Martha Stewart, Pottery Barn, Bella Dia, Houzz, and Houzz again.

Office Makeover: The (New) Inspiration Board

Thank you so much to everyone who sent their condolences yesterday, I really appreciate the notes. I’m so grateful to have such kind readers! We’re back from Omaha and the dust has settled, it’s good to be distracted.

I thought it might be fun today to share the ‘inspiration board’ behind the new office. This isn’t an exact and I’m sure our minds will change again and again over the next month, but it’s an outline that helps to narrow down furniture, accessory and ‘do we need this?’ choices.

Back before we were even close to finishing the space, I shared this layout idea (with an initial color palette) and these inspirational rooms. Wow, much has changed in the last eight months! But you know, looking back so many ideas have stayed the same, too. Some stuff just sticks with you.

Key pieces in the above room include: a desk, bookshelves, refrubished credenza (not pictured), wallpaper for credenza, grasscloth, new platform bed, a wooden office chair (I’ll add plenty of padding to make it comfy), a French-style occasional chair (a Craigslist find like this would be so cool), bedding, window curtains, side table with a handmade skirt, new lamp and chic office organizers. So I’m maybe half way through the list?

Inspirational fabrics include: Arden Chocolate by Ballard Design, Joann’s Dot Brown, Calico Corners’ Thomas Paul in Silhouette, Aviary Thomas Paul in Robin, Robert Allen Roman’s Circle in Pool and Thibaut’s Jubilee Collection. Love, love, loving these prints!

Creating an inspiration board is usually high in my process for building out a room. It keeps you from distraction and really focuses you on the functions and feel of your finished space – it’s especially useful if you’re tempted with an impulse buy!

Wow it feels like the office is ALMOST there! Especially considering the room started as this:

And once the kitchen was removed (and the wall between the old office and kitchen was knocked down), turned into this:

Little by little!

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: new lamps, wallpapering open shelves, finding the perfect credenza, new trim, dining table-to-desk, a new desk & bookshelves, installing remnant carpeting, grasscloth wallpaper, painting the office nook, finding carpet for the office, chocolate brown wall ideas, plastering progress,  inspiration for a diy desk, back in action!, desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300, inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.

Office Makeover: A New Pharmacy Lamp

You may have noticed two new additions back when I posted about the living room here and when I shared our guest bed find here.

I’ve been on the prowl for attractive task lighting (or pharmacy lamps) for a while – I love their vintage feel and the brass or oil rubbed bronze finish that they usually come in. I was secretly holding out for a great thrift store find of a one-of-a-kind buried treasure, but a couple of searches in I turned to the big ole web.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. CSN Lighting ($74.25) 2. CSN Lighting ($38.40) 3. Ballard Design ($219) 4. Staples ($39.99) 5. JC Penney ($59.99) 6. Lamps Plus ($152.90) 7. Rejuvenation ($194)

And then one day, as with all best buried treasure stories, I stumbled upon a box at the back of Joann’s Fabrics that was covered in sale items (and lots of dust!). Turns out, they carry a set of pharmacy lamps and they were marked down 50% off – best part? It was a set. For just over $75 I found a great desk lamp and a new living room light to boot. Alas, they wouldn’t accept my 40% off coupon on top of that (did you know there’s an app for that? I always forget the paper coupon…) but I was really happy to score two new lights for under $40 a piece.

Here is the table lamp in the office:

And the floor lamp in the new living room:

The best finds always happen when you’re not looking!

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: wallpapering open shelves, finding the perfect credenza, new trim, dining table-to-desk, a new desk & bookshelves, installing remnant carpeting, grasscloth wallpaper, painting the office nook, finding carpet for the office, chocolate brown wall ideas, plastering progress,  inspiration for a diy desk, back in action!, desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300, inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.