Today I’d like to invite you into my home office for a peek at the upcycled cork board and pegboard wall organisers. Aren’t they spiffy? Don’t worry, the boards are nowhere near this bare (or tidy) anymore. Haha! In the second part of this post below, I’ve included the DIY details on how I’m using the installed wall organisers, including recycled storage and a homemade dry erase frame.
Our Home Office Storage and Space Dilemmas
I currently work out of a home office that is shared with my husband. We each have our own dedicated desk areas. I have a serious love for gigantic craft room wall organisers with all sorts of pretty storage, but didn’t want to go down that path for the current office.
Why not? Well, we move often (moving again soon!) and I needed something mobile and versatile for reuse. Putting all of my supplies on display when I wasn’t going to use them on that desk was inefficient. My crafting is currently relegated to the kitchen or dining room. Sewing is too noisy for a shared office space. Carpeted floors make other forms of crafting too messy. I also like hiding my messy supplies away from eyesight and guests. Shhh…
The compromise? An attractive triptych style wall hanging of three coordinating inexpensive and reusable homemade organiser boards with easy add-on storage. They do double duty of providing some ready-use storage and filling the (very big) big blank wall over my desk. The old villa ceilings are high, so I have plenty of height without crowding. I could go twice as high with plenty of room to spare, but I would never be able to reach to use the space. Plus, we live in an earthquake prone area, so too much of anything on the walls or in open storage is a dubious thing.
DIY Framed Cork Board and Pegboard Organisers
Sizing the Boards
The sizing for my boards was based on a standard off-the-shelf cork board. I upcycled the cork out of a battered old basic bargain cork board. The pegboards were bought and cut to matching size.
Framing and Offsetting the Boards for Hanging
Hubby whipped up some inexpensive wooden surrounds for each board. I painted these matt black to coordinate with existing design features of the house. Because we “capped” the corners, there was no need for mitring, but plain mitred frames would be beautiful as well.
The boards were fitted with wooden backings of equal thickness so that they hang evenly. These are slightly smaller than the wooden surrounds and painted in wall colour so that the inset edges blend into the shadows when hung. A solid backing was attached behind the cork board for added strength and support. The pegboard backs are open to allow the use of hooks and pegs.
The decorative corner “caps” look like hammered metal, but are just thin pieces of painted wood. They were glued into place and accented with upholstery tacks in contrasting antique copper.
Simple, inexpensive, and easy to either reuse as-is or restyle/repurpose the components into other uses, if we wish.
Cork Board and Pegboard Storage Add-Ons
Office Storage Dreams vs. Reality
There are some AMAZING add-on pegboard storage products. Unfortunately, there aren’t many locally available options and most are either crazy expensive or very industrial. At this stage, everything on my boards is versatile and either recycled, upcycled, or inexpensive. I already know we’re moving again. Who knows where the boards will be used, in which orientation, or for what purpose at the new house. Here’s the scoop on the easy and inexpensive add-on storage accessories fitted to my boards.
Cute and simple wooden clipboards on pegboard hooks give me an easy place to clip cards, photos, notebooks, and other materials that I’d prefer not to puncture while everyday papers have a home on the cork board along with some printed photos of my furbabies. A photo frame was repurposed into a dry-erase board, rods attached for rolled items, upcycled cans and jars offer easy open storage, and a few pegboard hooks and hangars are kept free for ad hoc use. The accessories share the black, white, wood, and metallic style of the boards and frames to keep things looking and feeling cohesive.
DIY Recycled Can Pen/Pencil Holders
Tin can pencil/pen holders were created simply by dressing up some empty cans with scrapbook paper. I picked a black and white pattern to keep the styling coordinated with the boards. Instead of using decoupage or glue, I attached the paper with a small piece of double sided tape so that it’s easy to remove for replacement (or recycling the paper/can). A hole was pre-drilled through the cans for pegs, and the paper was simply punched through the hole with the tip of a pen after wrapping.
Hanging Mason Jar Organisers
Mason jar supply holders were created for clear storage. I’d been hording the jars for reuse. Hose clamps are an alternative way of securely attaching jars, but they didn’t suit this project. The shape of these particular jars isn’t great for clamp attachment because the lip is inset. Plus, clamps for big jars aren’t cheap in our local hardware store. My jars were hand-wired to hang from sturdy hooks instead. Working with wire is easy, but it’s important to work safely with appropriate tools and safety precautions for sharp metal. Make sure that the strength suits whatever you’re planning to hang.
Creating a Dry-Erase Board with a Picture Frame
A mini dry-erase board was created by putting black scrapbook paper into a photo frame. Done! This gives me a black back for writing on the glass. Black works best with chalk pens, but the same easy DIY can be done with white or other coloured paper for use with normal dry-erase markers. To make sure that my frame is easy to switch up or repurpose, the mat and original liner are sandwiched between the scrapbook paper and backboard in case I want them in the future.
Storage Rods for Taps, Twines, and Ribbons
Storage rods for washi tape ribbon, string and such were made using L shaped angle brackets and metal rods from the hardware store. I used a similar storage method (this the same metal rod, cut and repurposed) with wall-mounted angle brackets in my old craft room for wire and cord. There was a method to my madness on having picked the notched brackets for my boards. In addition to being lightweight and inexpensive, the little notches are PERFECT for resting the bar on when slipping things on/off the rods. To make sure that I don’t accidentally pull both ends through, a small elastic is wound on the outer end of one side as a removable stopper.
Ready for Pretty and Pretty Functional Storage
And there you have it! That’s how we created easy, inexpensive, cute, and functional home office storage with the flexibility to switch things up. The organisers look and function great, without wasting tons of time, money, or materials when I’ll inevitably need to change it all on the next move.
Since this post was written, we’ve moved yet again! The organisers worked well for our previous office, but don’t suit the smaller wall space at our new house. They’ve been stripped apart into components for repurposing again. Almost all of the elements were reusable for other projects or new uses. In fact, the tins are holding pencils on the desk next to my computer as I type this update.
