not OT: seek decorating help!

Susan Hartman wrote:

My first suggestion is to NOT use cork. Of course, that's because I personally don't like it for use as an entire wall "display board" :-). I've seen a wall of cork (some fancy schmancy decorator display house) and just plain didn't like the look. For myself, I would probably go with a wall paneled in thin sheets of nice pine. Pine is a soft wood so you can use tacks or push pins to stick stuff to it. Balsa or something similar would be even softer but that stuff might not hold up -- just not sure. No matter what you use, I'm sure you will need to put some sort of sealer on it to protect it from the pins or whatever you might use to hang stuff up and then take it down. HMMMM, have you thought about covering a wall with fabric? Most often, a fabric wall has some batting behind it. You attach furring strips to the wallboard, put some sort of batting in between the furring strips, then attach the fabric to the furring. Use either staples (you have to "play" with the fabric to cover the staples) or with decorative upholstery brads to do this. Then again, you could just use some sort of wall paper paste and glue the fabric directly to the wall. Please make sure you post your thoughts about what you finally use, OK? OH -- and please change your Subject Line for the post to say ON TOPIC instead of "not OT". Lots of people won't see the posts because their filter will search for the term "OT" and chuck them even tho'[ the posts are on topic!! You might miss out on some great suggestions!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

snip, snip, snip

A former friend actually did something similar to what you're proposing. She attached large pieces of heavy duty, not quite foam core wallboard on top of the 'real' walls. Push pins or tacks went in easily and never got to the 'real' wall so if the boards were taken down, there'd be just a few holes to patch.

I've got no experience with cork but... You can also use carpet tiles on the wall. Just mount them with double sided tape and you can easily remove them and change them.

My plan for my DD's room - for a few years from now - involves hanging magnetic boards. I've got a beautiful brown one in the office that I bought at the Container Store. I'd rather use magnets than tacks. Fewer medical issues that way. That way I wouldn't be accidently stepping on a tack nor would a cat be playing with a fallen tack.

Donna in Virginia

One could tack narrow coloured ribbons criss crossing on that and then only need to flip items behind a ribbon.

Has she stolen my idea ??? She is certainly worth suing lol

Our local Home Depot and Lowes carry cork tiles that have a self stick (like on the post-it notes) surface. If you do cork, you might want to replace a section with these self stick ones.

Personally, I'd be leery of a whole wall of anything. I'd rather have some large sections of things (peg board, decoratively covered foam board, ribbon [aka French Memo] board, vertifal file holders, long clips like blueprint drafters use, etc.) A good idea source might be blueprint/drafting supply stores and a lot of the home-improvement/crafting sites that deal with organizing..

I really love the plastic vertical file holders.

I have made bulletin boards for my kids' rooms and my kitchen/laundry room by purchasing "sound board" at my local Home Depot and covering with whatever fabric I want. Darn - an excuse to shop for fabric :) It's basically about 1/2" to 3/4" thick board sort of like pressboard. I have mine hung up with heavy-duty mirror clips but you could probably just screw them into a wall with long screws if you wanted a large area covered. We just use regular pushpins and they work fine.

MelissaD

Hi Sue,

Not sure if you saw Wednesday's Oprah, but Candice Olson from Divine Design used carpet tiles on the wall to use as a bulletin board. She mounted them on the wall with double-sided tape, so they are easy to remove. Candice also said they are available at most home improvement stores and come in a variety of colours. She did part of a wall for kids to display their art work and it looked great. Check out oprah.com to take a look.

take care, Linda D. in B.C., Canada

There is also magnetic paint. You paint it on the wall and you can stick magnets on it. You can cover it with regular paint, which is handy since it's a dark grey color. You have to do multiple coats, however, if you want to hang heavy things, and it is a bit of a pain to work with. It is very subtle, though. You'd never know the wall was magnetic, and you can have your wall any color you want without any pinholes.

Best wishes, Ericka

OOOOoooooh! I like this idea! And I live in a rented apartment where we're welcome to paint (so long as we put it back to white when we leave) but have problems for putting holes in the walls. :) I think I see a trip to the paint store coming... Heather in NY

Oh yes - I forgot about this! I have a friend who has a wall in her kitchen breakfast area with this paint - it's covered with regular paint and she just puts notices and such right on the wall with pretty magnets.

Thanks for posting this - I'll have to go look for some of this paint myself now.

MelissaD

Thank you all for your suggestions! I'll let you know (eventually) what I decide. It'll take awhile.

sue

Of course she does - didn't I say that there is nothing like a woman for putting a woman down ? MS is one smart person, I also liked the fact that when the suits decided to check this uppity woman, she said so put me in prison now, get it over with and guess what ? Far from killing her business empire she came back even stronger.

I use lots of her recipes, sometimes they take more trouble (like shelling two pounds of fresh walnuts) to make her sisters Walnut Caramel Pie but the end result is worth it, I know because I tried to cheat and it just is not the same ! Here is the recipe, it's a nice Xmas treat.

Martha Stewarts Sister's Walnut Caramel Pie

Line a flan/tart pan, with removable sides, with pâte brisée and chill well.

1 cup of sugar ¼ cup water

Slowly bring to the boil in a heavy pan, without stirring, and caramelize until golden.

Remove from heat and stir in:

2/3 cup whipping cream 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped ½ stick of butter 3 tablespoons of honey ½ teaspoon of salt 2 ½ cups of whole walnuts (just shelled)

Simmer, stirring, for five minutes.

Cool the mixture well then spread in the pastry shell. Cover with a pastry top (no vents) and put in the freezer for twenty minutes.

Bake 25 minutes in a 400° oven.

When cooled, drizzle more melted bittersweet chocolate over the top for decoration.

(It is terribly rich, a small slice suffices ! Good though and a little different)

So tell me about it - I only bother with basic cable (so with telephone I can 'bundle' and get high, high speed) so I don't have anything remotely like the Fine Living channel lol

"Jangchub" wrote

Love her or hate her (and I am a fan) Martha's books have impeccable directions for things. I just bought her cookie cookbook, and I give her Classic books as wedding/shower gifts. I think her new Cooking School book might replace it though.

Dawne