Thoughts on the Wall: Creating My New Writing Center

I honestly have no idea why it took me so long, but, for the first time in my life, I’ve put a bunch of stuff on my walls. Posters, a calendar, and, most excitingly, a writing center.

I’d had an idea for a while of an organizational center on the wall, specifically for my writing. So, I did some research, did a bunch of store-searching, and bought a bunch of materials I thought I might like to use. Then, since this stuff is expensive, I pared it down to my budget and took the extra stuff back. Having everything in front of me helped me to visualize how it would look and what I actually needed.

Ultimately, I ended up with four square cork boards and two white boards. I discovered that the cork isn’t quite as thick as I would like, but it works. The white boards are exceptionally light, which was handy for mounting them on the wall. Best of all, I didn’t have to use any screws or nails. I put everything up by means of picture strips and poster putty.

I quickly discovered that the process was much harder than I expected it to be. The cork tiles came with adhesive stickers, so I initially used those and put the left two tiles up. I was stuck between leaving them as squares and rotating them to diamonds. Once I decided that I didn’t like the latter, they were already on the wall. Problem number one: those stickers were extremely sticky, and they didn’t come off the wall well at all. I was left with about sixteen little squares that looked a lot like this:

Very annoying. Thankfully, I was able to get them almost entirely off with a combination of rubbing alcohol and lemon essential oil.

Next, I had to figure out what to do with the cork tiles. I didn’t like them as diamonds, but they were boring as squares, too. What they needed was colored backing! Enter scrapbook sheets, stage left. By turning the paper into diamonds and leaving the cork as squares, I got an effect that I like. Fastening them was a time consuming, but ultimately successful, endeavor involving the aforementioned Poster Putty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, my work area was a mess. Necessary at the time, but it’s all cleaned up now, so I’m a happy camper.

Getting the cork lined up and level was an unexpected hassle. I ended up drawing guide lines in pencil on the wall and using the level to fit them in carefully. I’m quite happy with the result:

It’s not crooked, trust me. That’s just the angle I took the picture at. Yeah, yeah, I know. Poor planning on my part. I was just trying to document the process as quickly as possible. Anyway, after getting the cork up as a frame, I was able to add the white boards. More guidelines and quite a bit of grunting later, everything was up:

Then came the best part: accessories!

Buying accessories was definitely my favorite part of the shopping expedition. And they add such color to the ensemble!

 Aren’t these magnets adorable? Honestly, I probably went overboard with the magnets, but I keep thinking I might need them. And the Pin-It magnets? Oh my goodness, aren’t they cool? The moment I saw them in the store, I decided that they were perfect. They have magnets on the back, so you can put them on the white board. But then they have cork and a little pin on the front, so you can pin papers to them. You might be thinking about the cork tiles I already have, and you’re right. I probably have enough pinning space without these. However, I can see using them to highlight particular pieces that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle. And they’re so cute!

I also got a utility cup to hold extra stuff, and it’s magnetic, so I can stick it right on the white board. It ended up being smaller than I needed, so I added another container on my other wall, which, while holding extra markers and push pins, can also hold stuff related to my wall calendar. So, a win all around, basically.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, it’s not crooked, I promise. Just me in a rush to take pictures. Anyway, I am really happy with the extra container. I’ve had that basket for quite a while but have had no specific use for it. Thus, I was ecstatic to discover the perfect role for it!

Of course, anything involving a white board isn’t complete without markers. I’m so excited to use the different colors to make things jump out and separate sections.

Although this project started out simply as a writing center, it has morphed into a general organization center, which will probably be more helpful in the long run. A few days after finishing it, here’s what my wall looks like:

The bottom left section of white board is for blog stuff, so the bottom left corkboard is also for blog-related ideas. The top left section of white board is divided into daily to-do and upcoming school projects, while the entire right white board is for current writing projects. The remaining corkboards are for writing ideas and inspiration. I really am immensely excited about the potential of this area. Eventually, I want to put wooden letters above it all that say “WRITE.” I may also string pictures on these cute little clothespins I found. I want to make this exciting and fun as well as functional.

Do you have any kind of writing/organizational center in your room? What’s it like? Have you ever thought about making something like this? Let me know in the comments!