Clever Corkboards, by Jill Sharp Brinson

Corkboards have always been handy for keeping information available at a glance, but they can also act like a canvas for creating your own original art. Around here, we’re simply obsessed with pinning up collages and collections to fuel our inspiration.

You’ve probably noticed some of our corkboard collages in the pages of our catalog. Corkboard displays are easy to put up and easy to change – and anyone can do it. We’ve had plenty of practice over the years, so here are some of our favorite tips.

There are NO boundaries to what you can pin on. The more three-dimensional the object, the better. Try a cool composition of your favorite flowers hung upside down and tacked on with florist pins (see my example in the photo). Pin the stem of the flower right onto the board or tie a piece of twine or favorite ribbon scrap to the stem for hanging.

You could say we consider pushpins part of the art. We love using florist pins because they’re very long and come in a variety of fabulous colors. (You can find them at wholesale floral supply stores or online.)T-pins, sewing pins – the ones with colorful heads – and upholstery tacks are all great. Or, hot glue buttons onto T-pins for a totally original look. As your collection grows, store your pins in divided bins, so it’s easy to find just the right one.Whether I’m styling a shoot at Ballard or creating a collage at home, I generally like to create balanced compositions, but with something a little off, a little tweaked. Don’t worry about perfection. Try to line up the edges of things and create pleasing spacing between the items. Do what looks good to you.

Try filling your corkboard with your latest favorite colors and design interests. Right now, I’m in love with all things fuchsia and orange and collect just about anything that unifies my color theme, mixing in different patterns, textures and dimensions for major impact.

Nothing is off limits. Use objects that are in some way meaningful or interesting to you, like a child’s drawing, a favorite painting, fabric swatches or something you’ve collected from your travels. Post cards, photos and party invitations are all wonderful items to pin up in a collage.

I happen to love typography, so some of the things I save include: cool labels from jeans, printed packing tape from boxes, hang tags from clothing, corks with beautiful type, cocktail napkins, menus, hand-written postcards, thank-you notes, favorite stamped envelopes, recipe cards, wedding invitations, appointment cards, old French documents, receipts from purchases made on trips, plane tickets, old passports – you get the idea.

These collections often appear in the catalog. And, as you can imagine, we have boxes and boxes of materials to pull from. You can do the same thing. Start with the items that inspire you, and you’ll end up with a corkboard creation you’ll love.