Why Not Make This Minimalist Inspiration Board?

This simple, sexy pinboard is perfect for your notes, clippings, postcards and inspirational materials. Its simplicity is its strength; it would fit in with a variety of work spaces. You don’t need much to make your own minimalist pinboard, but this tidy, pinnable graphic covers it all.

DIY pinboard for office wall
DIY pinboard graphic

Materials list:

  • A piece of galvanized steel mesh, ideally 2ft x 3ft, with 2-inch grid spacing. You should find this in the fencing section of your local hardware store.
  • Spray paint. Spring for the good stuff with primer included – the coverage and durability is worth it.
  • Clean rag and turpentine, for getting the mesh panel squeaky clean.
  • Mini clothespins, which you’ll find at a craft store. These 1½” versions were perfect.

Wipe down the mesh, to make sure ALL traces of grease and dirt are gone, and then spray the mesh with three coats of paint. Use light coats of paint, 3-4 hours apart.

DIY wire pinboard

Let the paint dry overnight… and it’s ready to use.

If you want the inspiration board to be a feature, like a scrapbook for your wall, you could try out a fun, punchy color and pick up some washi tape to match. I wanted mine to blend in with the wall, so I went with plain white.

I set the board in place as soon as I assembled this standing workbench, and it was exciting to pin up some of the postcards and mementos that had been collecting in shoeboxes for years. It would look better on the wall rather than leaning against it, which is easy enough to fix with some push pins.

Wire pinboard on desk

Some of these images are for future project inspiration, some of them conjure up strong ties to my past, some of them are travel souvenirs, some of them are works by artists that I deeply admire. It’s my very own analog Pinterest board, and having that board in my study here makes the place feel like mine. That comfort blanket is wonderful to have when I’m working through my own projects. Don’t underrate having a real-life pinboard, is what I’m saying.

And just like any other inspiration board, this minimalist version is easy to modify. Keep us posted (heh) if you’ve got other inspiration-board-inspirations to share!