thrifty tuesday: from shutters to…

Bulletin Board/Keyholder/Wall totem.

before:

after:

I usually end up hunting for my keys before going out, so I thought I’d make myself a wall-mounted key holder. For this project I decided to use one

of the plantation shutters inherited from the previous owners of our home.  With the vertical orientation of the piece, I think it has a dual function

as kind of a totem wall art.

I was inspired by some really clever projects using these shutters that I’d seen throughout the blogosphere.

Most of the inspiration projects left the slats intact. I felt that leaving the slats intact would make the look a little too country or cottagey for my

home, so I took them out. I just took a hammer to the middle of the slats and gave them a good whack vertically till they came tumbling down.

Next, I removed any hardware like screws, hinges etc, and gave the whole thing a good sanding down. I cut down a piece of

1/8” plywood to the same size and shape as the shutter, using my jigsaw.

To make the bulletin board portion of the piece, I cut a piece of ceiling tile and wrapped it with fabric.  Ceiling tile? Yes, ceiling tile. It is made of

Homasote, which is also what bulletin boards are made of. Homasote is sold in large sheets at your home improvement warehouse, but I only

needed a small piece, so I purchased a 2’ x 2’ ceiling tile. It cuts easily with a utility knife, but creates a lot of dust, so make sure to wear a mask.

I sprayed the front with Super 77 adhesive (again, wear a mask or spray outside, stuff is BAD). I then wrapped my chosen piece of fabric around

the tile. Dry fit to make sure that the wrapped tile will fit snuggly into the space.

Next, I stained both the plywood back piece and the shutter, then attached them together using finishing nails on the back.

I drilled holes and screwed in 2 cup hooks for the keyholder portion. I placed the fabric covered bulletin board into its place and finished by drilling a 1/4”

hole in the back of the piece to hang it on the wall.

And voila! I’ve got a new Bulleting Board/Keyholder/Totem.

ps* These are very rough instructions. If you have more specific questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.