While I was shopping at IKEA the other day looking for a couple of things that I’ll need for a project or two which I’ m currently working on (so excited to show you!), I came across this magnetic board. Nice style, nice size, nice price. I thought it would look great on that big wall above my son’s desk. Plus it would be additional motivation for improving those organizational skills that never seem to come along. So, as I always do when I get back home from IKEA, before even taking off my shoes & jacket, I got a couple of nails, the hammer and I hung it. But the board looked a little too plain and more on the executive side (organization is fine and all, but an office environment was not exactly what I had in mind).
So here is what I did to add some colorful touches and make this board a little bit more age appropriate for my nine year old.
First I spray-painted the whole outside border in a bright red. I covered the face of the board with newspaper and made straight edges with some painters tape around it and left only the four external sides exposed. I then spray-painted it in a bright red. It needed only two coats of spray paint, but it took about 24 hours to dry completely.
In the meantime, I glued small magnets on the bottom part of some small toy cars. Two little magnets positioned side to side in the center were powerful enough to hold the car’s weight.
How much easier can this get?
The magnetic board mixes so well with the art work that is on the same wall!
I made plenty of little car-magnets to hold plenty of little notes.
I was about to hang the board right in front of the chair, but I could totally see it being transformed into a raceway during homework time. So, I went for the far right side of the desk, and placed it low enough for a nine-year-old to reach. Plus, it’s well balanced on that wall with the rest of the wall art!
