Last Sunday brought the coolest, crispest weather to the DC area. But it was rainy too–a perfect day to hunker down at home, make comfort food, do laundry, write a little, and watch football. I also thought it was about time to spruce up the bulletin board in my home office. I mean, it’s supposed to offer inspiration, not blandness, right?

So here’s my pitiful starting point, as you can see from this photo when we first moved in seven months ago:

Scarce pinnings.

Over the summer, I had added a few more clippings but it still needed a makeover.

The Pre-Pinning Plan

I went through a stack of magazines, several pages of which I had dog-eared earlier. After reviewing what had initially caught my eye, I culled it down to these six pages and arranged them on our dining room table.

Tearsheets as eye candy.

You’ll notice a palette of teal and white (the same colors from my “The Fall Buys” post) plus bright orangey-red. Clockwise from top left: Neiman Marcus ad for a pair of devastating Charlotte Olympia velvet platform pumps with pleated ankle collars; sublime winter white dress from Valentino; Karlie Kloss wearing a swingy orange wig and Frank-Gehry-esque (as described by Vogue) Lanvin dress; ad in Dwell magazine for a design conference; Natalia Vodianova in a Stella McCartney sporty, graphic minidress along with shapes that remind me of these Anton Ginzburg stickers at the Cooper-Hewitt; ad from Interior Design for sleek Scavolini kitchens.

Pinning is the Easy Part

With my selections in hand, I headed downstairs and just dove in:

The cork is now covered!

The collage took me less than five minutes to execute. I interspersed the magazine finds with a few personal items: a birthday card from a dear friend and watercolor by her toddler son (future collector’s item); a postcard of Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (I’ve never been) from my best friend; a picture of Shalom Harlow from the Gaultier exhibition; a sticker from the San Franpsycho store.

This visual feast will nurture my creative spirit through the next few weeks, or maybe months–or until another wave of motivation hits me.