DESIGN WALL TUTORIAL

My husband and son put up a large, 96" wide x 84" tall, Design Wall for me last year, and I love it!!!
FABRIC:
I went to JoAnn Fabrics and I brought several small pieces of cotton fabric with me so I could see how well they would stick to the surface of different types of fabrics. I had heard that flannel worked well, and also that the backside of vinyl tablecloths. But, after trying different qualities and grades of flannel, I was really disappointed that none of them really held the cotton in place!!! BUT, what I did find that was absolutely perfect was FLEECE. There are a lot of different qualities of fleece, and the one I decided on was a fairly low-napped but thick fleece. In other words, it wasn't too fuzzy, but the weight and thickness of the fabric was impressive to me. I chose a cream color. Because the width of the fleece is 60" and each of my design wall panels is 48", I was able to have two completely seam-free panels. Plus, I was able to use my JoAnn 40% off coupon on the whole length of fabric!!!The fleece doesn't stretch much lengthwise, but is a little more stretchy width wise. Also, the fleece that I bought has a right side and a wrong side. When you're looking at the right side of the fabric, all you see is fuzz, but when you look at the wrong side, you can see the knitted fabric surface beneath the fuzz.You will have a lot of the fleece fabric left over, and I've found that it makes a wonderful, soft batting for baby quilts. It is also perfect for the needle pages in our sewing kits!!!

DESIGN WALL:
The guys purchased two sheets of 4'x 8'x 1/2" insulation board that's generally used for sound deadening. The insulation board also comes in 1.5" to 2" thickness.They can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes. The insulation board being really lightweight is a real plus!

Since I could use the 96" combined width of the two panels, we didn't need to cut anything off. We did need to cut the length of each panel so it would fit the height of the wall.

The panels were attached to the wall by using three 1"x 2"x 40" wood strips that were attached horizontally (3" in from each side) across the top, the middle and the bottom of the back side of each panel. The bottom edge of each of the wood strips was cut to a 45 degree angle (creating a cleat) before attaching to the backside of each panels. (Please see illustration #1.)

Correspondingly spaced wood strips were attached to the wall. The top edge of each of the wood strips that will be attached to the wall with screws are cut to a 45 degree angle (creating a second set of cleats) that the panel cleats will fit into before being attached to the wall. (Please see Illustration #1)

Okay, it's time to upholster the panels with the fleece fabric. I used an electric staple gun (less than $20 at Lowes) and 1/4" staples. Lay the fleece on the floor with the wrong side facing up, and smooth out any wrinkles. Lay one of the panels on top of the fleece fabric with the wood strips facing up. The fleece can be generously trimmed before you begin stapling it in place. It's always better to have too much fabric than too little! Begin stapling at the top center of the panel, staple an 8" or 10" area, then go to the bottom center of the panel and staple the same amount there, being sure not to pull and stretch the fabric too much. Repeat until you're about 5" from the corner. Then adjust and smooth the fabric and begin stapling the sides of the panel alternating from one side to the other just as you did for the top and bottom. Finally, fold and staple the corners.

INSTALLATION:
To install your Design Wall, line up the wood strips of the panel with the wood strips attached to the wall, and then simply lift the panel up slightly and push gently toward the wall allowing the 45 degree angled cut to slide down and "nest" into the corresponding 45 degree angle cut of the wood strip attached to the wall. They fit together like puzzle pieces. (Please see Illustration #2)

This makes a really nice clean installation with no nails or screw heads showing.