When I was growing up my mother took 12 X 12 (inches) cork board squares (that had peel and stick backs to them) and stuck them on a giant pieces of cardboard (I do believe she got the cardboard from a dumpster behind a department store that sold washers, dryers, freezers..etc) that fit the wall in my brother's bedroom. She lightly nailed the corners to the waLL;
Instant success, giant, inexpensive, easy to take down bulletin board.

I also suggest the corkboard tiles. Back in the early seventies, my father corked an entire wall in our beach house with espresso colored cork! I remembr it being thick and chunky, not fine like the bulletin board cork. Funny, because now I am considering cork flooring in my basement! It must run in the family!

If you do not want to glue stuff all over the wall, consider getting styrofoam in big sheets from HD or a place like it. Cover with fabric. Attach to wall on wood strips. Just a few nail holes since nothing heavy will be mounted on the bulliten board.

There are examples of this done with step by step "how tos" at ApartmentTherapy.com

You should be able to find rolls of cork - cut to the length you want - at a hardware store. It comes in, I think 3' or 4' wide sizes. I'm sure you can find it online if you can't find it locally.

You could either glue it on to the wall, or perhaps get some sort of border material & nail that to the wall at the ceiling & floor (or wherever you wanted), & place some border material at the seam between each roll.

Here you go - I found a link, & it even comes in colors!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wall Cork

I used a product called Homasote, which is usually used for sound reduction for a giant bulletin board. I painted mine, but you could cover with fabric. I believe it came in 4' x 8' sheets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Homasote bulleting board info

terriks it was worth looking at that site just for the info on Finishing Washers (which I've never heard of before).

This is definitely one of those little bits of info worth remembering!

Here is a link that might be useful: Finishing Washers

True, moonkat -- I just sent DH a link to finishing washers. They're a thing you see but never register until you need them. Thanks, terri!

That Homasote looks like just the thing I am looking for. I like that you can cover it with fabric so it becomes part of the decor! Thanks!

Just so you know about the rolls of cork (of which I purchased a few) they are VERY thin -- a tack / pushpin doesn't have much to grab in those.

The cork tiles are a little thicker, but not much. They'd certainly be the easiest solution, but they do add up. (a pack of four will run $15 - $19)

I just wanted you to be ready that you might end up with holes in the drywall (from pushing the pins into thin cork). I know this first hand because about a fortnight ago I finally hung my rolls of cork and was disappointed (even a 4" x 6" picture was enough weight to pull the pushpin out of the cork!), and have been searching for alternatives since. I'm kinda ticked, too, because those rolls of cork are not inexpensive (I'm pretty sure I paid ~$20 per roll, on sale), and for me they're now worthless. (oh, they'll live in my "project room" in the basement) I would've preferred spending the money on something which works the first time.

Good luck!

Oops - thanks for that info rmkitchen!

Just a thought - could you glue two pieces of the cork together, back to back, & use it that way? Might be better than collecting dust in the "project room".

BTW, my entire basement is a "project room" right now! *sigh* I have a pathway to the laundry area- you know, the type of pathway that you see pictures of in the homes of people who have too much clutter? - no one, I mean NO ONE, gets to see my basement until I get it somewhat organized again!

I'm crossing my fingers & hoping it gets done today! OK, maybe tomorrow.....

I did try gluing two sheets of cork together but it still wasn't thick enough -- isn't that crazy? So what I'm thinking of doing is using it to cover homasote or drywall and then putting that on the wall.

But my projects tend to take me a long time. A long time. I only work when Li'l Bit is napping and before Big Bit comes home from nursery school (a narrow window), so I'm thinking I'll get to it by junior high school. Fingers crossed!

And I totally hear you about walkways in the basement! Thank you so much for letting me know I am not alone.

I guess I mistyped. I meant those 4'x8'x½" styrofoam PANELS. Not sheets that come in a roll for packageing supplies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Styrofoam Panels

We are doing a similar project and found that you can buy thicker cork but it's expensive. We bought a 4 x 8 sheet of styrofoam like the one linked above. It was something like $12. We plan on using it between the desktop and cabinets in the home office we are working on. I will cover it with fabric. I was pleased with the inexpensive solution.

I second the homasote idea.
In the architecture school where I trained, our studio walls were all covered with homasote, and they stood up to years of pinning up drawings and renderings for process and for crits.
In the school, they were painted, so eventually the pinholes became apparent...and the surface is a little bumpy anyway...but it's easy enough to repaint now and then.
I have used both linen and burlap to cover it, which are coarse enough to accept pins without a lot of damage.
Another thing I have done is to use a thin sheet of sheet metal, wrapped and duct taped fabric around it, and used it as a magnet board. You can install it on the wall with mirror clips, or with picture molding. I put mine in a poster frame and hung it like a picture to cover the electrical panel in a kitchen.

I made a large - though not wall size- homasote bulletin board a few years back. I stretched natural colored duck fabric over it and stapled the fabric to the back. Same process as if you were stretching canvas on stretcher frames. I then screwed it to the wall with drywall screws and covered the screws with trim. It looked great.

Hi Dixiechixie. When I read your post, I initially remembered seeing strategically placed Ikea cork trivets on Apartment Therapy. I liked the idea because they're not a huge commitment, inexpensive and easily removable. I think they are about $3 for a pack of three. As an aside, I have used these cork trivets for years as hot pads and they're still going strong.

Here is the trivet picture and some other visuals for you from Apartment Therapy. Good Luck!

Cathy in SWPA

Here is a link that might be useful: AT Cork

Just fyi, I just discovered this catalogue, linked below, and thought of this thread. I've used homasote covered in fabric very successfully for my school walls; no reason you couldn't do it at home.

Or cover the homasote with the cork wallpaper for the best of both worlds!

Here is a link that might be useful: cork wallpaper & rolls

In this article there is an example of a really big corkboard and it looks very stylish https://inspirationforhome.com/how-to-decorate-a-cork-board/

Covered Homasote panels (cheap at Home Depotj with fabric. These are thick enough so brads or push pins won't damage wall. The only issue is the boards sometimes don't hold the pin well enough.

There is also Scotch removable double died poster tape which my grandsons use regularly. Easy to use, less hassle. Find a display of Command Strip items. The have hooks, strips and wall clips. Google for more.