Had a hankerin’ for a giant map on my office wall that we can mark (with pins) places we’ve been, places, we’d like to be, and friends/family we love. Also, I suck at geography, so having this close to my face might make me smarter (maybe even by osmosis?)
Bought the giant map at a map store (20% sale for under $20), the foam core ($15) at xpedx (so happy to be near an xpedx again), the plastic sucker things at Home Depot (about $6), and I had the spray adhesive on hand.
Imagined the map framed, but the quote, at 50% off – what a crock, was over $200 (which is NOT a bad price for that large a piece; I don’t mind paying for good quality framing; but I don’t have that much right now and wanted my map hung pronto). The next best thing is to mount it to the wall frame-less and enjoy it until I have some pocket money to frame it proper.
Here are some pics of the before/after and process:
Before: that framed print is temporary, bought it for the frame at a charity yard sale
Lazy, not dead, dog. Clamped half the map down and sprayed the other half first to keep it in place. Then took off the clamps (binder clips and clamps with something between so it didn't crease the map), then sprayed the other half.
Lazy, not dead, dog, moved lounge spots. Tall, long-armed husband helped hold and press the map as I sprayed. That's a cheap plastic liner we bought in a roll at Home Depot years ago during a remodel on another house. Even though we held up the plastic to help catch the spray adhesive, some still got on the wood floor. But doing this outside wasn't an option and I'm not patient enough to wait until we could. The garage was too cold (which could interfere with the adhesion).
The foam core is about 1/4" thick. Enough space to stick a pin into it and hold it in place.
These are a fairly new product that's supposed to provide temporary hanging that's still strong. I was skeptical, but the Home Depot guy said I could bring them back if I'm dissatisfied; I'm not. These little guys work GREAT! They also make it so I could take the map down and reattach if I wanted to. I don't know why I would, but it's an option.
Here's the end result. It looks kinda small to me now. I either want it bigger or I need to paint the walls to help it not be so small. I'm thinking of a blue/gray color. Might even slap up a frame around the map directly to the wall and call it good (which would just be moulding, I could even attach them with the same sucker thingys).
Seeing the end result reminds me that I wanted to paint the desk. It was left by our rentors and it too heavy to carry out of there easily. So I stuck my old door with glass top on it (took off it’s wooden top and am using it downstairs as a make shift table top) and decided to keep it (with the intent of repainting it eventually).
I’m thinking of a distressed cream, or perhaps a turquoise like the map.
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