Displaying children's artwork
One thing I've realised about being a parent to young children is that they produce a huge amount of artwork! And while I truly do treasure each and every piece (well, nearly every piece!), kids' artwork can feel like it's taking over the house if there's a set place to display it, or a system to organise all the pieces. It has taken me a while to figure out an artwork display and storage system that really works for our family, that I want to share with you today.
The biggest priority in creating an art display space was having a central spot where we could pin my son's creations, so he could feel proud of what he had created, and know that it was valued.
A few months ago, I bought a large cork-board from the local dollar store for around $15. (This one from Ikea is another goodie - great size and price). I covered the edges of the board with Scotch tape, which I have used before on our monthly meal planner.
I tried to pick a variety of art to go on display e.g. painting, watercolour, finger-painting, drawing, cut and paste etc. The pieces that don't get pinned are stored in a special art folder, which I will share the details of in an upcoming post. I know when my boy starts kinder, the artwork will only increase, so I'm trying to get the whole organising process down pat now!
We hung the display board on the back of my son's bedroom door, but I wasn't thrilled with having it there, as no-one looks on the back of a door! Therefore, we decided to do some rearranging of Lucas' photo gallery wall, which was looking a bit cluttered anyway.
The first step was to remove all the pictures from the wall, place them on the floor and try out some different arrangements. It is definitely a good idea to test out various combinations before you start banging nails into the wall! First I tried the art display board in the middle....
Then to the left. This was working better for me, but the bottom picture's creamy frame needed to be swapped out for a white one to tie in with the others.
Much better!
With the bigger frames in place, we put the smaller photos around it, removed a few and got a shape we liked. This is the final arrangement we decided upon, which seemed like a more balanced look.
I love the beautiful painting that my mum did of Lucas looking out the window. The balloons over the sea painting was a lovely first birthday gift from my sister, while the drawing is almost a spitting image of our boy's chubby cheeked face! The other photos are special memories, which we enjoy looking and talking about together.
The only thing that was irritating this organisational-nut-mama about the display board were all the different coloured drawing pins...
So I swapped them out for white drawing pins which made everything look a lot cleaner and neater.
Hubby then got to work with hanging the pictures in place.
The last trick we like to do when creating gallery walls (we have a few throughout the house!) is to use a spirit level to make sure the frames are hung straight, then place a small piece of blu-tack in each of the bottom corners to keep the frame in place.
Finished product! I love that we have somewhere to display all the special art pieces, and a more cohesive looking gallery wall. My son was suitably impressed too!
I'd love to hear from you in the comments below...
How do you display your children's artwork?
Do you have a specific storage system in place for all the artwork they bring home from kinder or school?