There’s an interesting dichotomy that has happened inside of me since becoming a mother: I love a beautiful, well-designed and intentional home, but I also want my kid to be a kid and not be too concerned with fitting her toys and life and art into an Instagram filter of “pretty.” I buy toys regardless of color scheme (i.e. I’m likely not spending 3x on something just because it’s blonde wood with neutral colors), we buy her clothes in bright, happy hues with mermaids and butterflies and ladybugs, and ::gasp:: her toys are visible in my living room literally all the time.
This is decidedly very undesigner-y of me, and I’m not mad at it for a second. The longer I write about interiors, work with design brands and content creators, and see deeper and deeper behind the curtain, the less I care about having the “perfect” home. I aim for a beautifully designed house but it needs to work for a family. That, or maybe it’s because I’m getting older, care less about what people think, and also I’m a tired mom of an energetic, creative toddler.
If you know me, you know my home is lived in. It’s pretty, but it’s always going to have a stack of papers on the dining console that needs tending to, and my pantry will have packaging from the store instead of everything being ideally decanted into see-through containers. So I’m approaching today’s topic with the same “let’s make this look better but not stress about it being overly innovative.”
Today, we’re tackling: kids’ art. Specifically, picking through some ideas for how to display it (or store it) to look great without feeling overly “daycare center.”
My daughter is officially starting preschool in the next few weeks and I’m surprising myself by actually planning ahead of time before I’m drowning under a mountain of construction paper. Over the last few months, she’s gotten very into watercolors and finger paints and we already have a portion of a wall in her room covered with some of her creations (with a stack of thin canvases waiting to also be hung). She LOVES to see her art on the wall, so I want to honor her excitement by finding some new ways to display what she’s likely going to be bringing home from school, as well as the things we make together at home.
Here’s what we have so far:
To be frank, I slapped some crumbled-up papers on the wall with tape in some instances and small command strips in others. I’m open to framing things (I’ll show some examples below) but also kind of want to wait until I have a wide selection to choose from. I don’t really mind what’s happening here because it’s both loose and structured at the same time. I think if I kept adding down, up, and on the other wall behind the glider (and in other areas of her room not pictured here), it could actually get kind of cool? But I also don’t want it to feel overwhelming, cluttered and dusty, so it’s time to consider some options.
I did what I do first in a situation like this: Research what other people have done, because there’s nothing new under the sun, and likely someone has a great solution already that could work in my home. For the time being, I want to keep the art in my daughter’s bedroom (rather than all over the house) both for her to admire when she’s playing in there, and also because her walls are white and don’t have much going on with them.
Let’s see what I found…
Option #1: The Large Pinboard
There were a lot of inspiration photos in the pinboard camp, including the DIY version from Birdie’s room reveal at the farmhouse. I can see myself going the route of creating my own to custom fit a wall or two in Evelyn’s room, but also “now” me is confident in having the time to do it, but I know “later” me will be giving me serious side-eye. But let’s dream a little because “later” me still isn’t here to make faces and punt a project into next year.
I found this photo from Lauren Robbins Interiors in an Architectural Digest feature, and I instantly loved it! I’m not sure if what’s covering the pinboard is fabric or wallpaper, but I think it could be a great way to bring color and pattern into my toddler’s room without actually having to paint or wallpaper a wall.
Pinboard Pros:
- Can customize to the right size and finish with cute fabric, felt or wallpaper
- Can easily swap out art as it comes in
- Contains art in one organized spot
Pinboard Cons:
- Push pins could maybe be a bad idea for a curious 2.5-year-old?
Option #2: The Full Wall Cork Board
I have long loved the look of an entire wall of cork for the purpose of displaying art. It feels very “art studio” to me even though I’ve never been in an art studio that had a full wall of cork. ::shrugs:: I really liked the neatness of the display I found on Florence & Henri’s profile after doing a quick search for #kidsartideas. This would require art in all the same sizes, which I know is SO not feasible, but I still think even some pinned-up art in messy configurations would look better on cork than just taped to a white semi-gloss Swiss Coffee wall.
There is, however, the consideration that cork panels are actually way more expensive than you think they are going to be. Most offerings I have found so far are about $150 a roll which barely covers anything. I’m really not looking to spend $500+ on this, especially for a youngster’s room that very well may change sooner rather than later due to evolving interests.
Cork Wall Pros:
- Has a definite “cool” factor
- Natural material that also has sound-dampening qualities!
- Lots of flexibility in how to actually display the art
- Easy to swap out art
Cork Wall Cons:
- Again…push pins = bad idea for toddlers?
- Expensive if I want a full wall of coverage
- How do I actually adhere it to the wall??
Option #3: Organize The Chaos With Framing
While this is the sleekest option, of course, it’s the path I’m most hesitant to walk at the moment. I do very much like the look of a gallery wall (uh, have you seen my past room reveals?), but framing feels so permanent, and I know I’m in for a decade or so of take-home art projects and I only have so many walls in this home (or any home). I could maybe see myself doing a yearly or every few years swap out but ugh, “later” me is already tired and annoyed. Not to mention all the holes in the wall from hanging, and a grubby-handed kid who loves to touch the existing frames in her room.
I do love the decidedly eclectic artist vibe of something like the above from Born and Bred Studio but am I overdoing the gallery/salon wall? (Is that possible?) Another hold-up is the fact that the only wall in my daughter’s room that could handle something like this is too close to her sleeping area and being in an earthquake territory, this is an absolute NOPE. Earthquake hooks for art exist, but I just can’t take that risk. After a fairly scary and strong shake-up centered only a few miles from my home recently, I’m already looking at the ceiling-high gallery wall in my living room with new eyes…
Framed Gallery Wall Pros:
- God, I love a gallery wall
- It’s clean, tidy, and cool-looking
- Great for different areas of the home should the projects expand into our living spaces
Framed Gallery Wall Cons:
- Not easy to swap out the art
- Might get expensive with all the frames
- Easy to procrastinate actually doing because of all the frame sizes needed (I know myself)
- Depending on where it goes, maybe not a sturdy, stable option for a young kid
Option #4: Just Go Full Kids Art Studio
I almost didn’t add this one because it’s a bit more all-encompassing than just how-to-hang art. But the all-in art studio vibe is very sweet and probably something I would have dreamed of having as a little girl. That and a mini library as I was a big reader (as is my girl). Though I’m not sure I have the space in my daughter’s room to dedicate a large stretch of wall to this (not to mention, we have white-ish carpet), I do recognize that being a little more loose and free but keeping some things structured and tidy is very much my speed. This art corner would still look sweet with the paintings and drawers on the wall unframed, I believe, though they certainly help.
Art Studio Pros:
- Feels very kid-appropriate with a creative spirit
- Seems to be able to ebb and flow easily enough
Art Studio Cons:
- Needs actual floor real estate to make happen
- Probably too messy for my daughter’s carpeted bedroom
Kids Art Display Product Options
Typically, shopping (or making) comes after the inspiration phase. And while I’m still not ready to pull out my payment method just yet, I did get some good ideas by also poking around product offerings for hanging, displaying, and storing. I’ve also seen a very simple, straightforward idea of just buying a few big 3-ring binders with clear sheet protectors to stash art in. That way, my girl (or anyone in the family) could always take it off the shelf and flip through it like a scrapbook. I think that would be a great landing place for things after they’re up on the wall for a little bit and ready to transition to something else. Just pop it into the binder and keep it moving!
Left to right: Magnetic Art Gallery, $79 at Pottery Barn | Art Display for Kids Artwork (48 Clips – 10ft Wire), $28 at Amazon | Rainbow Dot Art Cable, $59 at Pottery Barn
I really like these magnetic art holding strips from Pottery Barn. Each one is 36″ so I’d likely have to buy a few of them. A more affordable option is this wire and clip situation. I know they sell these at IKEA, Amazon, and beyond. Does anyone have any experience with these not being droopy in the middle, or does it hold tight without much slack? Another version of the cable is this sweet one with rainbow dot holders, which I know my girl would love, but it’s twice the price.
Left to right: Express Book, from $99 at Plum Print | Girl Friday Modern Acrylic Frame, $59 at West Elm | Americanflat Kids Art Frame Front Opening, $18 at Target
Plum Print is another “on-the-shelf” storage solution that looks really interesting, albeit pretty pricey. Here’s how it works: The company sends you a box to put all your kids’ art into and once received, they scan them all and create a book. The downside is you have to pay a return fee to get back your art, and the $99 starting price only includes 20 pages, with the option to add up to 250 pages at $2.50 a page (yikes!).
If I were to go the frame route, I do like the playful and modern nature of these acrylic ones from West Elm, though something more functional like this one I found at Target would probably be best. The front opens, so you can easily move art from the display to the storage pocket inside so it’s super easy to rotate things. Reviews are mixed across different sites selling the same product, so I’m unsure about the quality.
Left to right: Girl Friday Modern Cork Board – Large, $250 at West Elm | Natural Cork Roll 20 inches Wide, from $50 at Etsy | 24 x 36 Modern Linen Designer Pinboard, $175 at Etsy
And lastly, we’ve got some cork and pinboards. I do love the look of this large West Elm corkboard, but I’m fairly certain I’m not dropping $250 on it. The cork roll concept is still tops for me, but I might have to only do a small portion of her wall, since it’s $120 for the length I need for my ceiling heights in 20-inch wide sections. That’s…a lot of cork and a lot of money. I do love the linen of this pinboard I found on Etsy, but I feel like I can make it for far less and take some creative liberties with a fabric my daughter would love. It would have to be a small, tight print to come off more as visual texture/interest as not to compete with whatever is pinned up on it.
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Thanks for coming along on this journey with me. I don’t have a firm decision made (besides that binder idea that I think I’ll definitely employ as a long-term storage tactic) but will likely do a combination of custom pinboard with some wire hanging.
If you’ve had any luck with a way to handle kids’ art in your home (besides using the trash as your storage facility hahaha), please chime in! Any ideas or products are more than appreciated.
Until next time, friends…
Opening Image Credits: Design and Styling by Emily Henderson | Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Birdie’s Bedroom Reveal!! Designing With (Not For) Your Kids, And How We Exploded This Room With Color
I’ve DIY’d a kitchen pin board from Felt Right tiles and I LOVE them! Super easy to install with Command-sticker-like backings, lightweight enough that they wouldn’t cause any injury if they fell, and I loved playing with their design-your-own feature to plot out my exact size and color combo. They’ve got kids room section with tons of fun shape inspiration too
Seconding Felt Right! We used their tiles in our playroom. Easy to install, stay put, and a great option for displaying art.
I take pictures of my kids art and make my own photo books from Snapfish or similar websites that use your photos for gifts. Much less expensive and didn’t need to send the art away. And I framed and hung my favorites ones. When they were really young and the art was, shall we say, less sophisticated, we just used magnets to hang it in our fridge and rotated them out weekly or monthly.
Similar product we used – https://www.artkiveapp.com/
Now we have a book of art for each of my kids!
What about a magnetic board? I imagine it could still be covered with wallpaper or fabric and then you could get super cute magnets (or super strong little ones) to hold up the art? Like this? I can’t fully tell if this one is really magnetic, but it gives you an idea of it in cute colors. Bonus, if it is dry erase, you could draw cute frames around the art.
coming to say this same thing!
oh this would be so cute, but super strong little magnets are a big big no with kids – if they swallow a couple it can pinch their insides. just an FYI for anyone seeing this.
I saved some of our children’s art for years and finally when they were in middle school I created a gallery wall. They are adults now. The gallery wall is still up and it’s still loved by all. My original idea for the gallery wall was to have both frames with permanent art and random empty frames without glass where I could switch out art by just hanging it randomly within the frames with decorative tape or command strips. Prior to the gallery wall, we had baskets in their rooms for their art. Also a basket in my office called “the love basket” for art they did for me. My children created art in quantities and at the speed of light. It was crucial, in my book to quickly nab and save the favorite pieces, even showcasing on the fridge for awhile, and finally framing for gallery wall later.
Agree that the idea of a push pins and a toddler doesn’t seem ideal! What about if you go magnetic? Lots of white boards are magnetic, so you could use one of those as the base. Still cover it in fabric/something so it’s not ugly (maybe peel and stick wallpaper?) and then use magnets to hold up.
No kids of my own, but lots in my life and I can definitely see a kid pulling out a cute push pin and it getting dicey!
I love a magnetic board! Just have to be careful with the magnets you choose, because those can be dangerous for kids too – the mini superstrong magnets especially are a no-go around little kids because they can do serious damage if swallowed. But I love magnet boards – I have the Agenda board from Room & Board in my kitchen and we cover it with mini polaroids that we take whenever we have guests over 🙂
$0.02 from a mom with two middle schoolers: save your favorite art pieces! When my girls were younger and the art creation was prolific, at the time I was using Chatbooks to make (printed) family albums. Chatbooks is (was?) super cool, it would grab my Instagram posts and bring them into a printed photo book (no work on my end, I had already done the work during the IG upload process; I’m pretty sure I could edit (i.e., remove some posts), and the comments didn’t show up but not sure if I requested that). You could make a private account just for uploading photos of your kids – AND take pictures of your kids’ art – and then Chatbooks would include all of those into your printed photobook.
I had planned to do this after seeing parents recommend it for years, only to find chatbooks stopped offering the print from Instagram feature. 🙁 haven’t found anything similar either. If anyone knows of one please comment!
It looks like maybe ChatBooks does still offer the IG upload? https://help.chatbooks.com/en/articles/9370592-how-do-i-re-authorize-my-instagram-account-to-my-series
Def worth digging into, it made capturing in a photobook those early years of parenthood do-able for me. And I chose the Rifle Paper Co 8×8 book design and they are so cute all together on my bookshelf!
Forgot to add this! I’ve also seen gallery walls where the swap out is way easier. The frames have no glass and a mat back (or cork) and the art is floating in front of the mat background, but easily swappable (because of no glass). It’s like a combo of a pinboard and a gallery wall – you can easily replace an item with something of a different size, as long as it fits in the frame (will just have more/less mat showing!)
For folks looking for easy swap frames, I highly recommend these from Articulate Gallery: https://articulategallery.com/
We have two of the three-frames. There’s no glass, so you just slide things right in while it’s on the wall
My sister was in the same boat with kids’ art and her solution was to hang a thick string (like twine) and used mini clothes pins to display the art on the string. She put it in a hallway and the string was really long and did sag in the middle, but it looked really cute nonetheless. Cheap, easy and safe! She also hung four frames above it (two for each kid) and changed those out seasonally.
I went to Bunnings (I think maybe Australia’s Home Depot?) and bought a few sheets of brightly coloured acoustic pin board and stuck them on with command strips to create a massive floor to ceiling pin up board. Looks amazing and cost less than $100. My kids are a bit older so pins are okay but because the board is like very think felt you could probably use Velcro dots on the back.
I wouldn’t frame anything unless you love it/it’s super special because they just bring SO MUCH ART HOME. I pin up what’s currently great and rotate frequently – then I keep “special” art in a big box in the top of my cupboard and toss the rest. You feel bad the first time you throw stuff out but you eventually have to!
We used a deep frame and when kids wanted new art to be the star, just stacked it on top. Not the intended use but you’d be surprised at how much they pack in there! Anything that they didn’t want to frame we recycled.
I have 4 children and have been managing my kids’ artwork coming home for over 21 years now and it is so much!
I absolutely love the gallery wall over every other way I have displayed them. BUT so much art comes home and taking down frames to switch out art does really become a pain. I have done an in-between with hanging glassless frames and pinning art on the wall within the frame. In my youngest daughter’s room I actually collected cool frames from thrift stores with different textures and designs and spray painted them all the same color and hung them in her room as a gallery wall and she is able to switch them out herself (she’s 11). But for in the common areas of the house, I do prefer actual framed art, so I reserve those for my favorite pieces.
We have the pottery barn magnetic strips – 2 of them – in our playroom. I love how I can layer art and pictures on them, and it adds a playfulness to the space while showcasing my kids’ creativity. That being said, the magnetic power of the strips is weak and if you are adding an additional art piece, you have to take everything out of the strip and start again as it will all fall out.
Thanks for breaking down all these options! I’m with you on the official framing of the art…my future self also says that sounds exhausting and annoying to switch it out! 🙂
I love where you’re heading with this. I’m in the same camp as you. I want my home to look good, but still be a comfortable and enjoyable place for everyone to live. When my daughter was in pre-school / elementary (peak of her art days), I did the wire with clips option you showed towards the end. It was very easy to change out her masterpieces and didn’t look too messy. Enjoy and cherish the days with your little girl – they grow up so quickly!
When my kids were little, we hung a 4’x8’ piece of sanded plywood, framed with some picture molding. I painted it with black chalkboard paint. Then I hung a few changeable artwork frames and some small shadowboxes for their dimensional art. Then we would use chalk to draw fancy frames around their artwork, add signatures and special messages. I left some large spaces open to tape up things that didn’t fit in a frame.
I’m definitely in the camp that says the “perfect” home is the one that its occupants love being in, even if it’s not visually perfect! I have a guitar wall that clashes with my visual aesthetic, but it makes me so happy when someone picks up a guitar and fills the house with music. If I had those guitars in a closet, I’m sure our visitors would never play them.
Take pictures and make a magazine every year! I actually haven’t done this because I am the Mom that throws most of it away – I keep a couple things in a file folder for each kid. This blog post walks through it though! https://www.600sqft.com/blog/turn-your-kids-art-into-an-art-magazine-kid-art-book-2024
We found packs of 12×12 cork tiles that we used to make a pinboard. They work well and are thicker than the rolls of cork I found. I’ve seen them on Amazon, at Joann, Michael’s etc. It was easy to make the configuration we wanted and they work well. Also inexpensive compared to rolls of cork. Not sure about using them around a toddler but it might help someone else.
Seriously, though. Why are neutral paint colors suddenly exponentially more expensive than primary colors when they’re slapped on kids toys??
We just masking tape pictures to a designated wall, swapping out as space fills. (I’ve tried washi tape, but it eventually fell). It’s really sweet and colorful, similar to a large corkboard, but I would really caution against anything that requires magnets or push pins. They’re a hazard with small kids, and it’s impossible to keep track of all of them forever.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t display my kids art, this is very intentional. I am an artist myself (bachelor’s degree) and a pet hate of mine is children being made to think that their experimental mark making is for the purpose of making something pretty to give to mummy. There artwork is like their baths exercise book, it is the process of their learning. The art they make does not need to be framed or kept forever, though if they have pieces they want to keep or display of course they can, but as soon as we as adults start selecting the “best” pieces, we are sending a message, and it’s not one I want to send. There are a few pieces that I have privately quietly kept, because they touched my heart (just like I have some writing of theirs tucked away) but overall it generally goes in a box and eventually in the bin.
Kids have so little autonomy. I think letting them choose whether or not to display and which to display is an empowering idea! Also, to echo another commenter, Alison Mazurek’s detailed description of making kids’ art magazines is really inspiring (600sqftandababy.)
P.S. I love your “let’s be real” posts, Arlyn!
Thanks for sharing that perspective! Really interesting to think about.
I LOVE this, Eve!
We’ve used the Ikea wire and clips for years and love it! It doesn’t sag in the middle, is super easy to change up with new artwork, kids can hang stuff themselves, and it looks great. We have a plastic bin in the basement where we put pieces we want to keep that get rotated out of the gallery. So cheap, easy and good.
Twine, push pins, and clothespins. Easy peasy and the kids can change them out and hang them up themselves. When something comes off the wall we have a designated pile for the art we want to keep. One day I’ll have to go through all of that but it’s just not a priority when everyone needs to be fed and bathed and put to bed. 🙂
We used the Ikea wire and clips to display our kiddos’ art when they were in that prolific stage (we’ve since moved and never put it back up.) There is no sag in the wires, there’s instructions to make it tight so sag was totally not an issue. Super easy to switch out kid art; we had two rows of the wire going since we have three busy kids. We also kept a drawer of ‘art in progress’ or recently completed works, sorted every few months or so (recycled/tossed the overflow) and keep a banker’s box of select pieces through the years.
I agree with Arlyn and other commentors that switching art out of frames is too much of a hassle. I use frames to display a few pieces of kids art long term but use a bulletin board for rotating out art more frequently. A couple of Amazon product recommendations I highly recommend: Clothespin Push Pins These are the best. They have a thumb tack back so you can insert them anywhere on a bulletin board. The front is a mini clothes pin so it’s effortless to hang and swap art. Young children can hang their own art without handling thumb tacks and it’s honestly a more user-friendly experience for adults. I would trust these clothes pins over magnets for a firm strong grip. Kids art can be heavy! Peel and Stick Felt Bulletin Board It’s $90 for a 3’x5′ board, $110 for a 4’x5′ and it has a nice sleek modern finish since it’s felt, not cork. Lot’s of color options and the installation is easy, there is a self-adhesive strip on the back of the board. You can see both products in use in this insta post. Also, hopping on the take pictures for a photo book train… I… Read more »
I actually love the idea of putting art in a binder with page protectors to flip through. If your daughter already loves reading, it might feel extra special to have a “book” to interact with. I remember as a kid feeling very overwhelmed with the “pressure” of having my art displayed, and not wanting anything up that I had already moved on from in skill or developmental phase etc. Might not be every kid’s hesitation, but ultimately having room to keep churning out new things without “pressure to perform” via framing etc. was conducive to my early stage creativity. Again, that could very well have just been a young me issue, but I’m sure I would have enjoyed the low-stakes flipping through of a binder I could tuck away when it was time to dream up new things. Just a thought!
These are great ideas! children’s art and stuffed animals (which seem to multiply in the dark) are the two great challenges.
I had a friend who regularly mailed special pictures to Grandma. What Grandma did with the pictures I do not know, but the kids felt special to have made Grandma-worthy art.
I had another friend who took some of the best art projects done by both her kids with the same art teacher in grade school (a black and white collage) and framed them in matching frames. They did look like modern art.
A family practice of four doctors in Rhode Island used their own kids’ art for all the art in the clinic. Framed and so heart warming.
The last is a design idea I saw in a fancy design magazine ages ago. You need either all portrait or all landscape orientation. Each piece was scanned and reduced to the same size, and mounted on a big canvas. Rather like dominos laid out on a white background. It looked great.
And did I do any of these clever things, or any of Arlyn’s clever things? No. I just had piles of kid art everywhere.
I used clip boards to display 8×10 prints and I’m certain they would work for kids artwork. They make it super easy to change out art but you can hang as many or as few on your wall as you like. I could see them hung in some sort of grid or maybe simply five across? The possibilities are endless. They hang with a simple nail.
https://www.target.com/p/composite-clipboard-brown-up-38-up-8482/-/A-13319535?sid=&ref=tgt_adv_xsp&AFID=google&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000014804813&CPNG=PLA_Seasonal%2BShopping_Brand%7CSeasonal_Ecomm_Home&adgroup=SC_Seasonal_Home/Office+Paper&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9030795&targetid=pla-1576404032346&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1247068&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwlbu2BhA3EiwA3yXyuwdGKW96EEeiZ9P5tt4LIy1T-1U30Mdd8H_521ZO9z3nZNv4hCZb2xoCDdkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
One thing to consider is how easy it is to switch the art out. In my experience, my kids hate anything they drew/painted except for their most recent, so being able to switch the old to the new easily is a huge plus.
Similar to the Rainbow Dot Art Cable, we bought yards of (green) vinyl coated steel cable from HD/Lowe’s, then snipped and looped the ends to have the desired lengths. A couple of nails/3M hooks were used to hang the cable and then we used those tiny, very strong magnets to hold art up along it
I say this as a former artsy kid but I definitely second putting stuff in a folder or binder rather than trying to display all of it. My parents didn’t display much of my kid art, they have one from preschool framed but that’s about it, and it certainly didn’t stop me from making a lot. And I remember flipping through my binder with my grandma showing her everything I had made.
When your daughter is old enough to use a pinboard having one over the desk is great, but I think it’s better to have the kid manage it themselves rather than the parent.
What a fun article! Yes, been there and I have to say I’ve tried a few of these things…the last being taping my kids artwork all over my hallway. It worked because the walls were white and it was a big unused hallway but I get that probably isn’t for most. My favorite way was the wire and clips approach. Got me through 5 years of artwork and still holding strong. They can be added easily (stacked on top of eachother) and then every couple of months or even once a year, go through and eliminate. My kids loved seeing their artwork on display!
My kids are 24 & 28. I didn’t get a good system going when they were younger and now I have all these random piles and bags full that are overwhelming to go through. Some art pieces have an unknown artist, making them less interesting to keep. You have less time than you think for organizing later. At a minimum get a file box and pendaflex hanging folders to make a box for each kid with a folder for each age. I wish I had.
i purchased an inexpensive piece of wood trim, painted it with the wall color of our dining room (where the kids art/tests/etc get displayed and attached a few sleek metal clips and hung on the wall. It’s great because you can get the exact length you want, the wood is light to hang on the wall and doesn’t leave a lot of damage if you move and it blends in to the wall if there isn’t a lot hanging up. We created smaller ones for above the kids desks too. I envisioned framing too when I had a preschooler, but I hadn’t yet learned that so much of their art is 3D. My routine now is that everything gets displayed and on Sunday afternoons I sort out what I want to save and what gets tossed. When my kids were smaller, it wasn’t as often (Each kid has a bin in the garage with file folders for preschool -12th and at the end of the school year I go through my “save” box again and pair down and file away.
I had forgotten my mother’s brilliant solution. Waaaaaay back in the 1970’s when I was a kid, my mom would save our artwork and then tack it up all over the garage walls for 1 week in the summer. Our piano teacher, neighbors, and anyone else lucky enough to drop by during museum week had to tour our art gallery. In lieu of a ticket I made them wear a cicada shell. 🤣
Try an art supply store where you can find foam board in sizes ranging from a few feet to massive wall size that can be cut to your specifications. Cover with your chosen fabric (glue, staple whatever) and hang (they are very light weight). You can hang by driving brads (headless nails) or regular nails into drywall or mount hooks like command picture hooks etc.
Opposite problem here. Husband and I have started going to art classes for fun. We are total amateurs but our canvases, drawings and watercolor papers are starting to accumulate. What do “real” artists do with all their work? It takes up a lot of space!
Canvases can be painted over again and reused. I assume you’ve already asked friends and family members if they’re interested in your work? You might also ask them if they have a workplace that could use some color and/or interest on the walls (cheap frames can be found nearly everywhere these days).
We framed the kids’ art and I did a floor to ceiling gallery in the half bath. I pick one or two favorite pieces each year to add to the gallery. We have tall ceilings so I have a little room left. Everyone in the family – and our guests – get to enjoy them. I bought frames from Target and Ikea in a mix of black, metal and white. Everything else either gets recycled (I do snap a pic if it tugs at me) or put in an archival art box under their beds. Art production really slowed down around 4th grade.
I recently made cork-covered cabinet doors so I am your cork expert! 😀 You can get 4′ wide, 8′ long, 6mm thick cork roll on the Ubiquitous Online Shopping Site for about half of what you were looking at on Etsy. But adhering cork roll to your walls might be a challenge. It is heavier than you think and will tend to hold the rolled shape, so you’d need some way to exert pressure to keep it flat on the wall as you mount it. I used wood glue to adhere it to my cabinet doors but that may not be a great solution on a wall if you don’t think the cork would be a permanent design decision.
You might consider looking at cork underlayment available in the flooring section at your local hardware store. At my store, it was available in 2′ by 3′ flat sheets that would be easier to mount on a wall than a rolled product, and cheaper than the cork tiles available online.
An even easier and more economical solution would be to use foam core posterboard, which you could cover in fabric, wallpaper, or paint as you desired.
I bought a bunch of cork board squares for cheap from target and command stripped them on the wall to make a jumbo cork board for my girls. I will likely pick and area to go floor to ceiling with them.
Hi! Love all the ideas, but I have another. I painted one wall of the boys bedroom a solid color and then made “frames” in all sizes, shapes and styles with a gold paint marker. Then you can put up the art in the drawn frames and change it up whenever you like.
I have a chalk board that’s also magnetic. I glued on little doo dads (small toys for your little gal?) to my magnets to personalize them (and to make them easier to pick up) and it may be a way make them bigger if you’re afraid of them being swallowed. I think you can buy magnetic paint also and possibly even cover that with fabric to further personalize it? Find a large old frame (or more) at a thrift store that has a canvas board backing and use magnetic paint? Please report back, I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Another idea, use bull dog clips. I’ve seen several ways to use them. This article also has some out of the box ideas…
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-ways-to-display-artwork-without-framing-238001
I’m a preschool teacher. One thing I want to try is painting clipboards to match my room and then using them to rotate the children’s art. No pushpins or staples.
I’m team washi tape! It’s cheap, easy to swap art, and my kid loves to “help”. Oh, this 8×10 paper needed 20 tabs of tape? Incredible. I have a stairwell with a floor-to-ceiling messy kid gallery wall. I appreciate that it’s a pass through space because it’s… a lot on the eye. And he’s proud he has full rein. He shows every visitor his art wall!
I’d LOVE to do a cork wall, but cork is really shallow and push pins are almost half an inch! You have to layer foam or something behind the cork so you don’t poke 1000 holes into your drywall. Another cost/process to keep in mind.
Big love to all the moms trying their best!
Lovely article. Whatever option you choose, remember to write your kid’s name and date at the back!
We had the cable and clip system from IKEA (Dignitet) and loved it, but when we moved, we never rehung it, mostly due to not having wall space. But I think it would have been great (my husband didn’t like the idea of hanging it in front of windows). I ended up with a giant cork board in the hallway (probably close to $200), that I switched out artwork on. And yes, pushpins occasionally ended up on the ground. Fortunately my daughter wasn’t interested, but the cats did manage to find them and bat them around (luckily no attempts to digest). I also had large art portfolios to put artwork in, because binders and plastic sleeves are not large enough for most kids art. Something like these: https://www.dickblick.com/categories/studio/art-storage/portfolios/ But we didn’t actually look through them very often. I’m planning on going through them soon to pick my favorites (my daughter is now 20). I wish I would have taken photos or scanned artwork as it came in and recorded all the details to make a photo book. I know there are apps that came out when my daughter was past the constant artwork phase that would have helped this process.… Read more »
I forgot to mention that I recently bought this, thinking I’d use it with kids art somehow (but I haven’t). It’s peel and stick “wall paper” with hand drawn frames.
https://chasingpaper.com/products/darcy-miller-x-chasing-frame-set-one-decals
https://chasingpaper.com/products/darcy-miller-x-chasing-frame-set-two-decals
Thank you for the “shout out” about Plum Print! We’d LOVE to make you a custom book of your child’s artwork, so you can see all the beautiful love and care that goes into every book we create. From professionally photographing and editing (removing wrinkles, etc) each of your child’s precious creations, to the colorful creative design of the book layout, plus the high archival quality paper, the result is a family treasure you will enjoy forever!
xoxo
Cate at Plum Print
I removed the glass from some picture frames and painted the backboard, then hot-glued two clothes pegs at the top. Super easy to change out art while also having a “finished looking” gallery wall.
Rotated pieces went into a box and we made display folders for each grade level at the end of the year, similar to your binder idea.
I’m confused about “Framed Gallery Wall Cons: Not easy to swap out the art.” Sure, if you’re custom framing. But if you get inexpensive, off-the-shelf frames with the cardboard backs, it would be incredibly easy.
It’s more about the “inertia” that happens when you are in the thick of working and raising kids. You don’t have the time or energy to do it because you are holding on for dear life trying to get through the day/week/month!