Those hand-print turkeys and noodle-frames are priceless treasures. However, they don’t always seamlessly blend into your home decor plan. It might feel callous to say, but what do you do when it feels like displaying your children’s arts and crafts makes the house feel more cluttered and messy, disrupting the clean, peaceful lines that you crave?
It can be especially difficult when it feels like the projects keep piling up. You might have finally found a perfect place for the homemade pottery… but then your child adds yet another self-drawn family portrait. As this article states, clutter can quickly make a home feel unlivable.
Here are some great ideas for featuring your family in your home’s decor plan… without it feeling cheesy or messy.
Frame It with a Gallery Wall
Consider dedicating a gallery-style wall to your children’s artwork. This way, you can have as many items as you want featured, without it getting all over the house.
Although your children’s art might be put together with different colors, mediums, lines, and sizes, you can lend an air of uniformity by creating frames for the gallery wall. This sets off each piece nicely, and it also makes the wall look great, with or without art to fill the frames. In fact, in order to make it easy to switch art in and out, you might just opt for the frame alone, without the glass or backing. This way, you can collect vintage, cheap frames, but give them a great look. Consider spray-painting the frames with one or two colors in order to add a strong statement to the wall, and give it consistency with the rest of the room or house. This article has more tips for arranging a beautiful gallery wall.
Make Family Feature Frames
What can be tricky about displaying children’s artwork is that sometimes one child or another feels under-represented. You can make an egalitarian utopia by creating a permanent frame, with a place for each child. Inside of their “square” each child can choose which artwork of theirs they want to feature.
Have a Cabinet
This is one of my favorite solutions, perhaps because it’s what my mother did when we were little. A special cabinet, hutch, or glass display case, can house children’s projects beautifully without getting messy. Make sure that you have standing frames in place to hold different art pieces, and rearrange the aesthetic with each new addition.
Make a Scrapbook
Who says that every piece of art has to be displayed on a wall? You can create books for your children’s art, which you and your family can peruse at your leisure. Even better, this gives you an opportunity to organize their art by child and year.
You can avoid dealing with glue and tape by simply purchasing a three-ring binder with clear plastic 3-hole-punched sleeves. Slip the artwork in and out of the sleeves in order to display and rearrange.
Have a Featured Chalkboard
Painting one wall with blackboard paint can be an excellent way to display your children’s art. First of all, the color contrast lends gravitas and purpose to the wall. Secondly, you can easily switch pieces in and out, and then draw a frame around them to make them look more special.
This technique can work with other arts-and-crafts staples, as well. Create a magnet wall so that your refrigerator can be free. Use a giant whiteboard, or corkboard.
Hang Them on a Clothesline
One of the easiest and cutest ways to display children’s art is to have a clothesline display. All you need is a few nails (or even pushpins), some string, and clothespins. There are even mini clothespins available if you want to feature smaller works. String up a line or two against the wall, and hang each art piece on a clothespin. This can be especially fun on brightly-colored walls.
Pick One Thing
It’s much easier to make something look special, and well-integrated into your home decor, if you just pick one thing to focus on. Choose your favorite art piece, and work out how to display it beautifully in your living room. You might get it framed, have it printed onto canvas, or display it on a side table, surrounded by flowers.
Whatever you do, display those artwork with pride!
