How To Create An Art Wall In Your Home

Every Friday, we get a folder home from school with lots of art from what my kids made that week. Now, truth be told, I obviously don’t want to keep it all. If you’re a mom who does keep it ALL, you’ve gotta tell me your secrets on storing every single scrap of construction paper they bring home.

However, I love seeing their faces light up as they tell me about how they made it, and especially how proud they are of what their little hands created. Being a creative at heart, this resonates with me hard. I’m all about creativity, and anything I can do to push that a little further, I’m in. Which is exactly why, I created this wall that would showcase their art! 

They are beyond thrilled when they make something and want to hang it up for it be displayed! After reading “The Nesting Place“, which has got to be one of my favorite books, she really drives home the fact that spaces can change as your lives change, and I loved that. It was freeing to decide to do one thing to a room or a wall, and it’s ok if it doesn’t work for you 5 years down the line! It’s ok guys!! Maybe today, you need your formal living room to be a study or a playroom, and when the playroom phase is over or you don’t want it to be a study anymore, make it whatever you want! Do what works for your family and what your current season in life demands. Don’t be constrained to the idea that the study must be a study! Or that accent wall MUST be decorated with just “things” that you just picked up at Home Goods. Make the space mean something to you.

And that’s what I did with this wall. Initially, I wanted it to be a huge gallery wall. But then I was like, would that make me happy and feel good every time I walked past it? Mehhhh….maybe?? Would it bring me joy? Probably not. But you know what I did know? I knew that little creations from my babies would make them beam with confidence, and that would DEFINITELY make me happy. Their little faces, all proud, grinning ear to ear. Yes, yes, yes! I was all over that like white on rice. I know the season of life I’m in right now means that there are many parts of my house that doesn’t look like a model house, but guess what? This is a home, and my kids are part of it and I want them to feel like we live here and that they make up a lot of what we call home. 

So let’s get to it! This wall was such a fun project to put together that came together in just one weekend! 

Going to break it down portion by portion of what’s on the wall! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment!!

Wall Color

It started with painting the wall a fun dark color to make all the white and the colorful pieces pop! We’ve used this in other accent spaces in our house too, so I knew I would love it! It’s Graphic Charcoal by Behr. 

Decal

The decal I actually picked up from Hobby Lobby while they were having a 50% off sale, and I think it was like $5. The quote I got says “Creativity is Contagious, pass it on” – Albert Einstein. 

Wooden Rainbow

Then I wanted something fun right under it that would give it that extra pop of color, so I picked up a raw piece of wood from Home Depot. Sanded it down, traced 7 circles to represent the colors of the rainbow (good ol’ ROYGBIV), and nailed it in. 

Pennant Banner

Next, I wanted to add a little bit of personalization. And I knew that I could make it just out of felt! I bought about a yard and a half at Hobby Lobby, free-handed a pennant on a piece of paper to trace (I’m sure you can find a traceable one online!), and made a few for their names and the little dot in between. I also picked up some black felt sheets in Hobby Lobby, and used stencil letters to trace and cut those out. I just super glued them on and called it a day! I eventually added a black running stitch to the sides to add a little contrast but don’t think it was necessary at all! Hot glued all the pennants onto some rope/twine and that was really just it! Had some random leftover gold arrow fabric, that I attached as well at the ends to give it a lil’ something extra, but the whole thing probably took me a little over an hour! 

Hanging Wire

This little wire I use to hang all their art from is from IKEA. It’s actually a curtain wire. Plus, you can buy the little clips to hang it from! The little system couldn’t be more perfect for a space like this! I made one row for Aria, and one row for Rishi so they know they get a whole line to themselves just to hang their art from.

Unfortunately, the way the wall is located in my house, it was really hard to get good pictures because the light doesn’t always wanna do it’s thing over there. I tried to get as many as I could! 

And, as for adding more as the folders come in each week, I kind of throw away the things I know aren’t that meaningful and replace them with things that are fresh! I do this probably every 6-8 weeks. 

It’s the perfect spring project to tackle in these next few months! Pin it so you can reference back!