Gallery Wall--Children's Artwork

Over a year after a renovation project that transformed our underused living room into a library, we have started looking for appropriate furniture for the space.  Though I know what I like, I decided it wouldn't hurt to have some design experts take a look.  Did you know that most furniture stores will send someone to your home for free?  They take measurements, snap photos, ask questions, and then follow up with ideas for how to lay out the room with their store's furnishings.  You are under no obligation to buy anything.  Two Pottery Barn designers visited on Friday, and I am proud to say they were impressed with my various gallery walls (or were good liars!).

I realized that though I shared pics of the fishy gallery wall in my son's bedroom, I hadn't shared the others we've done.

A couple of years ago, we filled an empty wall in our family room with the artwork the kids had created in school and in a beloved after-school art class.  About six months before the "installation," I started buying Studio Decor brand frames at Michael's whenever they were on sale (and when an extra 20 or 25% off could be taken off sale prices).  I chose black frames with off-white mats and placed the artwork inside as best I could.  Sometimes I could only highlight one part of a piece.

I don't have an expert tips for getting it all on the walls.  I traced the frames on wrapping paper and tentatively taped everything to the wall.  Still, my husband and I did some changing as we went.  He has a decisive personality when it comes to this sort of thing, which is helpful.

End result is a wall that is personal to our family and has great pops of color.  Is it a lot of nails in the wall?  You betcha.  You're either okay with that or you're not.  I figure we're stuck with this for a while (though I can always change out what's inside the frames).  I'm not planning to move ever again, but if I do, I trust I can find a good painter who can also fill all those holes.