5 Easy Ways to Display Your Kids Art in Your Home | Creative Living

I’m that mom that keeps almost every scrap of doodle and hand written note my kids make. For me it’s more than just a piece of artwork, it's a moment in time that’s been captured by their creativity as they’re growing. With each passing season I have loved watching and seeing the ways my kids' creativity has thrived and grown and inspired me in my own creative journey too. And there’s nothing that instills confidence in our kids' creative abilities more than giving them the space to create, encouraging them when it’s hard, and showing them how proud we are of the work they’ve created. 

That's why I love hanging their art all over our home. I know not every piece that comes to life through is going to get its own shrine, but sifting through the ones where it inspired me and stood out in a unique way are the ones I’ve chosen to display.

I know it may be hard to think of how to put your kids art up in ways that is tastefully done, when on the surface it may looks like chicken scratch or blobs of a mess, but this post is to help inspire you and give you ideas on how you can use your kids artwork to add beauty to your home in a way that only this can bring. So I’m sharing 5 easy ideas where you can display your kids art among your home so it will fit in seamlessly with your decor and within your story.

1. Make a gallery wall of art just for their artwork

Have a blank wall that needs some life put back into it? Then your kid’s art is the perfect antidote for that. Our hallway in our home is small, but I knew I wanted to give something special to this space, so I grabbed various sized frames and a pile of their works that I have loved over the years and started adding to it. And now this spot is one of my favorites. One tip on making a gallery wall for your kids art is to get frames that are all the same color or within the same tone like all wood frames or a mix of light wood, white and gold frames so the frame doesn’t take away from the art itself. If you add too many colors to frames and have lots of colorful pieces going on it can create visual chaos, in my opinion, where you don’t really know where to look, making it feel more like a mess than a beautiful display.

2. Put your kids art within a picture gallery wall

We have a gallery wall of pictures in our bedroom mixed with family photos, love notes, my art and the kids' art. I chose a drawing my daughter Sage made that fit visually within the overall display so it was a perfect addition to the whole story that I wanted to tell through the gallery. If you already have a gallery wall in your home maybe try adding one or two pieces of your kids art that would work well within the mixture of photos you have. Another tip here is to use only black and white photos and use your kids' art within the gallery wall to add in pops of color. This naturally gives the art its own time to shine while still surrounded by a handful of meaningful pieces. 

3. Hang art in unexpected places

I chose two places to frame my kids' art in our home that are subtle but add fun whenever they’re seen. One in their bathroom above the toilet and the other in small pockets on our bookshelves. My kids are constantly drawing and painting on all sorts of sizes and textures of paper we have around the house which also gives them a little more character. So when adding these to the bathroom or the bookshelf it also added fun in a simple way to those spaces too.

4. Make an inspiration board of their art in your home office or studio

I have a wall right next to my desk of all the creations they’ve given me as they’ve made visits when I’m painting in my studio. Looking at this not only inspires my own creativity but also gives me so much joy. This one is so simple as I just chose to tape each piece up on the wall, layering them as I added to it over the years. And they love looking at it each time they come in to greet me here too.

5. Make a clothespin lined display of their work

I hung up a piece of jute and nailed it to the wall in my oldest kids room years ago and clothespinned art to the string as they created something new. This display still hangs in their room today and we’ve switched out some things but mostly have kept a lot of the doodles and artwork they’ve made over the years there. I love that it not only adds color to the room, but also gives an artistic and creative feel to their room too. This idea is so simple you can start doing this today!

So if you have piles of your kids artwork laying around that you don’t know what to do with, give yourself 5 or 10 minutes to sift through them and just see what pops out to you. Is there one that has colors you love, or one that looks like an abstract image of something they’ve dreamt up, or their own depiction of a family portrait, or maybe words they’ve written out that are adorable to look at? Don’t overthink it, just pick it up and see if it sticks out to you or not, if it does set it aside as one you can frame or display. Once you’ve chosen one or a few, look around your home and find a blank wall, an empty shelf, or a small pocket that doesn’t get much attention to see how you can add their artwork there. 

I guarantee this will not only create more beauty and fun to your home, but your kids will be so proud to see their work on display for all the world (or all of the people within your home) to see! 

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Thanks for being here, friend!

Xo, Coley