Art to the Rescue

Posted by Jodi

I was recently preparing my house for a friend’s baby shower when I noticed the non-curtained French doors in the den provided a great view for guests to my not-so-neat bedroom.

It’s the kind of thing you don’t think of until the door bell is about to ring.

My quick fix: I took a few of my son Sammy’s paintings from our massive collection and taped them neatly with white artist’s tape to the back of the doors.

It was meant to be a temporary solution, but my husband and I love it. (We know we are biased.) I might even laminate the art so I can hang the masterpieces neatly with some tiny eyelets on cup hooks.

Since there is a lot of Sammy art where that came from, we often have “art shows” at our house. (His teacher told me that he “uses up more paper than anyone in the class.”) I was proud, even though I’m not sure it was meant as a compliment.

Our shows are installed in hallways, on doors, and strung on clotheslines under the mantle. One “piece” that is on permanent display over our mantle is a series of his first people drawings collaged and hung in one of Ikea’s “NYTTJA” frames.

They come in lots of colors and sizes. The one above is the large (19 ¾” x 27 ½”) orange one and it’s only $7.99! (One downside with the frame is the plexiglass starts to bow and sag after a while. I plan to replace it with glass.)

Collaging a bunch of your child’s artwork is a great way to capture a series and create a larger piece of art.

Now that my younger son, Lionel, is starting to draw himself, we may have to move to a place with more walls!

Comments

[jess gonacha]

what an adorable idea! i love the colors against the white doors. what a special and unique way to hide a mess! :)

[Kenny]

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[Corinna Lyons-Revello]

This is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE the doors anyway, but with the art work they're even better! My 8-year-old is quite the artiste also and I have art everywhere, some of it framed as you do! I think that's great that you are preserving it and not just throwing it in a box to turn yellow (as my mother did!).

Corinna www.myscrapbooklife.com

[Rachel]

That's so fun! I need to borrow a preschooler until my little one is old enough to start making her own art. :)