DIY Art Gallery Display for a Toddler's Room

DISCLOSURE: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links. Know that I only promote products I personally use and stand behind. Additionally it should be noted that I freelance for one of the companies, Alex Brands, which is mentioned in this post. Any opinions expressed on these items are solely my own and not that of my employer. To learn more about my affiliates, please review my disclosure policy here.

My daughter is really into art projects. Is that surprising? She’s been doing them since she was 5 months old and now that she’s cranking them out at home and school we needed someplace to display all her masterpieces! I was sick of these projects just piling up on the kitchen counter so we decided to turn a large blank wall in her bedroom into a fun art gallery display.

This is just the first glimpse of her baby nursery room updated to for 3 year old toddler self.

First up for this project was a trip to the lumber section of Lowes. And yes they are wearing shorts as this was a project we started back in September!

Basic Supplies:

Wood
Bulldog clips
White Paint and Primer in one
Polycrylic protective finish
Router (optional)
Keyhole Picture Hangers

To make the art gallery a little more interesting, Derek added a edge detail to the wood pieces. I’m not sure why this guy always does his projects outside when he has a full garage space with a workbench, but he does! Meanwhile, I LOVE this shot of him doing the handyman thing, mostly for all the little bits and pieces you can see flying out!

Next over a few nights, he painted and applied polycrylic to the wood. These are the same steps and materials he’s used on a few projects for our house, including Brielle’s dresser makeover. Those two cans went a long way!

After all that thoroughly dried, he screwed the clips on front, staggering the positions between the three pieces of wood so projects didn’t overlap.

NOTE: These are not exactly kid friendly clips as they are on the tight side. Hoping this isn’t an issue down the road but right now she knows that only mom or dad will clip the projects up to display.

To hang the actual boards, we did some research and decided to go with keyhole hangers. This way it would be a lot harder for them to lift up the wood to take them off and potentially have the wood fall on them. He added 3 to the back of each board.

Up the art gallery display went and right away I clipped up some of her best works! Sure many of these are designs done at school but some are part of art kits. Toddler moms – I highly recommend: Ready Set Cut, Ready Set Paste, and My Giant Busy Box. Yes I work for the company that makes these but I’m writing this as a mom, not an employee. I love how they are individually packaged so we were able to take out each project one day at a time and spread out the art fun over a bunch of indoor days. Most of the activities were doable all on her own as they have very little directions and include a finished photo as inspiration. They are some of my favorite kits to give for birthdays and holidays now so friends, don’t be surprised if this is what I gift!

The bedroom tour is now up! Check it out!