Art at the Right Level

Today, April shares a cool, kid friendly home art solution:

“Over time, we've collected a bunch of art for our daughter. Not all of it is meant for kids, but all of the content is kid-available. Some of it is new, some of it is from my own collection when I was a child. We choose art that we all will like, so it fits in to our home - nothing super childish and nothing that's so out of reach that she doesn't fall in love with it. In keeping with art that is both high quality and within my daughter’s grasp, we recently created a gallery just for her, and just at her height. To look at "her art," she doesn't need to be lifted up high or crane her neck. The gallery is doorknob and toddler-level. That means she's free to peruse, stare, and wonder at any time.

The end of the hallway that leads to my daughter’s room is now a special space (click thumbnail above to enlarge photo). I bought a bunch of identical frames and mat boards, and I chose anti-reflective plexiglass, so it wouldn't shatter when things get rambunctious. Then we all spent time in the hallway getting the gallery ready, choosing where to put each picture and how high they should be. I hung them up, and our daughter, her dad, and her stuffed animals kept track of the progress. To keep the frames safely on the wall, I bought small brass piano hinges from the hardware store (shown above). I screwed one half into the frame, the hinge flush with the back edge. Then, when the picture was hung and the level said it was even, I screwed the other half into the wall. This hinge might not hold up to an aggressive yank by someone older, but it does keep the frames safely intact when my daughter rushes down the hallway and brushes them with her arms full of stuffed animals or books. She also likes to touch her art, and the hinges keep the frames settled and safe where they belong while she plays curator in her very own art gallery.”