Guest Post From Rani - Kids' Art

We are so happy to welcome Rani again today as a guest Blogger!  I've been to Rani's house and love the way she has displayed her children's art in their home.  Are all children this talented?  Yes or no, there is something about the way a child draws and paints that seems impossible for us to replicate when we are older.  So - we ought to take advantage of it while they are young, and that is what Rani does so well!  You can read more from Rani here, here and on her Blog here.

Thank you Rani! :)

In grade 12, I painted a large canvas for an Art class assessment. What started off as an ‘abstract’ soon changed into a hibiscus flower, then somewhere along the way it turned into a waterfall. The thickly textured waterfall cascaded off a rocky cliff, with palms and shrubbery here and there, and the piece de resistance was a peachy colored sky accenting the yellow sun setting behind the top off the fall...

I hated that painting.

Oh, how I hated it! I was so utterly disappointed at how it had turned out, I was humiliated when I was forced to hand it in for my final end of year assessment. But what made it worse was that, to my horror, my mum thought it was great! And she hung it up in our house! *Shame!* Every time I walked past it, I only saw the agony and stress I poured over it and all the mistakes glaring back at me, mocking.  But mum loved it. She loved the colors, the textures, and the grand size of it. And somehow, despite the humiliation of having it displayed in our home for everyone to see as they walked toward the bathroom, I actually liked that my mum loved it so much. Even though it would never be a family heirloom, I liked that my mum found pleasure in it (nevertheless there were no tears shed when she moved house and it safely hung in the spare room…phew!)

Well now, it’s my turn. I display my children’s artwork all over my house. I just love it.  For a while there I was finding it frustrating competing with the kids’ toys and furniture, and found myself wondering how to incorporate my own grown-up interior design style with my kids’ junk things. It started when my oldest daughter was old enough to hold a crayon. I framed her first scribble. I was in love with her work. Of course, to everyone else they were just messy lines on a scrunched up piece of paper, but to me they were priceless.

Over the years, especially once my oldest daughter went to kindergarten, the paintings, collages and drawings came in droves. I wanted a better place to put them than hidden away in a box or on the kitchen bench for a day before they went into the bin. And so I bought more frames. And now, many rooms in my house display kiddy art.

I also made an Art Wall using two pieces of skirting board. I spray painted them black, attached bulldog clips using small screws, and I have the perfect place to hang up all my kids’ work. The best part is that I can alternate as more art comes in. Since I have them displayed for often weeks at a time, I find that I don’t feel bad when it comes to throwing some of them away. However, there are some favorites I keep up all the time, and one day will probably frame them too. We use it to display Family Home Evening art, photos, and this Christmas we used it to display cards and other decorations. 

I feel happy that I have found a unique style in displaying my kids’ art. I look around my house and I feel that I not only have my own personality in furniture, cushions, chairs, rugs, and decoration, but it’s a house where you know kids live and they are welcome to be themselves. The artwork makes it very colorful and bright and, despite loving many different looks and interior designs, I’m embracing this right now. I’m sure it won’t always look this way, but for now I love my house because I am surrounded by beautiful paintings and drawings of our family and things my girls love at this precious stage in their life.

(Rani hangs her frames using  removable 3M hooks, which you can read more about here.)