Photo- Photographer Milo Brown for Tatty Bird

A kids room is such an important space to get right, it needs to be warm and comfortable, somewhere your child feels safe. It needs to encourage creativity and wonder of their minds. It needs to be cleverly thought out so play is encouraged and tidying up is easy.

For a recent project Camberwell we created an open art wall. The principle is that the children can decide what goes onto their walls. It gives them the freedom to change and evolve their art. Encouraging artistic endeavours and proudly showing off their work.

We sourced second hand frames- you can find these on ebay, local charity shops, car boot sales, facebook marketplace or perhaps you have unused old frames at home.

The most important thing to consider when picking your frames is the size and shape- a variety is best. Once you have collected your mirrors I recommend laying them out on the floor, to check how they work together (measure out the length and height of the wall on your floor so you can see how they look to scale).

Next you need to prepare your frames by removing the backboard and glass, remove the current string and any other fittings and then give your frames a light sanding. Then its time to pick your paint colour!

We chose a soft yellow chalk paint , its easy to use and works on painted wood and metal. It needed 3 coats to give a really good covering. If you have a pair of saw horse, they are useful as you can paint the frames standing up and they dry well with plenty of air flow.

Once your frames are fully dry, you need to buy a pack of small screw eyes. You twist them in by hand until they are really tight, they have a loop of the end of the screw. We used jute string as it worked with our natural theme in the room but you can use any type of coloured string. Simply thread the string through the loop of the screw and double knot, adding a small bow. You want to keep the line of the string tight here, any slack will mean the artwork may hang too low.

We bought tiny little craft pegs from Hobby Craft to hang the artwork. When you are ready to start hanging, lay your frames on the floor again in the layout you would like- balancing the different sizes. Keep stepping back while hanging to make sure you are happy with how it’s looking.

Now for the best part- artwork! Get your children to choose where they want to display their art, collecting special things they make from school and at home. Its fun to change this seasonally, replacing with their Christmas creations, book week theme, or whatever subject they are really enjoying at school.

We did a frame wall the whole way across one side of the room and then two frames on the opposite wall next to the window, even if you don’t have a big space the frames can work anywhere. They make a great gift for the children's friends as no doubt they will love the art wall too!

If you would like some help designing a kids room please get in contact we would love to hear from you!

Art wall for kids