It was a sad day in the Tidbit household the other week…my 7-year-old daughter declared that she no longer wants to be a Tooth Fairy when she grows up. For the last two years, she’s been talking about Tooth Fairy college and waiting for her wings to grow, so this change of future occupation was a big deal! Thankfully, she has a new career path in mind and that is to become a fashion designer. Littlest is quite good at art {yes, I know I’m biased} and loves putting outfits together for herself, so I thought I’d do what I could to help her reach her goal. As part of my efforts, I decided to give her a gallery wall where she can showcase her designs!
I’ve shared her room with you before {full post HERE}, but he’s a reminder of what her room used to look like.
I selected the paint scheme, furniture, and bedding when she was very little and before I had a real sense of her personal style. I picked pastel bedding, soft flowers, crystal accents, and lots of pink for my sweet girl. Well…littlest is very sweet – no doubt about that – but she is anything but dainty and demure! She is all about bold colors, patterns, sparkle, and shine. She wears mis-matched knee high socks {on purpose} and outfits with as many sequins as possible!
Since I’m a big believer that a bedroom should be a sanctuary, giving her room an update to better reflect her personality became a top priority. And while I was at it, I wanted to incorporate her new love of fashion design! My idea? Give her a gallery wall where she can show off her fashions and swap out the artwork on a whim!
I found a site online where you can download croquis for free {link HERE}. A croquis is a sketch of a live model and the drawings I found were perfect for littlest to use in her designs. I simply printed them out on paper…
…and gave them to her to design outfits. Again, I know I’m biased, but even so, isn’t this pretty good for a 7-year-old?!
Since my goal was to show off her artwork, I decided to go with white frames and white matting so that her designs would really stand out. I already owned two white frames and I love repurposing, so I used what I already had and then purchased two bigger, simpler frames at Target.
While I was originally going to make everything symmetrical, I decided to break up the angular look with a bright turquoise mirror and then added an ornate oval frame with turquoise paper to the other side to give a little bit more balance to the layout. Even though I added some organic shapes to the mix, I kept the layout as a whole in a rectangular shape to mimic that of her dresser.
And just to give the gallery wall a little more interest, I added crystal knobs at the top with ribbon bows and a vertical ribbon running down through the center of the frames. As a bonus, if you put the ribbon up first, you’ll have a vertical point of reference when hanging your frames so that you can be sure they are centered properly!
Since new furniture isn’t in the budget, I updated the top knobs on her dresser from white to a combination of bright pink and blue glass, which are much more her style.
So now at least one part of her bedroom mini-makeover is done!
Tip: Since the frames and matting are all white, this type of gallery wall is a great way to show off children’s artwork because no matter what you put in the frames, the art will always pop against the white. Plus, with the frames unified, you can mix and match the artwork and the gallery wall will still maintain a cohesive look!
For more tips on how to lay out a gallery wall, you can check out this post.
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Hi Kim – your daughter certainly has talent – she has made a wonderful job of her artwork :) Her bedroom is sooo pretty and I love the pink and blue glass knobs – she’s a very lucky girl to have a mum like you too :)
Kim
Your 7 year old is definitely a wonderful artist…the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree! Her room looks great, how fun for her.
xo,
Karen
Cute!! I think it’s perfect…love all the different elements. And yes, I think she is a very talented little artist! :o)
I taught second grade ( seven and eight year olds) for twenty-eight years and found it to be a delightful age. Yes, your daughter shows artistic ability and it’s wonderful that you are encouraging her in such a pretty and personal way. Smart mother!
I love your idea. What a great way to encourage creativity. Looks so cute too!