When I was figuring out how to decorate the striped wall in my mudroom I decided pretty early on that I wanted it to be personal and quirky. I didn’t want to go out and buy just anything to fill up the space. This felt like a room that could be a little fun. I started collecting a mix of things we had, some from trips, some from family and some things we created. In other words I also decided to put my children to work.
The main striped wall has the most going on. We had recently started having fun with watercolors to pass the time on all the snow days we’ve had this winter. The mudroom art on the left is something I made by drawing some clothing and accessories I found images of in Google searches. I then painted them in using watercolors.
This next one is hands down my favorite. Five years ago we traveled to Greece to visit family and friends. I got these leather sandals for the middle son who was then two. His chubby feet barely fit in these but they were adorable. My youngest then wore them for one summer as well. Well now my chubby baby feet phase is done but I still couldn’t part with them. I had seen a similar idea on Pinterest where someone took a photograph and some tiny ballet slippers and created a shadow box with it. I came up with my own version. More information to come later in the week on how I created this…
One of my nieces traveled around Europe for a semester and sent us this wooden postcard. Much too beautiful to hide away somewhere…
The last piece on this wall was a joint effort. I drew out this scene per my four year olds’ request. He then painted it in with watercolors…
My 10 year old daughter painted this with acrylic paints and some markers. It sits above the IKEA Expedit to add some color to that corner of the room…
My seven year old contributed by painting smaller watercolors that I display on the shelf above our mudroom bench. The piece on the left might be planets or bubbles. The jury is still out on that one.
My children are all very proud to have their work out. I never frame or mounted the artwork they made. Everythign is hung with 3M strips and easy to change if they make something new. I am not one for themes in a room but I also didn’t want the artwork to be generic. This feels personal, colorful and fun. I love the fact that everything has a bit of a story as well.
