Hang A Gallery Wall Of Art In The Nursery, step by step

Waaaaay back when we mentioned that we’d be converting our third bedroom into a nursery, we admitted that we enjoyed the asymmetrical wall of frames too much to remove it. But we did plan fairly much from the start to switch out some of the randomly framed prints and pictures with more kid-friendly and cheerfully toned art that is fitting of a little girl’s nursery. So here is what it looked like before our big art-swap-fest:

And here is the same asymmetrical arrangement of frames after the big switch:

Now we will zoom out so you can see it in context with the rest of the nursery. Do not the blues and pinks and greens work nicely with everything from the patterned curtains to the soft aqua ceiling? We think it is lively and mismatched but it still feels like it goes together without anything feeling too overpowering or clashy.

And true to form we did not want to break the bank when it came to our little art 2.0 project. So we hit up Michael’s for some nearly-absurdly-priced craft paper to repurpose as wall decor. And when we say nearly-absurdly-priced, we mean that it was no more than 99 cents a sheet- and most of it was simply 60 cents a pop.

In fact we got all of the decorative paper that you see above for simply a total of $4.99. And we framed some of it on it is own (like that cute paper with house illustrations on the bottom of the pile) and used some of it to layer underneath other items that we planned to showcase- like the bean’s hospital bracelet. Of course we do not have one yet, so I made a little paper placeholder until we come home with the real deal.

John also came up with the idea to tape some pink heart printed paper behind a glass shadow box full of faux butterflies that we already had hanging in that quite spot. It certainly took them from science-y specimen-looking things to cheerful nursery decor in about thirty seconds.

We also already had that cute black cut-out silhouette of Burger (which John got me a while back) so we carefully untaped it from the white paper backing that it was mounted on and replaced it with some lively pink & white striped paper instead. It is instantly more playful and beanette-appropriate, right? Not bad for 69 cents worth of scrapbooking paper. We also chose that we’d enjoy to someday incorporate a similar black cut-out silhouette of Baby P, so we framed another sheet of playful squiggly line paper and whipped up a swift placeholder silhouette that we will someday switch out for a real one of our little girl.

And do you see that “Feel The Enjoy” print to the left of the Burger silhouette in the photo above? We could not assist getting a little Hands-on after we saw this adorable Skinny Cow ad in a magazine that we were reading. We enjoyed the message, the typeface, and even the color…

… so we scanned it and used Photoshop to remove the ice cream bar and move the cute “lovebirds” up closer to the voice bubble. Then we printed it and popped it into the frame. Voila- free magazine inspired art (check out another idea for free magazine art right here and here).

Next we trolled Etsy for affordable art that would work with our palette (we enjoy supporting small businesses and handmade goods nearly as much as DIYing things ourselves) and found that sweet aqua-toned girl & her dog print that you see in the photo below (right next to the “Feel The Enjoy” frame). It was in fact a limited edition print for simply $12 and it featured a girl with her dog and a bunch of hearts floating up into the sky. We thought it was a perfectly reminiscent of Burger and Baby P’s undeniable future-friendship, and the price was certainly right so we snatched it up. Good thing we did because it later sold out (see it up close and learn more about the artist right here).

We also sprung for another print that we thought was too fitting to pass up. It is in fact a print of peas in a pod, but when you get closer you realize that the peas are made up of the letter P… as in Baby P! It is kind of a hidden monogram of sorts- and we enjoy that it also works perfectly with our color palette. This print in fact hailed from Wall Blank and was ours for simply $25. We think it was well worth the personal-ish slant that it adds to the whole arrangement. Note: Wall Blank was going to be under construction this week but they reopened their vault simply for YHL readers today! Feel free to check out all the affordable art while it lasts!

So that is how we used some 60 cent craft paper and two playful prints to give our nursery’s asymmetrical wall of frames a lively dose of color and pattern. And although it could easily cost well over $100 to deck out 15 distinct frames with art, we pimped ours in simply $42 ($5 craft paper + one $12 print from Etsy + one $25 print from Wall Blank). And the whole room simply feels infinitely more glad and lively. We keep walking in there simply to look at everything. And we cannot wait to hold the bean up so she can take a gander at the wall of art that we tossed together in her honor. Especially the part where we compare her little face to our baby pictures to see who she looks more like (John’s gunning for giant cheeks like he had as a baby- which would certainly be cute).

Oh and you might notice that there is a little celery-toned upholstered bench that now lives under our art wall. We found it for $7 at a thrift store, painted, and recovered it a while back, and slid a big basket for toys that we also already had underneath it. We enjoy that the setup worked so seamlessly with the rest of the nursery design, and we certainly welcome the brought in storage space and the padded ouch-proof bench top.

So that is where we are with the nursery these days. We are certainly rounding home plate and in fact plan to share the full monty reveal next week. Time flies when you are having lively (and having a baby apparently!). What do you folks think about our little art swap fest? Have any of you framed something that is not necessarily art (like an ad torn from the pages of a magazine or your baby’s hospital bracelet)? Have you perused all that lively printed and patterned craft paper at places like Michael’s and Ben Franklin in hopes of gaining some low-cost wall decor? Have you snatched up any strong Etsy prints as of late? Let us talk about Hands-on or homemade-by-someone-else art on the low-cost.

Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the quite beginning? Here is our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making walkthrough, our lively little chair search, our mirror-painting extravaganza, our Hands-on faux sheepskin project, our big dresser makeover (and subsequent drawer lining project), our closet makeover, our homemade crib skirt undertaking, our Hands-on mobile adventure and our shelf building project. Lively, lively, lively…