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Kids Art Display: Simple, Inexpensive, & No Damage!

This easy DIY kids art display area is the perfect way to showcase your child’s masterpieces! It’s super simple, inexpensive, and won’t damage your walls!

Kids Art Display.

Kids Art Display: Simple, Inexpensive, & No Damage!

My son is in Pre-K. That means he brings home A LOT of arts and crafts.

Like a ton, everyday.

Plus, we frequently get our craft on here at home too.

While I love seeing all of his adorable creations, we didn’t really have a way to show them off or give them the recognition they deserve (especially since my husband has a strong aversion to clutter on the fridge).

So, they all ended up stowed away in an old Amazon box in a closet. Whomp, whomp.

However, since I’m currently turning our office into the craft room of my dreams, I thought it would be the perfect space to create a little kids art display area.

I wanted this kids art display to be three things:

  1. Easy to both set up and to swap out artwork
  2. Inexpensive
  3. Not create a bunch of holes in the wall

I am so happy with what I came up with! 

Kids Art Display Supplies

Here’s what I used to whip up this DIY kids art display in no time:

I had everything on hand for this project except for the “meat and potatoes”: the wooden dowels, Command Hooks, and curtain clips.

The dowels came from Home Depot and were the 5/16″ x 48″ size (they have a dusty rose-colored end).

Best part: they were less than a buck a piece!

I picked up some black Command Hooks at Walmart (they were less than $3 for a two-pack), and since they were out of black curtain clips (boo), I bought a bag of 36 from Amazon.

I thought this would be the perfect easier, less expensive, and damage-free alternative to using actual curtain rods.

Supplies for an Easy DIY Kids Art Display: dowels, Command Hooks, and curtain clips.

Cutting the Dowels to Size

Since this art display would be on a side wall next to the window in my craft room, I needed to trim the dowels down to size first. 

I headed out to the garage and grabbed a pruning saw (it was the first saw I spotted) and it took care of the task in no time…but my husband simply cannot understand why I would use this tool for this job.

I mean the dowels are just like branches! And it worked great, so there.

Side note: Home Depot has a cart in their lumber department with hand saws that you are free to use (mine has theirs in the same aisle as the dowels).

If you need to cut your dowels and know the size, you can trim them to size while you’re there. I don’t plan that far ahead though. :)

Trimming dowel rods to size with a hand saw.

Painting the Dowels

After I trimmed (and lightly sanded) the dowels, I brought them back inside and gave them a couple light coats of black craft paint.

Painting dowel rods black.

Now it was time for installation!

Easy DIY Kids Art Display supplies.

Hanging the Hooks & Dowels

Normally, I would have my husband assist me in something like this, just to make sure everything was even and level.

However, on this particular day, he was out with our older son having a Daddy/Rowan Day, and when my younger son went down for his nap, I was feeling antsy and decided to dive into this on my own…and luckily it worked out!

I first slipped a couple clips on each dowel and hung up some artwork that was close by, just to get the spacing between the dowels right.

Each dowel was held in place with some painters tape, and I marked the ends of each with small pencil marks.

Next, I grabbed our adorably tiny laser level to make sure each dowel was level, then made adjustments as necessary.

Using a laser level to hang kids art display.

Here’s how it looked at this point:

Process shot of kids art display rods being hung with painter's tape.

Once I was happy with the placement of the dowels, I got to hanging their Command Hooks.

Here, I carefully peeled away the painters tape from one end (being mindful to keep the dowel level-ish), then pretty much just eye-balled where to stick the hooks based on the pencil markings I had made earlier.

Everything could have gone downhill fast at this point, but luckily I didn’t screw it up! My husband was very surprised by this too.

Easy DIY Kids Art Display with Command Hooks.

Adding a Personalized Family Art Gallery Sign

At this point, the art display itself was complete, but everyone knows a true art gallery needs a fancy sign, right?

Plus, I’m addicted to vinyl and personalized things, so I combined these two loves of mine into a family sign to hang above our *amazing* artwork.

At first, I had it saying “Fine Art Gallery” but then I thought…LOL, let’s be real here.

Ain’t no Picassos in this family, which is perfectly fine.

While we might not make fine art, it’s still pretty good. :)

For the full tutorial on how I made this sign, check this out!

Personalized Family Art Gallery Sign for kids art display.

Our Completed Kids Art Display

And here’s our completed kids art display (with cheeky personalized sign) in all its glory!

I am SO happy with how it turned out (and not just because I did it all completely on my own…*pats self on the back*).

Walking into the room and seeing all of my oldest’s adorable creations just makes my heart smile.

It’s SO easy to swap out the art as he creates new masterpieces, and I can’t wait until my youngest gets a little older and starts making some of his own too.

Kids Art Display with colorful artwork.

The art display and sign coordinate nicely with the colorful gallery wall that’s adjacent to them.

Plus, it’s just to the left of our kids’ arts & craft station that’s in front of the window, so it’s super simple to add new creations to our Wall of Fame.

And preschool’s never-ending pipeline of adorable art will undoubtedly continue to add to our supply as well.

Kids Art Display in a craft room corner.
Kids Art Display.
Easy DIY Kids Art Display with kid's artwork hanging from curtain clips.

How To Easily Swap Out The Kids’ Artwork

When it’s time to add/remove clips, all I have to do is simply lift up a dowel and get to sliding.

And when the time comes for us to remove the entire display (if my kids lose that creative feeling….*sniff*), then we can just remove the Command Hooks and there’s no damage left behind on the wall.

Woot!

How to hang a Kids Art Display.

An easy, inexpensive, and no damage DIY home improvement project that also happens to melt your heart.

You can’t beat it!

Kids Art Display.

Kids Art Display Before & After

Here’s a little Before & After shot of this space.

I think it fits in nicely, and makes this momma super happy.

Easy DIY Kids Art Display: Simple, Inexpensive, & No Damage! | Where The Smiles Have Been #kids #art #artdisplay

If You Enjoyed This….

Make sure you check out my Project Gallery for the rest of my crafty creations, home improvement projects, and freebies like these!

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FREE First Day of School Sign Printables - THREE Color Versions! | Where The Smiles Have Been #firstdayofschool #firstdayofschoolsign #backtoschool #free #freeprintable
Hallway Family Command Center | Where The Smiles Have Been #commandcenter #familycommandcenter #home #organization #mealplanning #planner #cleaning #cleaningchecklist #chorechart #calendar #backtoschool #schoolorganization #growthchart #beforeandafter

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Where The Smiles Have Been | Crafts. DIY. Home. Mom Life.

Jen

Monday 22nd of August 2022

LOVE this!! It’s brilliant, Thanks so much for sharing. I stained the rods to match some other wood projects and stuck with your black hook idea. And it’s perfect! Now Hopefully the kids don’t rip it off the wall ;)

Christine

Sunday 25th of September 2022

Wahoo, Jen! That is so great to hear! I'm so happy this idea has helped your family too...and kids will be kids, haha! :)

Malissa

Saturday 17th of July 2021

I loooove this! I’m starting an in home daycare and I wanted something for their artwork in the entry way that could also act as a drying rack so when the parents pick them up they are dry and ready to go and looking super adorable! This is perfect and the no holes in the wall is just the icing on the cake!

Christine

Monday 19th of July 2021

Yay, Malissa!! I am SO happy to hear you enjoyed this and found it helpful for your own life! Thank you so much for sharing!

Laksh

Tuesday 6th of April 2021

Hi there this is lovely! Can i just ask what the dowels measurements are in cm? And what is the longest i could go without cracking it? TIA!

Christine

Wednesday 14th of April 2021

Hi Laksh! I'm not sure what the longest measurement is that you could do, but you could always add additional Command Hooks in the center to support the weight if there's any sagging.

Elizabeth

Monday 2nd of March 2020

This is adorable! Thanks for sharing such a great idea. Question about the ring clips - do they not leave teeth marks in paper art projects? I've tried a few drapery ring clips and they're damaging the art, so I was curious if you found a version of clips that are actually gentle enough to not puncture the paper. Thanks!

Christine

Wednesday 18th of March 2020

Hi Elizabeth! I haven't noticed any problems with marks being left by these ring clips (but I've honestly not ever looked for any). If there are any left, they must be very minor. If anything, some of these clips don't have enough of a "bite" to even hold the papers. I've only found a couple like that though, and most of these have been perfect for us. I'm glad you enjoyed this! :)

Jenn

Wednesday 18th of December 2019

Thank you so much for sharing this! I’ve been trying to figure out what to make to display my sons artwork in his room. He’s 6 and wanted a desk last Christmas and I know he needs something like this this year. This is perfect, simple enough, cheap enough and won’t ruin the walls. Thank you!

Christine

Wednesday 18th of December 2019

Oh, I just love hearing things like this, Jenn! It truly makes my blogging heart smile. :) I hope you and your son enjoy having a space to display his art in his room!