HOW TO CREATE A SCHOOL MEMORY BOX!

I can hardly believe that we are more than halfway through September and that the school year is well underway. I love a fresh start and I always feel like September is the ideal opportunity for a reset. It’s the perfect chance to start a good organization project and today, I’m excited to share a project that I put together over the summer: school memory boxes for our kids! I really wanted to start this year with a place for all of their art, report cards, work we’ve kept and awards they’ve earned in one happy place. This school memory box is something I have only just discovered is ‘a thing’ and even though our kids are 8 and 10, I approached this project with the same motto I approach life…it’s never too late!

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While this is definitely not the least expensive project I’ve done, I think it’s well worth it to have a memory box that you can hand your children later in life that documents their school years in a really practical way.

Ready to make your own school memory box? Let me walk you through how I did it.

1. Order a letter file box. I ordered this clear box, but any hanging file box will work.

2. To personalize the box, use decals for either their initial or name. These white decals worked well for our kids’ boxes!

3. Choose letter-size files WITH tabs; I loved that these files had 3 different colours for our 3 kids!

4. Order labels for each category/grade that you want: I used Mabels Labels and loved that I could customize them!

If you end up doing this project, I’d love to see! Tag #WDschoolmemorybox on Instagram and I’ll share them as they come in!

HOW TO CREATE AN ART SPACE FOR KIDS

While having a kids’ art studio is your own home may be out of reach for many people, creating an art space for children is something that you can do no matter how big or small of a space you have!

Sophie & Minji Playroom Project

“Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves and to explore what is possible.”

~Maryann F. Kohl

After creating art spaces in both clients’ homes and also our own home, I have learned some key takeaways about how to create a functional art space for kids.

1. Clear table space (or floor space if no table!)

   A table space without clutter is the ideal place to start art creations. Having a clear area (can be a piece of floor!) gives kids the opportunity to start with a blank slate and let their imaginations run wild. In the same way as starting any organizing project by clearing away the clutter, having a clear area to create really is the ideal start.

2. Open-ended supplies

   Group like supplies together (i.e the corks in a jar, paint brushes together, washi tape together, egg cartons together, etc.). Giving open ended supplies (rather than craft kits with a one purpose art idea) encourages kids to use their own imagination and ideas to create. Process art (basically art that is self-directed by the child with the emphasis on discovery) is by far my favourite way to create with kids, as the focus is on the artistic experience rather than the final product. I love this type of art, especially when kids are learning (always!) and still feel like they are making ‘mistakes’ with their art; you can always alter your course when there is no end ‘product’ that needs to look a certain way! If you are working with a small space (i.e. an art corner), think about having a box tucked away in a nearby closet with key supplies to bring out when needed.

Kids Creative Art Studio Project

3. Keep the space simple and organized

Harder said than done, but a relatively tidy space when starting out allows creativity to go wild! While our art space appears like a chaotic mess by the end of an art session, so much is learned in the clean up and keeping of a simple and organized space. Kids tend to treat materials with more care when they are tasked with maintaining an organized system and having items that are easy to find enables a good start to a new project. With an organized space, kids can learn to come and create more frequently and independently when the impulse (or need to decompress) arises.

4. Display kids’ art!

This one is SO important! Making a point of keeping your children’s art on display in your home and making a point to share your joy in their projects will certainly help little ones feel proud of their contributions to your home decor. I love the Ikea Dignitet wire for a simple and easily changeable hanging solution and of course, hanging framed work or canvases of kids’ art is a lovely way to incorporate their work into your home too.

North Van Playroom Project

Kids Creative Art Studio Project

5. Keep a positive attitude!

Art, like almost everything in life requires patience and practice. Keeping the mood happy and light and navigating new supplies together with your little ones can keep an art session from turning into a frustrating experience that ends in tears. One tip I’ve learned over the years is to provide supplies that are age appropriate - while small beads will be near impossible for toddlers to use, finger painting will likely provide a super fun, albeit messy experience. As kids spend more time practicing, they can work more and more independently.

GET THE LOOK…

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5 WAYS TO DECORATE A BLANK WALL {IN A KIDS SPACE}

Big blank walls can be intimidating, but they don’t have to be! Here are my tried and true ways to turn a blank wall into something special for a nursery, child’s bedroom or play space!

1.Use wallpaper (or decals):

Wallpaper provides instant gratification and BIG impact. I mean, why not?! Kids’ spaces are the perfect opportunity to do something temporary or different than you would do in other parts of your home and it is FUN! Why not try a bold pattern? Or a print that really speaks to you in this moment? While old traditional wallpaper can be difficult to remove, the new paste on wallpaper is relatively simple to remove and there are SO many peel and stick options now that there really is no good reason to skip this fun trend. If you haven’t already, see our roundup of favourite wallpapers that will transform any blank wall in sight.

2. Add a bold focal point:

A huge piece of art, large letters, a big storage unit, even a fireplace - these all add a point of focus when you walk in the room. Try to make the key focus the wall opposite where you enter the room to give the most immediate eye catching detail.

3. Create a gallery wall:

You know I love them and they fill a wall so well! You can choose a simple grid pattern or get creative and create a more eclectic gallery wall; both will work equally well to decorate a blank wall and add personality. A quick tip for keeping gallery walls cohesive is to space the frames 2-3 inches apart.

4. Add a storage unit or shelving

Serving dual purposes of decoration and adding functional storage, a storage unit or shelving can be a lovely way to fill a blank wall! If you are wanting the most storage, consider at least one part closed storage while leaving some shelving open for styling favourite objects or rotating seasonal toys. I love using a mix of open and closed shelving to fill a huge wall, like we did in the playroom below.

5. Get creative with paint!

The most affordable way by far to decorate a blank wall is to get creative with paint. There really are SO many options - a bold colour, a half wall, a mountain scene, a mural! This is the perfect opportunity to try your hand with paint and an interesting colour.

Source: Room to Bloom

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ORGANIZING KIDS SPACES: HOW TO GET STARTED

2021 has officially begun and that means new routines and fresh starts for many. I love hitting the reset button at this time of year and setting plans in place for the year to come. Many of those plans revolve around getting more organized (at home and in life!) and today, we are sharing how to get started in organizing kids play items.

Bright & Fresh Playroom Project

As we all know, life with kids can become messy quickly! When you scroll Instagram or Pinterest, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the perfect images you see of all kids toys put away and playrooms that look unrealistically clean. Spoiler alert: many are! Designers and bloggers are often shooting rooms before the children have ever played in them and let’s be real, sometimes unsightly toys are pushed out of the frame just for the photo!

While those things are true, we have found some key ways to keep toys, crafts and books organized.

STEP 1: WHERE TO START

Start with the biggest toys first!

While built-in storage is the ultimate dream (see above!), custom storage (especially in kids’ spaces) is certainly not in everyone’s budget. Think about what type of closed storage you already have. Is there a closet near where your kids’ play? Could you keep your child’s favourite cruiser vehicle there and pull it out when needed? Use this to store big items if you can.

If not, there are some excellent ready made choices, like this storage unit, that house a large number of toys and crafts, and is streamlined and versatile enough to suit many different families and their needs. This unit is particularly great to have when kids are young as you can keep craft items up high (and out of reach) and use the surface on top of the drawers as a play area for toddlers to pull up on. To add a custom touch, consider changing the handles like we did in Kase’s playroom project, below.

Kase’s Playroom Project

STEP 2: NEXT…

From there, think medium sized toys. Play farms, toy towers, puzzles, games or any plastic toy that you’d rather not view after the kids are in bed, I like to put in the cupboard sections in the unit above (or similar) or big baskets. Our favourite baskets come in 3 sizes, with the large one fitting a giant fire engine toy amongst other things. Size large is HUGE, trust me, and also perfect for dozens of stuffed animals that you may prefer not strewn all over the floor. A set of these baskets is so versatile that you can use them for a play space, but they also come in a more neutral colour if you want to incorporate one in your living room (blankets, pillows)or anywhere else in your home (laundry hamper!). I love items that work for a variety of functions like this.

STEP 3: BASKETS & BINS

This next step is all about grouping like items together. Pull out your child’s toys and start to group them. Magnatiles? One bin. Have a set of Paw Patrol figures? Put them together in a basket. Blocks? Another basket. A set of cars? Another. You get the idea. See our post about best baskets and bins for pretty options if you like. Yes, it takes time to separate and organize everything, but once it’s done the first time, it’s much easier to teach your little one to put their toys back in the right place. At first, it will definitely be you picking up the toys and putting them back in their place, but starting this system helps to create some much needed order as kids grow. If you’re lucky enough, you might even have one kiddo who LIKES putting things away in an organized manner. It’s highly possible that you won’t though (there’s a mixed bag over here!) but at least it helps to know where things actually belong.

From there, go smaller. Add hooks for a place for dress up clothes, and think vertical (book wall or shelves) for displaying little figures or toys cars.

If you are finding you have toys that don’t fit in these categories, comment below and I’ll reply so everyone can read. If you are on an organizing roll, I’d love to see. Tag me on Instagram and I will share my favourites with you all!

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HOW TO CREATE A SIMPLE GALLERY WALL ABOVE A DRESSER

It may be a bold statement but we truly believe that artwork is what brings a space to life! A real match for a room is when the artwork reflects the little one who lives there and these prints add a fun punch of personality to Xavier’s room. Hanging artwork can be tricky so today we are going to show you how!

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STEP #1.

Start by choosing artwork that blends in colour and theme to the rest of the space. With artwork for a simple gallery wall, choose 3 good size prints and frame them to fill the width of the dresser.

STEP #2.

Get the spacing right. See below for our guide to spacing. Ensure that the first print is hung 4-6” above the top of the dresser. The group of 3 should be thought of as 1 entire art piece. Measure the centre of the trio to be about 57-60” from the ground.

STEP #3.

Space the frames close enough together so that they look like they belong. For this trio, the frames are 3.5” apart; 2-3” is a good guideline. You can use painters tape to rough out the frames on the wall to give you an idea of how they will look before hanging them.

Pin this image for future reference!