How to Hang Artwork in Your Kid’s Room
ADORABLE. INSANE.
So you got the good news… the stork is on its way! YAY! Whether or not you know if it will be a boy or a girl yet, there are some things that are necessary in every nursery, or any space where you plan to set up shop for baby. Some people go bananas with baby wipe warmers, specialized “stinkless” garbage cans (really? Impossible), and a mélange of towels, burp cloths, toys, breast pumps, and so on. Entire diaper changing stations equipped with thermometers, diapers, brushes, booger wipes and battery-operated booger removal systems… this room can get very serious very fast.
Generally, the level of insanity regarding the inventory goes hand in hand with how many children a given person or couple has had: baby number one gets the entire contents of Babies ‘R’ Us; baby number four gets a rickety hand-me-down crib with threadbare sheets, a garbage bag hangs on the wall, and parents have resigned themselves to saying “Uhhh meh gaaawd, just change him on the bed, I have never slept… EVER!”
But before the onset of hallucination occurs—and it will after 72 or more hours without sleep—make sure you decorate your nursery before the bundle of screaming joy arrives. And with that said, let’s focus on safety in the world of kiddo and baby room wall hangings.
Hang out of Junior’s reach: babies grow fast; in fact, manufacturers of mobiles make a firm point of warning parents to take down the mobile by baby’s sixth month. While some babies may not stand until eight or more months, some crazy Olympics-bound tots hop to it much sooner. And if you have hung fixtures, photos, or any art above the crib, reconsider hanging them outside the baby’s reach. Couch the baby’s crib with art on either side—it’s cuter anyway!
Use superior strength hooks or screws for safety: you’re probably not thinking about it just yet, but by the time that nursery is a toddler’s room, those little suckers can climb like polecats. They’ll stack the unstackable, spider their way across a slick wall like Bear Grylls, and invariably, wind up pulling down a picture, causing them to fall or get a nasty boo-boo. When you use the hooks that come in the YHI Designer Kit, you won’t have to worry about an episode like this.
Pick framed items that aren’t heavy: of course, you want to make sure these are FAR out of the reach of your child. But for those absolute “must have” photos like the one of your mom holding you when you were a baby (stop it, I’m tearing up over here!) have them framed sans glass in a light frame, or have the photo matted to a board that doesn't require a frame.
Try unframed canvas art: Costco, Amazon, and other retailers offer a great selection of sweet, adorable, and vibrant canvas art that is both affordable and safer for a baby or child’s room. In the event a painting does fall, it won’t be life threatening, glass won’t shatter, and the most you’ll have to worry about is 30 minutes of screaming from being scared, which is way cooler than 10 hours in the emergency room.
All in all, the ideas are pretty much common sense. But for those of you who have questions about how to use the YHI picture hanging system, we encourage you to visit the YOUHANGIT How To page so you can familiarize yourself with how to hang sawtooth, wire, and even double keyhole paintings and fixtures right the first time. Safety first—this is your legacy we’re talking about!