Interactive Playroom Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is a great inexpensive way to fill up all the empty wall space in a playroom. I knew we needed a gallery wall in the pirate playroom to fill the wall space near the entry to the room and to expand upon the pirate theme. I wanted our gallery wall to be interactive, so it is more than just a bunch of pictures on the wall. I am taking play time to the walls!

Our pirate playroom gallery wall is complete! It is even better than I envisioned. At first, I wasn’t sure how all the different things I collected would go together. But, that’s the beauty of a really good gallery wall. The more eclectic, the better!

There is no denying this is a pirate themed playroom. From the pirate phrases to a rolled up treasure map, this gallery wall has it all.

There is one piece on this wall that I would hesitate to call kid-friendly. The faux educational pull down art I made with a vinyl quote needed to be up and out of the kids reach. I love how it looks right at eye level, half above the water line and half below.

The wall also features the three wood panel and fabric art pieces the boys helped me make over the winter.

Lower on the wall I hung a printers tray. I found it for a few dollars at Goodwill. I liked the wood tone, but still wanted it to pop from the dark blue walls. I painted a coat of white on the outside edge of the deep frame.

I “wallpapered” inside some of the cubbies. This was a quick 5 minute project that gave the cabinet a little more personality. I used sheets of Shape N Tape, which is basically large sheets of washi tape. I just cut them down to size and popped them into random squares.

The cabinet is a great place for the boys to store, display, and play. I imagine the little characters will change out daily, if not hourly. The boys figured out the Duplos kids fit perfectly in the smallest squares. Cars fit really well in the horizontal shelves. Of course we have minions. Ba-na-na! One minion is laughing as minions do, the other is scared of the crocodile! And, what pirate playroom would be complete with out Captain Hook?!

In the middle of the gallery wall, I snuck in a few picture frames. The round one I found at Goodwill and spray painted yellow. I never pass up a round or oval frame. They are always great for breaking up straight lines in a gallery wall.  I framed a picture of my boys walking together at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.  The lines of the arbor leading the eye into the photo look amazing in a round frame!

In the bone frame, found at Tuesday Mornings, is a favorite family picture. It is actually one of our Christmas cards from last year cut up to fit in the frame. I love the scallop edges. The picture was not large enough to fill the height of the frame, so I layered it in front of a scrap of Shape N Tape with a navy anchor pattern. I love how the layering shows off the scalloped edge of the picture.

There was one long, short space leftover to fill between the bone frame and the light switch. The boys and I played with my brass stencils until we figured out a good pirate word. We were limited because I only have one of each letter, and I already used T&L in my studio and GO on the family room picture ledge. After a little online search, we decided on YAR, which is a pirate greeting or expression of great joy…perfect phrase for a playroom.  I connected the stencils and then used poster putty to stick the stencils to the wall.

The last element of the wall might just be my favorite… Something to play with! I made a special wall pocket to hold a pirate treasure map!!! I found the map at Goodwill for under $2. It looks old. I liked that it is a map of the British Isles and Ireland. My heritage is Irish. It only took a trip to Staples and a few minutes to make a kid-friendly roll-up treasure map.

1. I had the map laminated at Staples.
2. I tore a strip of pretty teal fabric long enough to tie around the rolled up map.
3. I folded the strip in half to find the center and positioned it on the center of one short side of the back of the map.
4. I opened the strip and used a small piece of Washi Tape to hold the fabric in place. I sewed the fabric onto the map by sewing a line parallel with the washi tape.
5. I rolled up the map toward the edge with the fabric ribbon.
6. I tied it up with a bow!

For the wall pocket to hold the map, I used a shipping tube. I sliced it in half at a 50-degree angle. I covered the slanted tube with gray faux bois fabric. I used the cap on the bottom of the shipping tube to tuck the fabric in. I gave it a few good coats of Mod Podge to make it nice and durable. The treasure map sits right inside.

I expect lots of pretend pirate adventures to take place in this room!!

And, the hubby and I will be hanging out in the nearby family room!

Sharing this project here:

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