Not too long ago, I wrote a piece showcasing my kitchen. I proudly gave a tour of the room from top to bottom.
It's actually my most favorite feature in the room, but I didn't show it.
First of all, it's a personal space filled with treasures from my babies. Second, and probably more important, it's not what people want to see when they are looking for inspiration or design eye candy. It's messy, the type of space you want to fix and besides, most people have a wall like this somewhere in their own house.
Why do they want to see mine?
Then I thought about that statement again.
Most people have a wall like this somewhere in their home...so why am I hiding it?
It's real life and I love that wall.
When the kids were teeny tiny, they would make pictures and I would take their very, very extra specials and hang them on the inside of a closet door. Well, we have a small house and I had prolific preschool artists, so those doors got wallpapered in a jiffy.
When we renovated the kitchen, the pantry/ coat closet doors were blank slates and became a giant bulletin board of sorts.
Oh sure, every now and then I look at it and think about how I could pretty it up. Problem is, I could never actually take everything down.
I like seeing my babies' pictures up there...especially now when those "pictures for mom" days are long gone.
I've contemplated framing a few of the best pieces in black and artfully arranging them on the doors. Sometimes, I imagine the doors covered in large pieces of cork, tasteful tacks holding each paper in its place. I've even considered adding magnetic strips to organize the mess.
Then I decide I like them just where they are and I walk away.
You see every last one of those pictures and projects is special.
Organizing them would certainly mean that some of them would have to go, but how could I possibly cull the collection?
Where would I start?
Which masterpiece is unworthy?
Beyond that, to me, THE most precious thing about the wall, is that each piece of artwork was placed up there by my kids and their own little fingers on the day they brought it home from school or whipped it up in the den. They got the tape, picked an empty space and pressed firmly.
I can see their beaming faces even now...precious moments frozen in time.
Of course as teens, they don't share my sentimentality. They don't think the wall is as charming as I do. They, also inflicted with the design bug, think that it is a tattered, layered embarrassment.
They refer to the papers as junk.
They curse them each time they open the door and they shuffle in the breeze or get caught in the pantry. I admit to the same occasional frustration...
...but every few months or so, one of them will walk by and laugh and then I hear it.
"Hey, mom? Did you see this, it's ridiculous! Do you remember when I made this?"
Yes, I absolutely do and I think, yup, that wall is perfect just the way it is.
And it is.
Do you have a wall of shame?
Other areas of my kitchen are more organized. I promise...like these!
 |
| Hiding Ugly Desk Cords |
 |
| How To Add Fabric To Glass Panels |
That is the most beautiful area in your house for sure!!!! All that heartfelt art made by sweet little hands - far more precious than anything money can by! Terrific post. (and btw, the rest of your kitchen is pretty darned spiffy, too!) Jane
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jane! I do love my kitchen, but you are right, nothing in the kitchen compares to those sweet drawings and paintings with my name carefully written on the top!! :)
DeleteAwww, how sweet! I don't have a wall like that anymore because we've moved since my kids were little. I do have boxes full of their art though and several things in frames. I'm pretty sentimental about those things and obviously you are too. :)
ReplyDeleteI am very sentimental...sometimes too sentimental. It's making my purging and simplifying a lot harder than I thought it would be! Clearly, the pictures aren't going anywhere! :)
DeleteHow cute! I wouldn't call it a hall of shame though. xo My child has one, but I don't show it, because it is personal, and she is an only; her room has a metal exterior door, and it is covered with all kinds of things that kids love with her pin board in the middle.
ReplyDeleteI think that even though my kids protest and scoff at its existence, they are happy to know that I cherish their stuff enough to keep it up there. I am sure that your daughter is thrilled to have a space to display her treasures, too! A house isn't a home without the personal treasures! :)
DeleteThat's sweet, Kim. I have a refrigerator of shame -- it's plastered with the kids' stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's funny, Dee! Mine has bled onto the fridge, as well!!
DeleteI say YAY for real life ! :) And if you ever do have to take them down, put 'em all in a big frame somewhere :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Deb!! A giant collage! Perfect!
DeleteI love it!!! When my kids were little, you could barely find our fridge because it was wallpapered with their "works of art". And I have to tell you, I kept everything. :) Happy 4th! Hugs, Maria
ReplyDeleteI love poking through the papers, Maria. I think I am going to be a keep everything mom, too! :)
DeleteI had my daughter's artwork all over my fridge for years, so long in fact, that the sun had faded the colours on it! I can totally relate and even though everyone has this real life exhibit going on in their home, it's our babies' signatures and vision that make them unique!
ReplyDeleteHappy 4th!
Poppy
I agree, Poppy...and the more tattered and sun-faded they become, the tighter I hold on to them, as that just means my kiddos are getting older! ;)
DeleteKiddo . . . you're a GREAT mom!
ReplyDeleteSafe and Happy 4th to all.
Thanks Cheryl!! What a lovely thing to say!!
DeleteNo way is this a wall of shame!!!! We all have something similar in one way or another that we don't show, so it's nno "Wall of shame" but "wall of memories", messy or not! My kids have their works in their rooms and I have a couple in my kitchen office, also I have spring-bound their memorable works from each grade like albums so I can go thru it. Love your wall Kim! ENJOY IT!
ReplyDeleteOh Vel, you are ambitious! Every single year, I say that I am going to put some of their stuff in albums or binders and I toss them in a clear plastic bin instead! I have to really get on that! :)
DeleteKim you are too much when you call it the wall of shame! I think it's sweet to show off all the art work! I used to tape everything on my kitchen back door! Have a wonderful 4th of July and weekend!
ReplyDeleteJulie
I guess we all have or have had those walls full of scotch tape and faded construction paper, Julie! Best part of the room! ;)
DeleteMy wall of shame items were lost to me through a Series of Unfortunate Incidents. They are treasures and irreplaceable.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that your treasures were lost, Susan. I only have one or two pieces from my own childhood, but every now and then, I recall something even though I don't have it anymore and it still makes me smile. I hope you have those memories, too.
DeleteThat is a wall of perfection...truly...lovely memories! xoxo Jen
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen! I think it's perfect, too! ;)
DeleteEverything. You Just Reminded Me That I Need To Pretty Up My Place. I'm Just Awful At Organizing. And I Have What I Want Things To Look Like In My Head But I Can't Seem To Reel It Out Of My Imagination Into Reality. Shame
ReplyDeleteI totally get it Alisha, it's really hard to make the time to get it all done. It's a constant battle around here, too! Good luck!
DeleteI adore your "wall of shame," and had some place like that in each one of our homes. My kiddos are grown and have kiddos of their own, but we don't see the grands very much or I might also have one of those walls today. I do get the occasional crayon-colored picture or a drawing which I will sometimes place into an album sleeve and pop it right into an album. Other times, and what I did with some of my children's art that I had saved through the decades, was to scan them and have them printed as a photo. I then put those into the appropriate area of a scrapbook. I even scanned some little felt-type ornaments that they had made for me in 1st or 2nd grade, and they came out beautifully. I don't know if you are a scrapbooker, but doing an album for each of your children and including some of those special papers or art work along with photos is a treasure they will cherish. I did that for each of mine, but did not give it to them until they were much older and more mature -- they got teary eyed looking through the pages. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteYou are so organized Carol! Then again, I have seen your craft room, so I would imagine that would be the case! I just have tubs of their artwork that needs to be organized. Every summer, I declare that this is the year! Then September rolls around and we just buy another bucket! Oh well, maybe next year! ;)
DeleteI call it a wall of memories! Houses have to be lived in and it's things like this that make a house a home! Love it! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
Exactly how I feel, Jann! From a design standpoint, it isn't the most appealing, but from this mommy's perspective, it's the best wall in the house! ;)
DeleteSweet post, Kim. You're a good mama. Something that I love to see in a home is a place where the children's height has been marked with a pencil. When we were house hunting I saw a few old homes with those marks on the kitchen door trim. It reminded me of our farmhouse where I grew up. My mother always measured us kids and marked our growth. She never removed it. :)
ReplyDeleteI do love my wall, Nancy. It's not neat, tidy or designer approved, but it is mama approved. My kids have pencil marks in their closets. I like to peek at the rudimentary lines. It makes me smile!
Delete