Anyone with school age children knows how quickly papers can overtake a room and turn it into a cluttered heap. While each paper is a treasure, it cannot be saved forever, so it is a good idea to develop a system that displays the papers when they first come home from school, and then edit out all but the really special ones. Here are three creative ideas for displaying a child’s school papers.

Enlist the Coffee Table
One of the best places in the house to display artwork that children created at school is on the coffee table. By giving the coffee table a glass or plexiglass topper, it is easy to slide a child’s paperwork between the glass and the table. It is simple to arrange the school papers to form them into a harmonious display. Use colorful construction paper to add a little color to the background if the papers are not colorful enough on their own, and construction paper can be used to set the theme for holiday seasons. For example, bring in brown and orange for autumn, and red and green for Christmas.

Hold the papers in place with mounting squares. They are inexpensive, and they will hold papers in place even if the glass top is bumped or moved. To switch out the papers just pull off the glass and remove the old papers while replacing with new masterpieces. This is where editing becomes important. Select the best of the best to archive into the child’s folder in a file cabinet, and throw the rest away. Aim to only save a couple of pieces of paper per year, because after sixteen years of school each child will then have a manageable amount of paperwork when they want to take a trip down memory lane.

Artwork Album
Another wonderful way to display papers and organize them as well is in a binder style album. By placing the papers in page protectors, the artwork is easily inserted into the album. While it may be fun to display different works on the cover of the album, only save the best of the best for posterity.

When a paper is too large for the binder, try taking a picture of the artwork and save the picture in the binder. This way the artwork can still be enjoyed while being preserved in a format that lends itself to neat storage. If a piece of artwork is really good, you may want to donate it for display at a local hospital or library.

Bulletin Board Display
If there is room on a family room wall, add a bulletin board on which each child can display their work. With this system, when a paper comes into the home it can be instantly displayed on one of the bulletin boards. The papers can be arranged and layered as the year progresses, and then at the end of the year, the papers can be removed, edited and inserted into a folder for archival. That way when the child is all grown up, they can look back on some of their earliest, artwork creations.

There are many other ways to archive a child’s best schoolwork including taking pictures, creating greeting cards or laminating the page and using it for a place mat. It does not matter how a child’s work is displayed and admired, but it is important to acknowledge their work. It is also nice to save some special pieces, so that when a child is all grown up, they can look back with fond memories of their childhood.

Author Bio: Artist/Designer, Jessica Ackerman, writes for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com and offers aspiring home designers the opportunity to decorate with brown metal wall art or blue metal wall art.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: home, decor, design, wall art, improvement, remodel, budget, repair, organize, feng shui, clean