A Change for Peaceful Playroom Walls

There's a Montessori principle about preparing a child's concentration with sparse decor on the walls.  There's also this article about lower test scores in heavily decorated classrooms.  I've largely ignored those bits of wisdom until my recent proof that it must be true: A strange thing happened when Ladybug Girl turned six - she reverted back to sleeping with us in the master bedroom, after two years of sleeping on her own.  I had to wonder why.  
After a hard look at her bedroom I began to see what was once a happy space is now very likely visual clutter.  So I've given her walls a make-under.  Want to see? This was her wall view before going to sleep:

A changeable art gallery.  It was awesome - maybe a little too awesome.

This is her view now:

For added charm the frames are suspended with twine from hooks on the ceiling.
Clockwise: Wooden "A" from Anthropologie; "Focus" print (from Art in the Park 2014) in a Muji frame; "Heart/Brain" framed print from Heima. (latest addition is the knitted Santa from Chibimomo boutique)

This was the wall above her bed before:

Wee Gallery decals from Youji & Me.  An overload of cuteness.

This is the wall now:

Look closely - there's a very subtle striped pattern on the wall

It's good ol' washi tape!  We did it together one weekend morning:

I did the tops, she did the bottoms.  And yes, I let her try the Exacto knife.  She added further "embellishments" of washi tape which are still there behind her pillow.

This was the wall in front of her new work table:

It still had the old white board and cork board which are now too short for her to use comfortably

This is the wall now:

A new changeable art gallery

Now she can hang stuff herself.  This was us playing pretend-birthday.

She's back to sleeping in her room.  

She hasn't made a comment about the changes to her walls - a good sign that I didn't get rid of anything she was attached to.   I fixed her toy closet and sleeping space too (you can see a sneak peek on Instagram!).  I'll share that little by little until the room is ready for a tour.  

One thing's for sure, when it comes to kids, things are always changing!

P.S. there's a new gallery up on the sidebar collecting all these "DIY" projects.  Come see!  

click here