Turn Old Children's Books Into A Stunning Vintage Gallery Wall

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Gallery walls bring personality and life into any room, but they do require you to make some decisions. Choosing the best place for a gallery wall is only part of the process. You'll also need to decide whether you want to fill your gallery with family photos, beautiful prints, or something else entirely. One idea you may not have considered is to repurpose vintage children's books into a stunning gallery wall.

Old children's books often include beautiful illustrations that capture the charm and nostalgia of childhood. Certain vintage children's books may be too valuable for this project and are best left to professional collectors (for example, early editions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit can sell for $20,000). However, you may be able to find some discarded children's books that are in need of a new life and offer the perfect illustrations for a blank wall. Hang this gallery wall in a child's bedroom, a baby's nursery, or in any room that needs a touch of vintage charm and personality.

Finding old children's books can be the trickiest part of the project. Thrift stores are known for sheltering treasured vintage and antique items. Alternatively, you may have success at consignment stores, second-hand bookstores, or places like Goodwill. You should also consider finding an estate sale in your area, as they can sometimes include old books that need a new home. The key to finding the perfect children's book is patience and a keen eye.

Once you have the book and illustrations that you want, you'll need a few picture frames and a way to hang your gallery wall. You can find packs of vintage-style frames online or opt for thrifting your own. Or, use Dollar Tree frames to decorate on a budget. To start, consider your desired layout to create the perfect gallery wall. Knowing how you want to organize the frames in advance can help to keep everything simple as you move forward with this project.

From there, carefully remove the illustrated pages from the children's book using your hands, scissors, or an X-Acto knife. For those who want to avoid removing pages, you can also scan them and print the illustrations onto vintage-style paper like the aged parchment paper from Hoiny, so the book remains intact. If you need to, you can trim or fold the illustrations so that they fit perfectly into the frames you choose. Once they're framed, it's time to hang your gallery wall. There are a number of genius tricks to help you perfectly hang frames, but you could always opt for a simpler method and use Command Strips or another kind of removable adhesive. This way, it's easy to reposition the frames if you don't like the initial layout. Once the frames are up, all that's left to do is sit back and enjoy the beautifully repurposed children's book illustrations and the vintage touch they bring to your home.