How to Get a Free Little Art Gallery if You’re Not a Builder

Here’s a question that came in today – “How can I make a Free Little Art Gallery if I’m not a builder?”

Here are some ideas and links for you for buying a ready-made box to use as a Free Little Art Gallery.

Buy a newspaper box, and set it to free.  A number of people use these, including the plastic ones.  These are sometimes available on eBay.

Impact Racks is a company that refurbishes metal newspaper boxes and resells them. They sell on their own website and on Etsy.

RFC Wire Forms sells new newspaper boxes; prices aren’t listed on the site, you have to contact them for a quote.

Hire a local handyperson or carpenter to build a Free Little Art Gallery for you from scratch or modify an existing box or cabinet.

Buy a Little Free Library type box from an Etsy seller, special ordering to ensure the front door is clear. These are available painted or unpainted from a number of Etsy sellers.

Little Free Library, the not for profit organization, has many free plans and links to tutorials and videos for building your own. These can be helpful in choosing the design that you want.

Buy a kit on Etsy or from Little Free Library and assemble it yourself. Everything will be pre-cut, dramatically cutting down on the time and effort needed.

Buy a plastic “Free Sharing Library,” shown above. At the time of this writing, this items is available from Wayfair. To convert to a Free Little Art Gallery, you’d need to make a sign to cover the “Sharing Library.”

Passers-by often think that a Free Little Art Gallery is a Little Free Library. Some FLAG builders try to go with a very different style for their FLAGs, to differentiate them from an LFL. Others go with a standard LFL type box, but add interior lighting, and elaborate paint jobs.

No matter what the appearance of your FLAG, you’ll want clear signage explaining what the FLAG is and how to participate. Free Little Art Galleries are still a relatively new type of front yard community builder, so clear and welcoming signage can encourage folks to participate.

Good luck, and when your FLAG is ready, write to us so we can add you to the listing for your state here on the site!

This post does not contain any affiliate links. I do not have any personal experience with any of these vendors. This post is based on what I’ve seen others do plus some online research.