Homeschool Room Makeover!

Maybe it was because I am pregnant and “nesting” or maybe it was the baby poop color that reminded me of dirty diapers that led my hubby and I to give our basement homeschool room a major facelift this weekend. It is Monday morning and I am exhausted but very satisfied with the fruits of our labor.

Our children are still very young so the focus of the space remained… we just want it to be a fun place to play and be a kid. Bud is getting older though and we are doing more table work, card games, etc. He outgrew his little activity kid table and now struggles to get his legs under it’s short tabletop. It’s not too comfortable for mom either! I wanted to create an area for reading, working, and learning. I also wanted to corral all the little kid toys to one side of the room so I can keep baby #3 safe when he starts playing on the floor.

Here’s the result. No more baby poop color… now it is a nice shade of grayish blue…

This is our school table. The table was from IKEA and the Ethan Allen chairs were thrifted for $15 and painted. We hung an IKEA pendant light above the table. There is a wall shelf from Target that holds stickers, our house rules, a flag and some of the All About Reading materials.

Behind the table, there is a couch for snuggling up with a good book. My wonderful artist sister did the painting on the wall. The side table holds a lamp, photos of the kids and our wonderful Compassion International child Musa. We can warm ourselves with the quilt given to my husband when he was a young boy.

This is the craft/art center in the room. The aforementioned IKEA Lack table used to be our school table but (*sniff*) Bud has outgrown it. Now Peanut can cut, glue, color, and be creative in this fun space. The thrifted basket holds essential craft supplies. The bulk of the supplies are in my “Mom closet”. They will be moved out into the shelf next to this table once Peanut is a little older (and a little more trustworthy!).

The rest of the room is reserved for fun toddler/preschooler play. The IKEA Expedit shelves hold board books and bins that contain the bulk of our toys. I try to be a good toy editor to keep the twaddle out and having bins for our toys helps. I labeled them with photos of the contents which helps the kids know where each item belongs.

Back in the wintery month of January, my hubby and I built a fort in the corner of the room with MDF we picked up from Home Depot for 51 cents. The top floor is inaccessible by Peanut (for now!) and is used by Bud for reading and hiding creations from his younger sister that he doesn’t want destroyed. The bottom floor is Peanut’s space to cook delicious cakes and tea for her adoring family.

When we first walked through this house I was so excited to discover this wonderful closet under the basement steps and claim it as my “Mom closet”. It holds all my school books, supplies, wrapping paper, etc etc etc. I found a great antique metal drawer unit at a garage sale for $10 that holds most of my small craft items. We use a lot of manipulatives with our math lessons so it is so handy to reach in and grab what I need.

So, there you have it! We painted and organized this space this weekend in the hopes that it would make Bud and Peanut’s world a little brighter (and not so poopy!).

Do you have a special place in your house for learning and playing? I’d love to see your spaces and how you have made them great places for your kids to be.