Home School Spaces

It truly is amazing the difference a functional learning space makes! Although I've been homeschooling for years, I've never had a space that "worked" for us. When we lived in Georgia with just one little learner, we set up a tiny space in an upstairs dormer window nook. It was cute in a kind of Owl-house-of-the Hundred Acre Wood-way, but cute isn't always functional. Let's just say as I grew with a second pregnancy, that space became really, really small. 

Our home in Florida had a quirky little "library area" outside the children's rooms. There was a wall of great shelves and cabinets; but with everyone going through the space to our main entry, we could not leave anything out or risk tripping and trampling. Besides, three kiddos, with a mama toting number four soon made that space impossible. 

So, we set up shop in our sunroom. The sunroom was not heated or cooled, and temperature was a huge issue. It worked well in October, okay in November, some days in December, not so much any other month except March. Still, we had to make do, and somehow we had fun learning moments there. At least it was large enough to accommodate 4 kiddos and a mama carrying one more. 

Planning our Missouri move (another story altogether!) our house miraculously sold in four days! With my husband in a hotel in Missouri, we were homeless. I loaded up the kiddos and moved in with our precious friends where we started school in her upstairs theater. (A beautiful space, for which I was immensely grateful!)

Our house hunt was centered around 3 things, land, an actual laundry room and a homeschool room. We looked and looked and found nothing. One weekend Dan called to say he'd found a house with almost five acres, a bedroom sized laundry and a huge open space for school. My friend and I sat at her kitchen table and walked "virtually" room by room with my husband as he toured the house with our agent. He described each room as he went, showing me the possibilities. We needed to settle on something due to our upcoming adoption, so although the outside of the house is a little "colorful" and the inside needed paint (in every room) as well as carpet, the house was only 4 years old and a great space. He made the offer; it was accepted, and I saw it for the first time at inspections. 

By this time we'd moved to Missouri and were schooling in a townhouse. (Super funny memories.) When we were able to move in, we painted everything we could, changed carpet and completed our adoption. We finished schooling for the year, but we hadn't quite made the room functional. Sooo, this year, I worked like a madwoman with the help of the kids, my husband and our precious neighbor, to finally make a fun, functional space to learn. Here is the tour. ( I love virtual homeschool room tours!) 

I found this great table at Tuesday Morning on clearance for less than $200!

The chairs came from a little antique store in town. They were brown till my sweet friend helped me give them an antique robin's egg finish. The color came from the new rug. I found the rug at Ross for $109. (So exciting! It's huge and colorful!) 

 

Precious canvas painted by my daughter.   Our theme verse reminds us we are anchored by Jesus and launching out to discover all He has for us to learn and grow! 

Our reading/ listening corner with fluffy pillows (from Tuesday Morning) a cubbie bench, and chalkboard (free plywood from Home Depot painted with chalkboard paint from Joann's). We attached the board to the back of our other set of cubbie shelves from Target. The map rug is from Biglots. I think it was only $10.

Our craft table/continent wall/ cubbie area. This table has floated around our house for YEARS. At one time IT was the homeschool table! I paid $5 for it at a yard sale- great investment! On the right, vintage tin cans, from another local antique shop hold chalk and erasers. (Love those!) 

Our high school "lockers"! We love this new addition! I wanted real lockers, but did not want to pay $150 for them; so my husband and I found this antique "pantry" at yet another local shop for $52! The kids love it! 

Calendar corner, comprised of a display board and foam mats (less than $10 from Five Below). We also use the square mat for Lego play. This keeps Legos contained and makes for easier cleanup. 

The largest investment in the room was the library wall. It covers the whole wall behind the table. Desperate for a spot to house our huge library of books (which we use daily) I saw a similar display on Pinterest and was determined to try it. My friend and I walked into Jo-Ann's, saw a crate display and politely asked if they would dismantle it to sell us every crate they had. With my coupons and discounts, I paid about $300; but compared to the thousands for real wood bookcases, my husband was pleased with my purchase...That is, until I sent him on a citywide search for more crates because I had misjudged the space! We love the finished product and had no problems moving all the books for our recent wall painting. 

 

This antique Scrabble board has a lazy Susan base and is perfect for spelling practice. Plus, it's just fun! 

Maybe you're just starting out on your homeschool journey, or maybe you, like me, have struggled for years to settle into a space that works for your family. I hope  this little visit into our schoolroom gives you ideas to try for your own space. I'm so thankful to have a spot that allows us to learn and grow together each day! Praying your spot will become all you need for your everyday. Although, I'm incredibly thankful and happy with our new space, I know that our togetherness over the years in big or small spaces, has been the greatest blessing of all.