Monday, March 11, 2013

Homeschool/Office Shelving




 
 
Have you checked out the last couple rooms tours I shared? If not, you can catch them here and here.  I snapped some of the pictures one sunny day and supplemented with some I had on file because, our house has been an utter disaster. I have so many projects going on at once, rooms that are half finished, stacks of supplies and ugly furniture waiting for makeovers. One thing I love about blogging is the documentation. See. Now I have proof that I have accomplished things even if it does look like a bomb went off in here.
 
Now, I'm sure I've mentioned this, but my children are homeschooled. And, I obviously have this blog, so we spend a good part of the day in our classroom/office.  It's located on the first floor of our home, off of our kitchen and behind the dining room.  It. Is. So. Bad.  Honestly, I think this is where every single piece of furniture, rug and accessory goes to die.  It is a messy, mish mosh of stuff in a space where we are supposed to be our most creative. It doesn't work. At all. Further, a lot of the storage pieces have been moved into our older son's room for his makeover leaving everything in piles stacked up along the classroom floor.


 
And, we started a new method of school about a month ago, where we only tackle one subject a day and do way more hands on stuff (instead of workbooks).  So there are tons of supplies cluttering up the desks from that, combined with the fact that this month our work samples are due to the school district.  It's all kind of overwhelming. And nothing can get me more rattled than a big, old, cluttered mess. (That's not entirely true. When my nine year old with autism gets agitated in public and started telling people off, complete with appropriately used, albeit, horrifying four letter words I can become quite stressed myself, complete with hives.)

 


 
Anyhoo, my first order of business, which I have been slowly working on for months now, was to paint the room Benjamin Moore's Owl Gray (so happy to be done).  Secondly, I repainted some repuposed shelves bright white. (I had gotten one set done probably a month and half ago, but just finished the second, larger set this past week.) 


 

So, my goal was to get everything up off the floor, store completed school work down cellar (I have a little area where I keep extra books, school supplies and worksheets) and make everything as neutral as possible.   Since a lot of things will be out, and because I think that children are more apt to use things (and put them away) when they are visible I felt that it was really necessary to keep to as neutral of a palate at possible so to not overwhelm the eyes and to keep with the feeling of the rest of our home.




Realistically, this is just way too much stuff, way too visible, for my liking, but we are committed to homeschooling our children (we're on year 4) and this is what is working for us right now.  You can see most of our office supplies (which are sorted into different jars based on how and when we use them and the flowered magazine holder contains various lesson plans for our current studies.





In addition to the glass containers to store our office supplies and paints, I used that huge chartreuse tool box I redid last summer.  It's perfect for containing all of our flashcards and small learning tools.  All the art books are neatly lined up next to the paint and the IKEA magazine holders hold scrap paper and National Geographic Kids issues (the favorite magazine in our home).  I also added our vintage light up globe and Japanese maneki-neko figurines.
 



So what do you think? How do you have your office, classroom or craft room set up?  Any other homeschoolers out there with some fantastic organization tips for me? Please, please share.





 
Linking to:
DIY Show Off Mod Vintage Lifehttp://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2013/02/nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no151.html My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia52 MantelsBeyond The Picket FencePhotobucket A Delightsome Life Rooted In Thymevif187Liz Marie Bloghttp://www.jenniferrizzo.com/ Boogieboard Cottage”FallFridays Unfolded  http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/


 

14 comments:

  1. I love the way the shelves look--so many fun little things! We always had a dedicated school/playroom at the old house, but we're trying out combining the schoolroom/dining room here (and all the books live in the library, across the foyer). Most of the school stuff hides in a giant buffet that my mom gave us for a housewarming present. But I do think we need to whimsy it up a bit in here, so I'm working on that...I have quirky gallery wall plans, for one thing.

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  2. I think your shelves look great!

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  3. Looks very organized and inviting. What more could you want for any classroom area?

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  4. Your shelves look so well put together and neat!

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  5. Lovely pics, everything looks great together and there is an air of calm and family about the ensemble...

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  6. This looks great. I homeschool Nd know what you mean by keeping things out for the kids. It is so hard to keep that area neat and tidy. We have been doing some school in the kitchen! What a nightmare that becomes!

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  7. i need to work on my office/craft space too. total junk accumulator room...i love how your shelves turned out!

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  8. The shelves look great. We homeschool too--year 11--and I keep looking around WISHING there might be time to revamp our spaces. For now we do most work scattered all over the house, while our current books are in the dining area. Your space looks SO good compared to mine right now! Good idea, thinking about keeping things EASY for kids to find AND put away!

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  9. Oh I aspire for us to be this organized someday. We are in our second year of homeschooling and I could use some serious organizing. Thank you for sharing your fabulous space :)

    xo, Tanya

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  10. The shelf is so inviting and organized. I am in love with the wooden tool box and what you did with the dominoes. I would love it if you would share this inspirational post at our WIW Linky party. It's still open. I hope you can join us!

    Paula
    ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

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  11. Love the shelves! I love how the books and supplies add pops of color to the area! Love the owls too!

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  12. Your shelves are a great solution and styled so nicely with a fun mix to keep them really interesting!

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  13. Great job, Angela. I home schooled our children - my son since 2nd grade and my two daughters their whole school career - it is a lot of work. We went back and forth on curriculum, then settled on literature based curriculu, Sonlight. They loved it and it made the subjects come alive to them. I also like the website, khanacademy.org for math - amazingly thorough. I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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  14. Those shelves did a good job in keeping your stuff organized. Such organization tactics provide more space for movements, activities, etc. Shelves can make a wonderful decor too when used properly.

    -Salley Chagoya @ Olpin Group

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Thank you so much for stopping by Number Fifty-Three! I look forward to your comments.