When we first started homeschooling, we had class in our unfinished basement. It was far from glamorous, but it was functional. Over the years, somehow our homeschool space migrated upstairs in our old house and exploded all over our living room, dining room, and kitchen. When we started searching for a new home, I put our homeschool room on the *must-have* list.
Our Homeschool Room
Why I want a homeschool room
As I mentioned, our old homeschool space wasn't working for us. With three kids, in three different levels of school, homeschool was taking over our home. Two upper cabinets in the kitchen housed homeschool manipulatives. Our dining room table pulled double duty as a place for family meals and a place for school work. That's not really a problem, but it was a constant struggle to move things around. Storage cubicles ran the length of our living room with even more homeschool supplies, and a bookshelf sat neatly behind the front door with this years curriculum. More bookshelves stood at attention in our basement, with books that frequently rotated to the kids bedrooms. I'm sanguine by nature, so maintaining order and organization is a struggle for me. For my sanity, I needed ONE space for it all.
Having a dedicated space for our lessons became a top priority. We toured 31 houses in our quest to find a new home. In each of them, I asked two questions… can each kiddo have their own bedroom, and where would our homeschool space be?
What we were looking for
As we looked at homes, we knew we wanted a dedicated space for our homeschool room. I've had 8+ years to dream about the ideal homeschool room for our family, so I knew some of what I wanted. It had to have room for…
- our homeschool library
- storing all of our homeschool manipulatives and supplies
- three student desks with chairs
- a round table for morning basket
- soft seating
- natural lighting
When we first started looking at houses, I was dead set that I wanted a room that I could close the door to. For the most part, the only spaces I found like that were in basements, and the kids all heaved a “back to the dungeon” kind of sigh each time. So, I loosened my grip on the “door to the homeschool room” idea.
Our New Homeschool Room
When we found our new home, I knew the front den could be perfect for a homeschool classroom. The first order of business was to rip the carpet out and install hardwood floors. As I mentioned in We Said Yes To the Address, our oldest daughter has asthma, so the carpet on the main level had to go.
Once the carpet was gone, we set to work. We put up the white bookshelves we'd had in our old basement, as well as the cubicle storage from our old living room. Initially, I'd put all four of the cubicle storage shelves in there, stacked 2×2, but then I realized I needed some cubicle storage in our master closet, so I took two of them out.
Fortunately, Brian's parents had a bookcase they wanted to rehome, so we snagged it. We had two of the desks already, so we went to Ikea and got the third one. We also bought their desk chairs while there.
We had an old table and chairs set in the basement at our old house, which we initially put in the homeschool room. It somehow migrated to what is fast becoming the “craft room.”
I wanted soft seating in the room for morning basket, so I ordered a futon loveseat from Wayfair.
Since the round table migrated to the “craft room,” I've also ordered this pedestal round table from Amazon.
I think it will work great with the desk chairs, which add a pop of color, too.
Shipping is a bit delayed because of current circumstances, so we'll make due until it does arrive.
I need some more storage containers, but can't find the one's like I already have. I may steal some from the craft room and get different ones for in there, so they all look uniform in here. Our homeschool room is a work in progress, but I love it.
And more importantly, my kids love it.
Be sure to check out my other homeschool articles and printables while you're here.
