The School Room (Phase 1 Photos)

Remember the “box tower” and the “book pile“?

Well, I have been a “busy bee“ around here and look at my new schoolish room now:

Left view of school room:

Notice the boxes along the wall on the left of the TV. Those will go as soon as I get my other two book cases that mom is giving me. They go on either side of the TV. Both have a bottom DOOR that hides the ugliness of curriculum and workbooks. Let’s face it. A homeschooler has to have a paper trail somewhere… best if it is HIDDEN behind bookcase doors (especially if your room is dual purpose). So, the boxes along the wall and the black “stool” with the blue pillow on it that is serving as a seat right now are eventually on their way out. I’ll have to post some “Phase 2” photos after the furniture arrangement is complete… and “Phase 3” will be after the decorating (paint, extra furniture, rug and windows) are done.

Right view of school room:

Notice the moving box in the corner. That is an ancient stereo that we no longer have speakers for. What am I going to do with it? If it won’t fit in the bookcases I’m getting from mom, I guess I’ll put it in the closet under the stairs in “storage”. We haven’t used it in over 5 years. How sad is that?! The huge wheel-clad plastic bin is full of magazines I use for school purposes (along with the stack of National Geographics on the floor by the bookcase. Maybe those will fit in mom’s bookcases, too? Hope so. I hate displaying magazines… but they are a necessary evil.

Back view of school room:

I SO love this spot in the school room. This was my grand idea – a storage bench. Not only does it look cute and match the bookcases (not planned), it was FREE. I just made use of a toy box that had seen brighter days of play. Now it is filled with binders, folders, notebooks, spirals, copy paper, and other unsightly supplies that you have to use for school. My “school supply bench” offers an extra seat for guests who want to get in on the X-Box action, too… and gives me a spot to display my aunt’s great global blanket. Beside the bench is the spot we have designated for library books. This will make a super “reading station”. I’ll be buying a few floor pillows for the kids to use here before I’m through with this room. Maybe even a small bean bag or two would work in this room? Those maps came from Sam’s Club and are laminated. I’m so excited that the kids don’t have to crawl up on my bed and stand up to really get up close and study them. We love to do geography! This is going to be a very USED spot in our schooling.

Distant view of school closet:

This is my “baby”. The supply closet is the BIG project for the room that made it all possible. Kevin said, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS JUNK???” when he first came home and saw that I had transported everything from the dining room boxes up the stairs and dumped it in massive sprawling piles all over the game-room. He had such “little faith”! I promised that I would find a way to get the STUFF hidden and make the school room look “nice”. This closet was my ticket. School is a messy business… and every kid needs ample supplies to make AWESOME messes. My school closet hides those supplies perfectly. I simply remade a coat and game closet into a teacher’s locker. My mom helped me saw and build wooden shelves from an old PAINTED white board I have been dragging around with me for the last 4 years. Now I know why I stored it all this time. I have used it twice in the past month. Once to fix my ottoman, and once to build shelving! My husband’s complaints of me being a pack-rat are worth it now. This closet has redeemed my reputation with him. He was really impressed (not just of the shelves, but that his pregnant wife used a hand saw with no training). The board used to be a shelf in the top of my kitchen (two houses ago)… and now it is a shelf in my school room. My garage may need sweeping after all the sawing we did, but I sure love the way this project turned out. Another big plus? It was FREE, too! I even had the nails in my husband’s tool chest that I needed. God is great!

Close up view of school closet:

Here’s a close up of the shelves we built. I labeled all the containers with a permanent marker to help the kids find what they are looking for. Tacks, Erasers, Memo Pads, Pastels, Chalk, Tape, Glue, Permanent Markers, Highlighters, Scissors, Crayons, Foam Stamps, Colored Pencils, Pencils, Paint, Glitter, and more. On the bottom is my rolling cart with my paper cutter on top. Inside the cart’s bins are stickers… calculators, rulers and flashcards… and acrylic, finger and tempera paints. I also have a paper bin made out of cardboard for my printer paper, large envelopes, ruled notebook paper, construction paper, scrap paper, page protectors and used folders. It used to be a moving box that was specially made for glass kitchen plates. The top shelf of the closet is for board games. Isn’t it beautiful?!

I am SO excited about our new space to do school!

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