Which room for HSing: Office or Formal room

[Samiam]

We are moving into a house this coming week. I had rooms assigned for usage in my head, based on the last time we went in (a few weeks ago),but after looking at it again today, I just realized how small the "office" is.....so thinking other options.

 

House has "office" which is essentially the size of a bedroom (think a normal size child's room in a newer style house, so probably 12 by 12 if not a bit smaller) but has no closet, and has double doors that open into the family room. Great window view into back yard (that also means 1 1/2 walls are useless for hanging stuff, and potentially putting bookcases/desks against). Obvious choice for HSing room, besides the size. We have three desks to put in, plus bookcases, plus 3 rolling carts for workboxes, plus potentially another desk for printer/storage. I just have a feeling it is going to be wall-to-wall crammed in there. But it is in the back of the house, close to the family room,with doors to shut for privacy.

 

But other choice:

 

When you first walk into the house, to the left is a formal "living" room, and to the right is the formal dining room. We will use neither as their intended purposes. Neither are full rooms, meaning both are pretty wide open once you come in the front door, with no walls on either side of the foyer for each room. One will be a toy room, just massive amounts of toys, and the other formal room will really not have a purpose. Eventually I would love to have a nice formal dining room, for holiday/party purpose, but that is just not our life at this point, and probably for many years. That room will likely sit empty except for toys that migrate there.

 

So I could switch the plan, and use the "office' for the toy room, which would be great for hiding the mess, and use the formal dining room for HSing/office area.

 

So while the mess of the toys would be hidden from anyone coming to the door, our school room are would be in full display. Which is fine, not like I am hiding that we HS, as we normally keep that relatively clean and organized anyway. Plus I am getting all new Ikea stuff, desks, bookcases, etc for it so it should look really nice. Then I could potentially spread the HSing out into the formal living room as well, keeping bookcases in there, and even perhaps the easel.

 

I guess the choice seems obvious, but I am just so use to having the homeschool room be private, we have usually had it upstairs in a extra bedroom or FROG. And when we were done "officially" schooling for the day, we left the room and the books, until the next day (well, except when I am working, as I work from home).

 

So what to do: Keep the HSing room private by having it in the smaller "office' and use the formal rooms for play room, or put HSing room in larger formal rooms, but visible to anyone who comes in, but toy mess is hidden in "office" room???

[amydavis]

I'd definitely go with using the two bigger rooms, since you're not really going to be using them for their intended purposes anyway. I like the idea that you could have one that ended up housing your bookcases and one that could be the overflow of other things. We've done something similar. I have a room that is basically just the books, so we call it the library. All four walls are wall to wall bookcases. We do keep a table and chairs in there, so you could sit down to study, etc., along with a couch and two chairs for comfortable reading. But then, our desks and workstations, my storage area of supplies, teaching manuals, etc. are in our office. So, we utilize two rooms.

So I say, hide the toys and make your learning spaces more roomy and comfortable!

[Mrs Mungo]

Our homeschool room is in what would otherwise be the formal living room. It is directly to the right when you walk in the front door. I got a big Expedit shelf from IKEA as a room divider. We also have a "Harry Potter" closet under the stairs. We fit a bunch of stuff in there.

 

We are still unpacking boxes/getting arranged, so this is sort of messy, but here are photos.

 

There is a formal dining room directly to the left when you walk in. We actually have a table to go there (way too big for the kitchen), but we can use it for school too if need be.

[eternalknot]

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen everyday, so I'd likely go with the formal room. Around here, the formal rooms are usually right off of the kitchen while the study is in a wing on the other side of the house.

 

Using a formal would mean I could continue about my daily duties whilst still being pretty close to the kids; they could call out to me for assistance, or I could still keep an eye on the food/laundry, etc.

[LibraryLover]

Sweeeet.

 

Our homeschool room is in what would otherwise be the formal living room. It is directly to the right when you walk in the front door. I got a big Expedit shelf from IKEA as a room divider. We also have a "Harry Potter" closet under the stairs. We fit a bunch of stuff in there.

 

We are still unpacking boxes/getting arranged, so this is sort of messy, but here are photos.

 

There is a formal dining room directly to the left when you walk in. We actually have a table to go there (way too big for the kitchen), but we can use it for school too if need be.

[Samiam]

Thanks for the answers, I think I will go with the formal rooms.

 

Mrs. Mungo, we will have that same "HP" closet between the kitchen and formal dining room! I was wondering how I would use that, besides the vacuum. Your pics are great, thanks!

[Cera]

I would probably use both the formal room and office for "school" rooms.

 

You could put bookshelves and a nice chair or two in the formal room (sort of a library) and then put the desks and computer stuff in the office. I like being able to shut a door on the area with our desks so that visitors can't get to them (we have had kids over that make a mess of important stuff). I also like being able to close the door on the school room so that the kids have a quiet place to work if they need it.

[FlyingMOm]

I would definitely go with the larger formal rooms for your school room.

 

We also have a Harry Potter closet under the stairs. My husband put in adjustable shelving running the entire length of the closet & a door handle that locks with a key. We store 90% of our toys in there. It's in a centrally located location so is easy to change toys out. It keeps the children from dumping all their toys and trashing a room- we keep about 6 things out at a time. I'm only suggesting this as an idea since you mentioned a toy room nearby- in case you have difficulties with the kids dumping everything, keeping it neat & tidy, etc.

 

If you think of it, post pictures when you are done- I love seeing other people's school rooms!

[babysparkler]

We recently made the move from a more "private" room like you describe to the formal dining room to the left as you come in. It was a REALLY great move and we love the school room being open to the house and having more space. Here is a link to our photos. We made the old room into an office for Dh and I, but now I envy your ability to have a playroom! That sounds nice!

[SailorMom]

Formal rooms - our school room is in the back of the house, and I love it, but it is much harder for me to do little chores in between assignments - I'm not back there to supervise and make sure work is being accomplished.

Also - the toys will probably be more of a mess than the school stuff - so you'd have the messier room in the back :)

[amydavis]

Our homeschool room is in what would otherwise be the formal living room. It is directly to the right when you walk in the front door. I got a big Expedit shelf from IKEA as a room divider. We also have a "Harry Potter" closet under the stairs. We fit a bunch of stuff in there.

 

We are still unpacking boxes/getting arranged, so this is sort of messy, but here are photos.

 

There is a formal dining room directly to the left when you walk in. We actually have a table to go there (way too big for the kitchen), but we can use it for school too if need be.

 

We have a Harry Potter closet, too. So far, we've used it mostly for storage, but now you've got me thinking! I never considered it as a place for our maps, etc. And I'm always trying to figure out a place to hang those. Thanks for the idea!

[Veritaserum]

So I could switch the plan, and use the "office' for the toy room, which would be great for hiding the mess, and use the formal dining room for HSing/office area.

 

So while the mess of the toys would be hidden from anyone coming to the door, our school room are would be in full display. Which is fine, not like I am hiding that we HS, as we normally keep that relatively clean and organized anyway. Plus I am getting all new Ikea stuff, desks, bookcases, etc for it so it should look really nice. Then I could potentially spread the HSing out into the formal living room as well, keeping bookcases in there, and even perhaps the easel.

 

This is what I would do. :) Around here, in newer homes, it is common to have an office immediately open to the formal entry. Sometimes there is no wall to

separate it from the entry (like what you describe). I would much rather guests come in and see bookshelves than toys. :)

 

My house is a similar layout. We do school at the formal dining room table, but all the bookshelves are in the closed off office. The other formal front room is for the piano. We already had a formal dining room table when we moved into this house. Otherwise I might have done what you're considering. :)

[Mrs Mungo]

We have a Harry Potter closet, too. So far, we've used it mostly for storage, but now you've got me thinking! I never considered it as a place for our maps, etc. And I'm always trying to figure out a place to hang those. Thanks for the idea!

 

DH did not want maps, timelines and such to be the first thing people see when they walk in. So, this was the compromise solution. :D I still need to hang a big whiteboard, but it will go in the far corner, that way it will be blocked by the big bookshelf.

[happypamama]

I think I'd go with the bigger room for the homeschooling room, though the biggest issue might be which one had the better flooring for projects and such, like if one had carpet and one had wood or something.

 

Our house has three front rooms on the first floor. One is small and on the left when you first walk in. The second is behind that first one and is also fairly small (and the least sunny room in the house -- it has one window that looks out onto a covered porch). Between those two rooms is not much wall but an extra-wide doorway (no doors), so it's almost one big room. We also have one big room that is on the right when you first walk in (that has doorways into the other two and is twice as big as those two together). That big room has been the living room and the playroom and is now the school room. I like it best for the school room. It's bright and sunny and has room for a reading chair, my huge desk, DD's little desk, the art table (and storage for that), a table for the boys' work, more shelves, the piano, and more. And its floor is easy to clean. One of the smaller rooms is the playroom (the less sunny one), and while it's a little more cramped for that, the kids don't seem to mind (it, however, makes a lousy homeschooling room -- too cramped for all the surfaces we really use). The front small room is the living room, and it's nice and cozy for that purpose.

[KidsHappen]

I am a believer in making the most of your space. Since you spend a great deal of your time homeschooling and it is an important part of your life, it makes sense to use the biggest and best space for that purpose.

 

In our current house, we use the formal dining room (which is immediately inside the front door connected to the foyer) as a library/reading room. This is the room that we previously used for homeschooling when there were a lot more at home. The formal living room is a music room and we use the loft as a living room. I have a large office attached to my bedroom and that is where the last kiddo and I do school work.

 

At out last house the formal living room was in the same location as the current dining room and we used it the same way. Each room only had one wall really and that wall was lined with bookshelves. Then the formal dining room table was in the middle of the floor and that is where we did school work, reading, research, played games, etc. At that house, I used the formal dining room (which was attached to the formal living room by an arch) as the office. We used a den as the living room and music stuff was spread out.

 

I really will post pictures one of these days and I won't have to wait for my kids to help anymore. My new computer has a webcam and it takes better pictures than the old camera. :)

[Garga]

Whichever is sunnier when you're doing homeschool.

[Frontier Mom]

Yep, I would go with the larger rooms. Besides, why try to hide it away anyway? At my house, it keeps growing and growing and encompasses our whole house. When you walk in our door you know we homeschool and have lots of dcs. I wouldn't have it any other way though!

 

I would be tempted to have a reading nook in the room with doors though for those who want a quiet space. Around here, we search for those quiet places during the day. I would consider a bean bag or something in the corner if you or the dcs want to escape, be quiet and read.

[Snickerdoodle]

So far, no matter how we've had it set up we invariably end up in the kitchen & dining area.