PLEASE show me your "No Schoolroom" solutions!

[Pixjen]

I have two kids 14 years apart. The oldest is in college and the youngest is almost 8. We have lived in the same house for the last 12 years and I **still** have not figured out how to arrange things so it doesn't look like Staples threw up all over my house. :confused:

 

We have a small house, and basically everything happens in just 500 sg ft. Our living room and eat-in kitchen are basically all one room, and that's were all of LIFE happens. The rest of the house is bedrooms/bathrooms. I don't expect my house to look like something out of Better Homes, but I must admit that I lust after homes with dinning rooms, or *gasp!* an actual family room! I've surfed for homeschool "room" ideas on Pinterest and the annual blog hops, but I rarely ever see rooms/tips/ideas that are for those of us without dedicated rooms. I'm desperate enough to shamelessly beg and bribe someone from IKEA to come work their magic on my house. (Have you seen their little "house" displays? Amazeballs!!)

 

So I'm asking (almost begging!) that if you are in the same boat, please post some pictures or tell me how you've survived! I have a 9x9 area and one small wall in my kitchen to work with. No kitchen islands, or extra cabinets or drawers. There is a light that hits me in the head every time I write on the whiteboard, and a backdoor that fights with the chairs for space. The table is also craft central, and my living room is Legoland.

 

Looking forward to your photos, ideas and suggestions! :bigear:

 

ETA: I'm adding a photo of the area I have to work with. Reading through the responses I've realized that part of my problem is that I'm split about how I want my house to look. Part of me wants it to be a fun and creative area that embraces the culture of a lifetime of learning. The other half wants a home where I would feel comfortable inviting people over. I think maybe that's why I love IKEA catalogs so much, because they really seem to effectively combine LIVING areas with function and storage.

 

So, here is my space, which is actually much cleaner looking that normal. *lol* This is what you see the second you walk into our house:

 

 

 

To the left of the frame is the TV. The fireplace has never been used the last 12 yrs, and often becomes the dumping ground for toys and books. I've been thinking about cleaning out the inside and using to store/display books. It doesn't have a real mantle, so I finally bought a floating shelf from IKEA to act as one.

 

The middle of the photo shows the space we usually use for school. Just behind the fireplace wall is the galley kitchen. The window has a window seat of sorts, but is usually piled high with crafts and books that we move off the table so we can eat. What you can't see is the back door which swings into the space and crashes into the chairs.

 

I have two ledges on the wall by the table for our whiteboard and a large canvas that we use as a bulletin board of sorts. I use it to hang our art piece of the week, motivational posters, weather charts, etc. I use the ledges so that I can switch the two boards as needed. The theory behind that was that I could also hide the boards and put artwork up instead when we have company over. That's NEVER happened. I hit my head on the (off centered) light over the table several times a day.

 

To the sides of the ledges is a small bookcase that holds some of our current books and supplies, and a set of plastic drawers that holds more supplies and manipulatives. It's very disorganized and cluttered.

 

Finally the rest of the right side shows our living room. The secretary was supposed to work as a command center for me and my laptop. But it's become more of a hazard because the top doors threaten to impale anyone who comes too close (lol). Since it's an antique, there are no places for the wires, and it's turned into a giant, cluttered octopus of wires and papers. Couch pillows are on the top of the secretary because the cat leaps from the couch to the top of the secretary, and then to a beam that you can't see and knocks off the breakable decorations up there. Sooooo fashionable, don't cha think? *snork!*

 

Finally there is the couch, and just outside the photo is another bookcase and another pile of junk. The coffee table lid slides apart and holds a billion lego blocks. This is only about half of the ones we own. DS has another two or three underbed boxes that are in his room.

Edited May 31, 2012 by photojenic

[fourcatmom]

I have a pretty small space that most of my stuff is in but it doesn't look like an Ikea room either. We do have a larger living space but most of my stuff is in the dining room. We were working at the table today and I was printing notebook pages, I had to pretty much squish one of the kids into the table just to get by to get my paper.

 

Good luck

 

Classroom pictures

[BugsMama]

Do you have an ikea near you? They have a table with 6 drawers that folds down to 6-8 inches, I slide that behind a bookshelf, and it works wonders. I use a toybox to hold games/manipulatives, and that is also the bench for the table when the table is out.....

I will try and get some pictures for you today.

[dsmith]

I have a schoolroom/office, but we don't even use it anymore. All of our school stuff is in a bookshelf in our sitting room. The bookshelf is about 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall. I use 2 shelves for his school stuff, and the rest for my own self-education. He mostly works out of a notebook that I put together each week with the majority of his subjects in it. I have a 2' x 3' whiteboard that we use for math, etc. which leans against the bookshelf when not in use. I put 2 plastic bins on the floor in front of the bookshelf with art stuff, pencils, paper, a ruler, index cards, and any other small item we may need, along with my folders with completed work. I have a folding tray table for him to work on while sitting on the futon. There is a computer and small desk in the room, but as we have a laptop, we could do without. I also have a small file cabinet in a corner with a printer on it. Any literature we need I attempt to get in ebook format to cut down on the books laying around. As ds is older now, I don't feel it is necessary to have any maps or educational posters hanging on the wall, and they distract him anyway. I have a few small maps that I can put on the whiteboard with magnets when needed. If we need a change of scenery, we grab his notebook and the Kindle and go to a different room.

[Lily_Grace]

I gave up our schoolroom to be a family game room (meaning, a place to do puzzles without the toddler getting into them!).

 

We keep a small bookshelf downstairs for materials we're currently using, and a walk-in closet upstairs that we lined with bookshelves for everything out of rotation. The hallway is lined with Montessori-type activities to stall the toddler before he can get to the closet where he shouldn't be.

 

Our previous home was the size of a shoebox and we used a kitchen cabinet and extra dresser for our work.

[WishboneDawn]

Check out the organization link in my siggy. Books that we don't need daily are mostly in the basement.

[Alison in KY]

We use the kitchen table and have a whiteboard hanging over a window in our kitchen. Like you, I didn't have any wallspace. I also did a small timeline, but it was over my double doored laundry room (aka closet with washer and dryer). I also have a black, metal shelf unit attached to a wall next to the kitchen table (in the living area) that holds our school books. I then have a tub holding extras that aren't being used right now in the garage. Not so pretty and I'd love to have school space on it's own, but we can'tdo it at our house.

[bethben]

We have this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10196431/

paired with some bins I found on Amazon. Each kid has their own box which holds all their school books. With one child, you could easily put everything you need in those bins. They have ones with 4 bins and some inserts with drawers. I have a bookshelf that has the books for the year and I just transfer the books they need for that week into their bins. It looks nice and doesn't scream homeschoolers live here.

 

Beth

[Spetzi]

We just took the schoolroom out of the dining room. It doesn't sound like you have room for another piece of furniture, but if you do this might work.

 

I got a base cabinet w/doors (deep enough for games or projects) and a hutch top that has shelves for books. I can fit a LOT in that thing! It might be worth trying to make it fit.

 

Here is the link of the one I got, but it is a little pricey (now it's $475). You could probably find something cheaper elsewhere. I always knew I wanted the base cabinet, but didn't realize how extremely useful it would be.

 

http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/bed-bath/fair-square-prices/everyday-prices/teen-bedding/home-office-furniture%252c-nichols-set/prod.jump?ppId=1b55e7f&catId=cat100240127&subcatId=cat100240019&deptId=dept20000011&selectedLotId=7945091&selectedSKUId=79450910158

 

 

We school at the kitchen table or on the couch. I want to get a lift top coffee table so the kids can write/use the computer there. Here is a link to one, but there are many, many out there. This would keep you off the kitchen table.

 

http://www.coffeetableshowroom.com/Cocktail-Table-in-Vintner-Merlot-Finish.htm

 

Good luck!

[Runningmom80]

I'm working on this right now. :) we actually have a "schoolroom" but never use it. I'm going to integrate school stuff with living stuff. I'll report back when I'm finished. Dh has a long list of things to build at the moment. ;)

[Wheres Toto]

We live in 750 square feet with no attic, no basement and only two small closets in the bedrooms that are needed for clothes. We've been schooling in the kitchen but that table is the only dumping ground for stuff and I'm getting sick of not being able to do school until it's cleaned off, so we're moving back into the living room.

 

I only school my two younger kids. Because they are so young, I needed easy access so I don't lose them while I'm digging out what I need but also needed some things to stay out of their reach.

 

We used to use these folding tables. They are height adjustable. I would set them up basically in the middle of the living room floor with each kid on one side with their office board in between. I could sit on a chair at to one side and see what both of them were doing but they couldn't bother each other. We used them without the office boards for our combined subjects (everything but Math and Language Arts). I will probably still use them for that stuff. My AAS whiteboard is pulled out and propped on the couch to do those lessons and then slid behind a bookcase. I have a second smaller whiteboard that I can pull out if we want to do something else with it.

 

We recently set up a long folding table against one wall, underneath where the kids have bulletin boards hanging. They have side-by-side computers there. My plan now is to move the monitors (both flat screens) onto the floor next to the table and use that to do school. I'll put their office boards up hanging just under the bulletin boards, which will put them at eye level, and fold the ends closed when the computers come back up. I can easily move the monitors in the evening when their computer time is over and since they clearly can't use the computers until school is done, it offers an added incentive. The bulletin boards have rotating information for current topics, right now ds has angle and triangle definitions for Beast Academy and dd has her current word family and sight words.

 

We have very little useful wall space due to a large fireplace bracketed by windows on one wall, bedroom doors on another wall, bathroom door and heat/ac vent on another wall, and another bedroom wall and the opening into the kitchen on the last wall.

 

We took two Billy bookcases, removed the backing from the top half and put these over the windows to either side of the fireplace. They fit perfectly and look like built-ins and because of the back not being there, they allow a lot of light in. We also have a sky light so it doesn't make the room any darker having the bookcases there. This is mostly where I store games and puzzles although my globe sits on top of one of them. The folding table fits next to the bedroom doors within about a foot of a Billy so I just have room to open the bottom doors (but could take the doors off and have more open shelving which I may do to put dd's school games and puzzles there).

 

Since we can't have any furniture right against the biggest wall due to the heat/ac vent, we had some wasted space there. We had two narrow Billy bookcases that dh put on either side of the vent (which is about 2 1/2 x 3 feet) mounted to the wall. He then put shelves connecting the two bookcases, starting above the level of the vent so it remained clear. That's where all my books (pleasure reading mostly but some school stuff) are, although I'm about to give the kids two shelves that are right at the couch level so they can reach them. The kids books are currently on the bottom shelves of a metal bookcase that sits on the short wall next to the bedroom door. My usual chair is right in front of it so they have trouble getting back there so that's why the move.

 

Inside our bedroom door (which again opens right into the living room) is a 12 pocket file folder holder. Ds's binder which has his weekly core work goes in one pocket, Vicki's folder of work goes in another, my clipboard in another, etc. The bottom two pockets are construction paper and white paper and there's a pocket shoe holder hanging on the wall right inside the door holding craft supplies. These are in my bedroom because it's the one room we can lock them out of and I can't do open access to stuff yet.

 

Also in my room, in the only area available next to the bed, are two sets of plastic drawers that I use to hold the stuff for our upcoming history, science or geography stuff.

 

I hang posters, etc. for our subjects wherever there is room. There's a very large, dry-erase world map that stays hanging in their room. Next to it is a large rubbermaid garage type cabinet that I use to store additional craft and school supplies. I have a large street map of New Jersey hanging on my bedroom door and a US street map hanging from the fireplace. I hung command strips periodically from the front of the mantel and hang posters from them using paperclips or small hairbands. Since we definitely aren't using the fireplace right now (and they are easily removable anyway) this lets me use wasted space.

 

I have a shelf running the whole length of the short wall about a foot down from the ceiling. I put anything I want access to but definitely don't want the kids reaching on there. Stuff like the rice bin or science supplies. I have a similar shelf in my bedroom that holds baby books, loose pictures, my video camera, etc. There's similar shelves (wire ones) in both other bedrooms for the kids.

 

Once I finish rearranging I will probably do an organizational blog post since I don't see small space ideas too often and it may be helpful to someone else. Our house definitely does look like we spend a lot of time here but we never have company except family anyway so it doesn't bother me.

 

Edited to add: we have two 4-drawer file cabinets that hold future work. One has drawers for - core subjects (math and language arts), games (file folder and printable games), Social Studies and Science.

Edited May 31, 2012 by dottieanna29

[Carrie12345]

My house is currently a mess in terms of both housekeeping and maintenance/repair needs, so the fact that I'm doing this is HUGE! :tongue_smilie:

 

In our dining/foyer/main school area, we pull the table (and leaves) out for family meals, but keep it against the wall the rest of the time.

 

In the living area pic, you can see I have another shelf on my staircase landing. Probably against all codes, but the only room upstairs is the master suite, so I don't care. That shelf is a complete wreck right now, but it's where I hold a lot of my "mom" books and curriculum that isn't being used at the moment.

 

The downstairs shelves are angled, so I keep my whiteboard stashed behind them.

 

And of course the pics didn't work @@. I'll try again.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Carrie1234

[Chelli]

Here is a link to a blog post I did about our homeschool space:

 

Our Homeschool "Classroom"

 

 

Love seeing and reading about all of these ideas!

[Maeintx]

Our dining room is the main room you walk into when you open our front door, but it is also the only place we really can do school. We do float around a lot but this is where we store everything.

 

I've made a couple of changes since last summer but overall this is our way of trying to hide the clutter.

 

All our pencils/pens/markers/scissors/glue sticks, etc. are now in a Pampered Chef Tool Turnabout instead of the picture box.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Maeintx

[Loudwater School]

I line the walls with bookcases, real, nice bookcases, and then I hide ugly things and science and craft supplies inside prettier boxes that sit on the bottom bookcases. Anything that goes up on the wall should be color coordinated, even maps and schedule charts.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Do you have a garage? That's where we keep all of our supplies and books. I put up bookshelves to divide the garage in half (one half is mine, one half is dh's). We've never parked our van in there...it's always been too full of bikes, toys, motorcycles, lawn stuff....

 

Even if you could carve out a corner for some bookshelves or a cabinet or two it would help.

[Ummto4]

I school in our dining room. To prevent it to look like a classroom, I don't put any whiteboard, map, calendar, bulletin board and whatnot on the wall. In fact, we only have a smaller size whiteboard which is stored easily between bookcases.

 

I only put the book we're currently using (binders, TMs, living books, workbooks, a couple of reference books/encyclopedias) in the dining room. The rest are stored in kiddos' and my bedrooms.

 

In our dining room, we have a small expedit and a tall and narrow billy bookcases from ikea. We also have another wooden bookcase. All the small pieces and loose paper (art supply, office supply) are contained in various IKEA Kassett boxes. Thin and smaller books (think vintage readers, S-pore scienc books), science supply, math manipulative, as well as preschool toys (Mighty Mind, lacing toys, Lauri Toys, etc) are in IKEA boxes which fit the Expedit bookcase perfectly and look like this: http://www.ikea.com/be/nl/catalog/products/20145479/

 

The two oldest each gets their own Rubbermaid basket to hold their pencil case + workbook/notebook which then I put on the shelf.

 

We also have one sofa, one dinner table and one IKEA Pongea chair (sp) in our dining room.

 

So far so good, except our dinner table is a bit small - I bought it when I first moved to the US and had no child. So it's a 4-chair dinner table, but there's no way we buy a bigger one for our current house. No space. Hopefully we can move to a bigger house next year.

[LittleIzumi]

Here is our schooling area! We own a mobile home, so it's small, but it's plenty for us! Not pictured are the bookshelves in other rooms that hold the kids' books and my books. There are four of those with books in stacked bins for better storage for me and better access for the kids in various rooms. (ETA: I shrank the pictures so they better get smaller soon!!)

 

I have a 1st/2nd and a K'er, plus a toddler, so we start with circle time (pictured):

 

and do most of our work together on the couch and on a whiteboard (lap-sized whiteboards are tucked behind the bookshelf, markers are in a pencil case on the bookshelf). The black bookshelf is half homeschool supplies (the bottom half--I am in the middle of reorganizing it, hence the half-empty shelf... future home of math manipulatives that currently live on my computer desk and in the other rooms).

 

Any independent work and art are both done on the kitchen table (which is still covered in some of yesterday's art and laundry). Our typical two bins of library books are in their usual place on the floor.

[Julie Smith]

Staples threw up all over my house.

 

That made me smile. It always reminded me of something my Mom use to say. If something was very bright and had many colors she would say, "It looks like Walt Disney threw up".

[ktgrok]

We school in the dining/living room area. Which is right when you walk into the house. The way I've done it is we have a really nice looking world map, from amazon, that my husband framed. So it looks like art work, not homeschool stuff. That is on the living room wall. We also have a nice looking, antique look almost, globe, that he got as a gift for 5 years of service at his job, that sits on top of the computer desk or piano. I have a 3 shelf cabinet that is actually in the other room, but is easy enough to access, that has doors. I got it at Target for under 50 dollars. It holds all the books, etc. I do have to purge each year though, and box up or sell what we are done with. Every morning my son gets his books for the day, paper, etc and brings them to the dining room table. When school is done he puts it all back.

[ezrabean2005]

We use a reusable grocery bag for each kid: it includes their daily binder with that day's work, their math book, reading book, etc. Our youngest has an abacus in his along with his math book and daily binder.

 

Then I have one bag with all of my teacher's materials (put into a small binder for that day) and a gallon ziplock with our timer, date stamp, mechanical pencils, lead / erasers, and markers for all. Mine also has a small white board we use everyday.

 

Each night I empty the binders and refill them with the next day's work for the children and myself. The completed work goes into huge binders for each child on our living room bookshelf. Now that I have a good system, I can do the binder prep in my sleep (sometimes I do!).

 

We pack up our schoolwork every night time because we never know when or where we will do it. We only have school time at home about twice a week. Otherwise it could be at one of our two cafes. We're the the traveling school...:001_smile:

[txhomemom]

We have had to homeschool in pretty small spaces. When we lived in an apartment that was kind of tight, we used the living room and dining room (it was one big room) to put IKEA shelves with bins and a couple of desks and table tops. We still had a couch and TV in there, but just split the space in half and had our homeschooling stuff on the other side. Our next challenge was a 3 story condo that did not have much closet space and the entire first floor was a garage. We stored most of our overflow in the garage. The current homeschool curriculum we were using I stored in the master bedroom in an IKEA dresser. One drawer had school supplies, one had math, spelling, etc. We only used the really small handheld whiteboards at that time, just not enough room for anything else. We did not even use a desk at that time (kind of weird I know) nor did we have a dining room table (did not have room for one), so just sat on the couch or bed and did schoolwork.

 

Maybe you could store overflow school supplies, etc in plastic bins under a bed or something. Everything does not have to be in the same room. I have so many books that I resorted to hanging up extra shelves in my master closet all the way to the ceiling so one whole wall is nothing but solid books. In our current homeschooling room, I also had to go vertical with the shelves all the way to the ceiling so I could accommodate chapter books and other small books.

 

My current challenge is keeping everything neat and tidy and safe for my toddler, but still having enough stuff for my teenager.

 

Here are some shelves we have in our school area:

 

White Besta Wall Shelf - I have this hanging over a narrow desk. The shelf itself has very little depth so it does not stick out from the wall that much.

 

White Lack Shelf - I also have this one mounted really high almost to the ceiling and it is horizontal. We have a lot of chapter books and reference books on it.

White Trofast Shelf - We also put two of these together side by side, in the top section of the shelves we just have regular shelving for books, and then the bottom section of the shelves we put two large red bins (for toys for my toddler). These shelves are easy to fit because the depth is only around 11 inches.

Edited May 31, 2012 by txhomemom

[PRTGSw2K]

Our house is under 1400 sf, and most of the schooling is done in the living room and dining room. We have some built-ins in the living room that house a lot of the stuff, and big projects get done at the dining room table. You can see pictures of the set up here.

 

I wanted the main living areas to still look functional for non-school times, so the large maps are hung upstairs in DS room. We pull the coffee table out for them to work, and then push it back next to the window.

[fruitofthewomb]

I have a rising 1st grader and 3 littles. We do school at the dining table during naptime or any quiet period of time I can find. Our living, dining, and kitchen are open and small. I have an abnormally large laundry room so I have 2 bookshelves in there filled up with supplies/books/curriculum. I have 2 plastic drawer towers with misc supplies. I have a coat closet that we put shelves in to hold educational toys for the little ones. I have a thirtyone 'utility bag' that has handles and I keep a whiteboard, markers, crayon box with crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, sharpener in, and the workbooks and manuals I need for daily lessons. I just carry it to the table when I need it. We also have a detached garage and I have craft supplies in a cabinet out there. Our front door is metal and is right next to the dining table and I have magnetic clips on there that hold any display items. I clean it off if I know we are having company. But other than that there are no school items on the walls-not even a map. So our stuff is spread around the house but its the best I can do right now. HTH!

[Aspasia]

We school in the dining room and I just have a 4x4 Expedit bookcase from Ikea where I store everything. For our calendar and weather stuff, I put all of that on one of those display boards (like you use for a science fair), so I can fold it up and put it away.

 

I wish I had seen this before I bought our Expedit. It uses three of the smaller Expedit bookcases, but it's brilliant. You still have fifteen cubbies, which is only one less than what I have, but you also get a lovely chalkboard. http://pinterest.com/pin/94153448429880458/

[Stellalarella]

School happens at our dining room table. That means we are constantly setting and resetting the table for school and meals. It's a pain, but it is also a blessing because that means that school stuff gets picked up. :001_smile:

 

My husband built me a homeschool cabinet by combining a deep entertainment cabinet (found on Craigslist for $45) and an old particle board shelving unit. I like it because I can shut the doors and not see the stuff. He spray painted the shelving unit black, cut it, and screwed it into the inside of the entertainment center.

 

We put our big flat items (like the white board) behind the piano.

 

I hang the children's artwork on the wall behind my computer. We mounted two 8' metal shelving straps on the wall with screws. (Home Depot, about $10 each). Pictures hang from magnetic metal office clips. (Walmart was the cheapest place for those.)

 

The glass bookcase was found for free and works perfectly to hold the globe. We also use a large laminated US/world map that folds down to a reasonable size that can be stored in the bookcase.

 

The oldest children do keep some of their school books in their rooms.

[Hunter]

Well...right NOW things are in a bit of EXTRA mess here. An entire wall of upper kitchen cabinets fell off the wall last night, pulling wires out of the wall, and crushing everything, under where they fell. I'm just so thankful no one got hurt, and that the electricity immediately went out before a fire started. And the water got knocked on, but we were able to use a broom to knock it back off, before the water hit the wires or caused any flooding.

 

SO..If I WERE to take pictures right NOW, I don't think they would be helpful to you :-)

 

The good news is that I'm getting all brand new cabinets :-)

[ondreeuh]

We have a similar situation - though our dining area is big enough to fit a desk against the wall (no chair). Our living room is also Legoland! It's a constant battle to keep it cleaned up. Luckily I just have to announce it's time to vacuum, and they scramble to pick up all the pieces.

 

Do you have a Desk Apprentice? That's a GREAT way for storing all your books, pencils, staplers, etc. and you can just move it easily when you need it out of the way. I keep a small whiteboard in my Desk Apprentice and use that instead of a wall-mounted board. The actual amount of stuff I use day-to-day is small so it works out.

[Mommy22alyns]

We have a large living room and that's our schoolroom too. Sorry, there's no hiding the fact that we homeschool.

 

I have this as our school table - it is small, but both girls can work at the same time. I just pull up a chair and sit at the corner between them.

 

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/carolina-small-table-chairs-set/?pkey=e%7Ccarolina%7C15%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

 

 

Then we have one of these cabinets for school books:

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/cameron-creativity-cubby-and-open-base-set/?pkey=e%7Ccameron%7C28%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C18&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

 

With a 2-door cabinet on top of those.

 

We also have bookshelves, an easel, a wall book rack, and some plastic drawer towers for things like glue, markers, etc.

[missmoe]

Here a blog post just about living in a small space with school.

 

http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-school-home.html

 

We also live about 500 sq feet minus the bedrooms.

[KarenNC]

I'm only dealing with one child, so that makes things a bit easier. We school in the living room on the couch. There's a two-shelf bookcase, 3ft or so long, and the books we are currently using live there. There's a small wicker basket on the coffee table that holds pens/pencils/protractor/compass/erasers/etc (matches the other basket holding our remotes). The remainder of the books go on bookcases (yes, plural, I'm definitely a curriculum junkie ;)) in my bedroom--we have tons of bookcases, as we are biblioholics, so it's not out of place. We have a desktop and desk in the living room, but we primarily use the laptop for school use when my husband isn't using it for work (he needs it about one day a week when he works from home).

 

I don't do posters, wallmaps, etc. We look at maps and illustrations online or in books. I have a small whiteboard (about the size of a binder) that we use occasionally, otherwise I use scratch paper. Since there are only two of us, I don't need to have it very large. For our timeline, we use the blank book from Sonlight and some of the figures from Homeschool in the Woods (reduced to about 85% to fit). Art supplies are mostly stored in a backpack or in my daughter's desk in her room, and we have very limited craft supplies (her preferred medium is pencil). The occasional experiment or larger project is done in the kitchen, but we don't really do a lot of large ones like that at home (she takes an outside art class, hands-on science class at the nature center, etc). I pick up cheap pencil boxes during back to school sales if needed to hold crayons and small office supplies (stapler, calculator, hole punch). Overflow craft supplies went into a cabinet in the garage, but I'm currently purging that as she's not a crafts-type kid. We had a globe from Barnes and Noble that looked great in our living room, but we didn't replace it when it was broken.

 

When she was younger, we did a lot of work in/on my bed, snuggled up for reading, etc. At that point, I kept our current books in a rolling crate, so I could move it from bedroom to living room as desired. Before we moved all the books in to the bedroom, we did line a closet in the bonus room with shelves, but I liked having things more accessible. Those shelves are now used for other things.

 

In a smaller space, I would look at rolling underbed storage for books not frequently or currently in use (under the bed or the sofa). It would also require me to be much more serious about purging used materials, only buying what we really needed and not buying much for anything beyond the current and next year.

[CatholicMom]

Here a blog post just about living in a small space with school.

 

http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-school-home.html

 

We also live about 500 sq feet minus the bedrooms.

 

LOL!! I love the picture of the Singapore Math book half under the couch. :lol:

[MrsMe]

I have two kids 14 years apart. The oldest is in college and the youngest is almost 8. We have lived in the same house for the last 12 years and I **still** have not figured out how to arrange things so it doesn't look like Staples threw up all over my house. :confused:

 

We have a small house, and basically everything happens in just 500 sg ft. Our living room and eat-in kitchen are basically all one room, and that's were all of LIFE happens. The rest of the house is bedrooms/bathrooms. I don't expect my house to look like something out of Better Homes, but I must admit that I lust after homes with dinning rooms, or *gasp!* an actual family room! I've surfed for homeschool "room" ideas on Pinterest and the annual blog hops, but I rarely ever see rooms/tips/ideas that are for those of us without dedicated rooms. I'm desperate enough to shamelessly beg and bribe someone from IKEA to come work their magic on my house. (Have you seen their little "house" displays? Amazeballs!!)

 

So I'm asking (almost begging!) that if you are in the same boat, please post some pictures or tell me how you've survived! I have a 9x9 area and one small wall in my kitchen to work with. No kitchen islands, or extra cabinets or drawers. There is a light that hits me in the head every time I write on the whiteboard, and a backdoor that fights with the chairs for space. The table is also craft central, and my living room is Legoland.

 

Looking forward to your photos, ideas and suggestions! :bigear:

 

The less "junk" the better visually. So try to stay away from plastic drawer storage that you can see through. Stay away from hodgepodge if you can; for example; if you need plastic drawers find and stick to one color all the same height. Instead of being too colorful, stick to for example, all one color bins that would match the room. All black or all green. In small spaces if you have a lot of stuff, keep it easy on the eyes. If you have shelving, don't buy one that's black if you have white and one that's oak.

 

Currently I am using a steel tool cart. I roll it in and I roll it out. It's my teacher's cart and it's sturdy. It is steel so I can attach magnets. http://www.harborfreight.com/large-steel-tool-cart-with-locking-drawer-90428.html on the non-red steel handles I have hanging with rings, one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Insights-Small-Space-Place/dp/B003DNEKZW/ref=pd_sbs_op_3

on each end of the cart. One side is dd's, one side is mine. The drawer hold all my TM pens, pencils, timers, scissors, tape. The top and bottom holds my TM's books, workbooks, flashcards, etc. When I am done, I roll it out and I can roll it to my computer to plan or just roll it out of site.

 

Another thing is that I have a laminated table that has legs that raise or lower: http://busy-kids.com/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BK&Product_Code=6408JC&Category_Code=

I was going to sell it because dd is almost 12, until I decided I can lower it all the way down and use it as a coffee table. DD sits on the floor and does her work on it. You can also use any coffee table and put square baskets under it to house books.

 

I'd assume you don't have many "toys" left, but if you did I have above the doorway shelving that I put parallel to the ceiling. Just above the door frame from one wall to another.

 

Any white board or chalk board if you use them, small ones fit on my cart and I'm going to magnetize the back of my little lap-chalkboard and stick it to the back of my cart. (I LOVE METAL!) I can just pull it off to use it. Or you can slide them when not in use under the couch or behind some shelving. Some I've heard put a map on their kitchen table with glass over it. So you can eat or whatever, but the map stays clean.

 

A pic of your space and what you need or have would be really helpful!

[birchbark]

I'm not sure if this idea has been posted yet, but you can put maps and charts under a clear plastic tablecloth on the table.

[Ellesmere]

e

[missmoe]

LOL!! I love the picture of the Singapore Math book half under the couch. :lol:

 

Thanks! It was one of those days---where I decided showing how things really are was better than taking the time to clean up and show how things are suppose to be!:D

[boscopup]

What a great thread! I plan to have a school/toy room sometime in the near future, but we've been doing some renovations, and we want to replace the floor in there before I convert it over, so for now, I'm still kind of in the living room, master bedroom, and den.

 

I have 3 school desks in the living room. My kids are too distractable to work at one table together. I tried that. :tongue_smilie:Hopefully when they're all a bit older, the community table might work. Maybe. For now, they each have a school desk that I picked up from the public school castoffs for $5 each. They were in great condition, and they clean up nicely (metal, adjustable).

 

I have a bookcase in my room that has all of the homeschool books on it. I'm starting to need more space though. :lol:

 

I have multiple bookcases in the living room with regular, non-school-specific books. Those go in Sterilite Medium Stacking Baskets from Target. I posted a thread a while back lamenting that I couldn't find these. Then I updated it later to say I found 2 of them, but left them in my shopping cart. :tongue_smilie:Finally I went to a new Target near me, and they had 7! So I bought all of them. :D I love these baskets, because the kids have an easier time putting away their books, plus they can flip through and see the books easily.

 

I have an easel from Sam's that holes are white board, and the white board tucks behind a dresser in my bedroom when not in use. I really look forward to the school room with a white board on the wall. That will be so nice. For now, easel it is. It seems to take up 1/3 of the room when it's up, even though it's a good sized room.

 

I keep a globe on top of a stereo cabinet. The globe doesn't have a stand. It's also a public school castoff that I got FREE with the desks and chairs. It's a nice one too!

 

If we do a messy project, art, painting, whatever, it happens at the kitchen table. The kitchen table has been covered in stuff the last several months, so you can probably do the math and figure out how many times we've done projects, art, and painting the last several months. :tongue_smilie:

 

We alternate where we do school... desk, living room floor, my bed, couch in the den.

[Pixjen]

Please check the first post for an update and a picture. Thanks!

 

ETA: I did try a 4x4 Expedit in the area to act as a divider and storage, but it didn't work very well. I think partly because it's too dark (black/brown) and it made it even harder to sit at the table.

 

Edited May 31, 2012 by photojenic

[Runningmom80]

We school in the dining room and I just have a 4x4 Expedit bookcase from Ikea where I store everything. For our calendar and weather stuff, I put all of that on one of those display boards (like you use for a science fair), so I can fold it up and put it away.

 

I wish I had seen this before I bought our Expedit. It uses three of the smaller Expedit bookcases, but it's brilliant. You still have fifteen cubbies, which is only one less than what I have, but you also get a lovely chalkboard. http://pinterest.com/pin/94153448429880458/

 

 

 

Okay, this is genius. I have one of those expedits, so I would only need two more. I also have a big unit, and the medium 8 cubby one, I may need an Ikea 12 step program.

[PRTGSw2K]

Can you get a square or rectangle table and keep it pushed up against the wall? That way, you'd have more space between the table and the door.

 

I think adding shelves to the fireplace is a great idea. Also, I'd take that cabinet the cat likes to jump on and empty it out and just store books and other supplies inside. It just looks like things need to be organized and edited down. Once that's done, it will make things much more manageable.

 

I agree with the pp that your DS should move all toys to his room.

[ThreeBlessings]

Our schoolroom is our dining room. Here are pics. I do store my youngest dd's toys and workbox stuff in the toy area of our family room and some not currently in use school books on a bookshelf in there too. Everything else school is in our dining room. :)

[Chibby]

Here a blog post just about living in a small space with school.

 

http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-school-home.html

 

We also live about 500 sq feet minus the bedrooms.

 

Do you by any chance live in a Cape Cod style house w/ 1 1/2 stories that was built in the '50s? lol... Just asking b/c I live in one and it's in a neighborhood of quite a few of them from a time when they mass-produced and built them.

 

Just had to ask!

[famof6]

One thing that has worked well with my four kids is color coding each child's things. Each child has hey color and all their workbooks textbooks etc. are marked with a colored dot. It makes it easy to sort out their things and put them away. Each child has a cubby with their corresponding color. That way all four kids can help pick up items even if they don't along to them.

[Chibby]

Looks like you have a few options.

 

First, do you have any storage anywhere else in your house that you can store ANYTHING that isn't used on a frequent basis? If so, store whatever you can somewhere else.

 

Second, get rid of the secretary. It's pretty, but it's not working for you (from what you say about it). You could use the money from selling it to buy organizational stuff that you want. If you're only hsing one child, thn you could use the table as your desk and just move your laptop to a designated space for it somewhere else. You can also buy some kind of small, portable "work station" for your stuff, even if it's just a magazine holder or a cubical fabric bin -- but something that can fit on a bookshelf.

 

Third, if you like IKEA, go to IKEA!! Where you have that secretary, get a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf (or something similar) with bins or boxes that you like that you can organize things in. For instance, one could be for your bills and things, one for your hs planning, one for the stuff your son is currently working on and a space for your computer when not in use.

-You could get a matching shelf to coordinate with the bookshelf that you say is to the right of the couch, I believe? And you could get something matching for the TV. Pricey, I know, so it might not be an option. BUT, this is where you spend most of your time, right? If you get them to coordinate, you will get that IKEA "feel" and it will make the kitchen and living room look like they flow into each other.

 

Fourth, I see some space on the coffee table where you have some loose books. Get some baskets or bins and place them there.

 

Finally, until Jan of this year, we had a kitchen light that we'd hit with our heads also. It was not pleasant. If you or your husband is handy, MOVE IT!! Or hire someone. You will not regret it. All these small things add up.

 

Also, why don't you use the fireplace? Is it working? Just curious.

[Ohmomjacquie]

We just took the schoolroom out of the dining room. It doesn't sound like you have room for another piece of furniture, but if you do this might work.

 

I got a base cabinet w/doors (deep enough for games or projects) and a hutch top that has shelves for books. I can fit a LOT in that thing! It might be worth trying to make it fit.

 

Here is the link of the one I got, but it is a little pricey (now it's $475). You could probably find something cheaper elsewhere. I always knew I wanted the base cabinet, but didn't realize how extremely useful it would be.

 

http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/bed-bath/fair-square-prices/everyday-prices/teen-bedding/home-office-furniture%252c-nichols-set/prod.jump?ppId=1b55e7f&catId=cat100240127&subcatId=cat100240019&deptId=dept20000011&selectedLotId=7945091&selectedSKUId=79450910158

 

 

We school at the kitchen table or on the couch. I want to get a lift top coffee table so the kids can write/use the computer there. Here is a link to one, but there are many, many out there. This would keep you off the kitchen table.

 

http://www.coffeetableshowroom.com/Cocktail-Table-in-Vintner-Merlot-Finish.htm

 

Good luck!

I could have written your post. Tiny town house with extremely small kitchen. I took over the cabinet above the stove for my daily Tm and craft supplies. I have other books on the shelf in my closet. Then I have two sets of Rubbermaid drawers (three each) where I keep the kids daily stuff, science, art and math supplies. My living room has a wall with kid calendar /weather etc. Not ideal but it works. Would love a school room and space but who knows when/if that will happen.

[ErinE]

We don't have a dedicated schoolroom so I have made our stuff as hidden as possible.

 

All books not currently in use should be elsewhere. Looking at your picture, I would clear off the secretary and make that homeschool central. If you need to put bookshelves in the child's room, I would do that. Get rid of all curriculum that is outdated or not in use. If you think you'll use it a future date, box it up and store it elsewhere.

 

Get rid of Legos. This sounds mean, but IMO, there is little distinction between 2 or 3 underbed storage units for Legos. Your child won't miss them. Box up half, put them in the attic, and donate them in six months.

 

Toys should be restricted to your child's room. If there's spillover, get rid of toys.

 

All school supplies need a place. Your child should have one pencil box with scissors, glue, pencils, and colored pencils. Everything else should be stored in the secretary. Get pencil boxes for paints, paint brushes, markers, or any other art supplies you keep around, but if you have so much that it won't fit in the secretary, cull it.

 

Your child's completed papers could be stored in a 3- or 4-inch binder which should fit in the secretary. Take a picture of art work and file it away in the binder or hang it in a bedroom hallway, but get it out of the public areas. Get a 3-hole punch and make a commitment to punch and file all papers at the end of the school day or school week. At the end of the school year, cull and box up any papers you want to keep.

 

When you plan the school year, print out and file all the papers at once. Put these papers in a binder and pull as needed.

 

Purchase a lap whiteboard. Target has these in the $1 section every school year.

 

My kids use milk crates, but you could use the rolling file cart to store all of your child's workbooks and spines.

 

Make sure any curriculum you purchase is as open-and-go as possible.

[MrsMe]

Please check the first post for an update and a picture. Thanks!

 

ETA: I did try a 4x4 Expedit in the area to act as a divider and storage, but it didn't work very well. I think partly because it's too dark (black/brown) and it made it even harder to sit at the table.

 

Do they have smaller units? Like a section of 2 instead of 4? You could divide them; a set on each side. Or just use the section of 2, but I'd go to the ceiling.

 

I agree to get rid of the secretary. I've had nice things, but they were a white elephant. Get something that works! In small spaces you need things that fit the space, not things you make do with. I find round tables take up more room then rectangle because you can't shove it against the wall on any end. They have to sit in the middle. What about a rectangular table that would fit two chairs per side and the end is shelving that sits under the table end? Or would that be too long?

 

Also, sometimes smaller pieces, lets say like the shelving unit you interested in here, but only ONE section, not two or four that could fit in smaller spaces.

 

Could you build a bookcase IN the wall? It wouldn't stick out so far. Could you build a bookcase below the window seat? Perhaps for canvas storage cubes?

Edited June 1, 2012 by alilac

[Jpoy85]

we dont have a school room or space. We have 1 room thats a living/dining/office/school room. We live in a 500sqft apartment. Heres the set up...

 

 

We store books/curriculum/supplies on the sewing machine, shelves, and closet shelf. We use the kids desk, couch and dining table for school. I cant wait until we move in a week!! We wont have a school room, but well have MORE room!

[Ecclecticmum]

*haven't read replies*

 

I had the same problem last year. We simply do not have many "communal areas" due to the strange layout of our house (it was originally a lot smaller, and obviously bedrooms and bits got added on without thought to the "communal areas") thus we have a house with 3 bedrooms + Study/Office/extremely small closet bedroom, when the rest of the house is obviously meant just for a social husband/wife with no kids LOL. Our kitchen/dining area is big, but the layout is difficult, basically if you add any furniture, it becomes difficult to walk around. The "loungeroom" is even more of a disaster, being narrow and L shaped, basically a small square with a narrow hall added on, and the small square has the front door right beside it (thus if you actually put even a 2 seater sofa in that area, every one would be inching around it to get in the door, get to the kitchen etc.

 

Its a pain, and last year, I settled through it (finding a lot of mistakes along the way), thus after a year of being here, I have finally figured out a way to (heopfully) fix everything.

 

The basic idea is to reliquish certain places that aren't communal, for your needs, and to add "learning nooks" wherever possible, thus creating a "feel" of being able to school everywhere, but without looking like Ikea "threw up" over your house.

 

What we did to minimise the "damage" of it looking too homeschooly/childreny is the following:

 

- Most items of furniture are wood, they go with the surroudings, and doesn't draw your eye as easily as a white ikea shelf would for instance. But this is all down to your particular house. Because our house is rural, and even has wood panelling and wood floors in various places, we kept with this theme (more explained in a minute)

 

- Formal Dining: This room is a pain, narrow, open off the kitchen, its not able to hide anything. I sacrificed my "make up table" (found at a charity store, very well made wooden table with multiple drawers, and separate mirror and little drawers) took the mirror and little drawers off, and pulled out the large drawers. I placed an all-in-one little TV on it, and put it in the corner of the room. The TV has a USB drive (for sticking some of the movies for school and such on, also can put SOTW mp3s on it) and a DVD thingo, so you don't have to worry about all the extra leads, the TV is dark, the table gives that rustic look, and it doesn't draw the eye. It looks akin to a little deco table you would normally have in the corner of the room. The table we have was pushed to the side , thus leaving a bit of floor space for play. In the formal dining for some reason or another, there is a cupboard. I used this to store all items needed daily (geography suitcases, pencils, paints, math manipulatives, library books in a tub etc) The inside of the door also has our country map for our book travels, and the All About Spelling/Reading progress charts. All of these items have been laminated and stuck to the inside of the door. We also have a plastic tablecloth in that cupboard ready for painting. So in our normal days, the room looks normal, not like the mess centre it actually is. This is where we do workbook and messy stuff.

 

- Kitchen: in a little corner I have put my teachers desk which holds all the current weeks books etc

 

- Verandah: We have an enclosed cement verandah, thus something the dogs cannot get to. Here we have a kidkraft kitchen, and various containers for "Mud Kitchen" play, and outdoor toys (construction/boy stuff, a ride on etc) we do some activities out here just to take advantage of the nice day, and some of our more messy science etc experiments are done out here. Again, we have mud kitchen shelves and a basket so on a normal day it looks neat and the white of the kitchen makes it look tidy and not too "child-filled"

 

-Backroom: We have a spare bedroom at the back, currently not really in use due to, again, the layout, with the dogs being in the room beside it all night, thus making it hard, of an evening to go back and forth without being mauled lol. This was floor to ceiling filled with storage stuff, I spent some weeks clearing it out. Now in the corner it contains boxes of hubbys "filthy mess" (i.e. wires, tools, various electronic parts, basically all the stuff hubby leaves about the place) above it is some wall shelves, which is used to hold household books (gardening, car, homemaking etc). The built in cupboards: one side is shelves, the highest containing previous years schoolwork and projects, the rest are filled with storage school stuff (i.e. books & curriculum for next year, I only keep stuff for the current year out) the other side is mostly hanging space, so I got a freestanding plastic drawer shelf set. This contains "little bits" toys (play kitchen stuff, little people, trains and tracks etc). I also got 3 of those handheld mini tool holders (I think you can see them on my blog under events tag), I use these to store all of DS trains and cars.) I also have a few tubs I filled with assortments (duplo in one, misc toys in the others) these are mostly toys I use for school purposes, thus lessening the amount of mess, and making it seem like they have new toys all the time.

 

My Den: I gave up the free space in my "den" for school purposes. I made my futon into a couch (still able to be slept on, but gives more floor room) put down a shaggy rug on top of he carpet for a more comfy floor, put the AAR pre-level posters on a free wall with the dress up clothes in tubs beneath it, filled an underbed shoe organiser with all the barbies and accessories and slid that under the futon, and re-arranged the built-in closet. The three bottom shelves now contain: Top shelf (out of kids reach): kids DVDs/CDs, my cords (phone, ipad etc etc) and a couple of my computer games. 2nd shelf: used the large drawers from the table mentioned above in Dining room and put various educational toys in each. This stops the toys being spread all over the shelf, and looks nice when you open said cupboard, I used re-usable bags for keeping together puzzles pieces etc and just threw them in the drawers. Bottom shelf has the same as the 2nd shelf. Both bottom and second shelf are easily reachable by kids, but keeps the toys out of general view. This room is also lockable so they can only come in under supervision, thus stopping any mess. This is where we do reading, and anything else none messy for school.

 

Study: This room was too small to be used for anything "useful" in the way of the household, too small to have as a bedroom, has no wardrobe etc, its basically a little cube. I filled it with 3 wooden bookshelves (tall thin), one smaller fold out book shelf, a 4 drawer filing cabinet and a short fat cupboard. This holds all out current school books, and supplies for the year. Its pretty much filled to the brim, and defies explanation without pictures lol. This room is also locked.

 

Loungeroom: This is basically DH's den. He has an armchair (on wheels, so easily moveable...a must for the small area) and his big TV, we use this TV for our school movies, PE exercise, and family movies. Along the long L wall, I have made this into a science/nature/play area, using wooden based furniture. Theres basically backpacks filled with science equipment, shelves & cane baskets for specimens, wooden dolls and other items for imaginative play, a little table and chairs, and a big fat cane chair for mum to plop down and rest whilst they all go crazy.

 

If you walk through the open areas of our house from front to back, there is not many signs of toys or homeschool related stuff, its all kept hidden. One of the reasons is the weird layout, thus eliminating a homeschool room, and the other is that we have young children, who if able to get at anything, will destroy all. We also keep little bits of our "household" their for homeschool stuff (kitchen top left cupboard is for various supplies, theres a drawer lower middle for play manipulatives)

 

I found the best thing was to go from room to room and look for empty nooks, areas you are not using for any reason, and note them down. And also look at all the cupboard.wardrobes/drawers etc, and see if there is any empty areas, or areas you are trying to fill simply because they are there. I found I could empty several drawers simply because I was using them 'cause they were there, diving the kitchen items up into more categories then I needed to. Now with the 4 drawers on that side, I have 1 drawer for cutlery, one for phonebook and menus, one for tea towels and one for mainpulatives, where as before I had cutlery, saucepan lids, various trays and oven parts LOL.

 

It took me a year to find these "empty spaces" so it may take a while for you to figure out where these areas are too, especially if your mind is seeing them in one light (the loungeroom is weird-shaped, how do I make a loungeroom with this shape? Instead of thinking, I have empty space there, I could add a little table/tub/shelf, and that could be his homework/science/music area.

[CatholicMom]

The less "junk" the better visually. So try to stay away from plastic drawer storage that you can see through. Stay away from hodgepodge if you can; for example; if you need plastic drawers find and stick to one color all the same height. Instead of being too colorful, stick to for example, all one color bins that would match the room. All black or all green. In small spaces if you have a lot of stuff, keep it easy on the eyes. If you have shelving, don't buy one that's black if you have white and one that's oak.

 

Currently I am using a steel tool cart. I roll it in and I roll it out. It's my teacher's cart and it's sturdy. It is steel so I can attach magnets. http://www.harborfreight.com/large-steel-tool-cart-with-locking-drawer-90428.html on the non-red steel handles I have hanging with rings, one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-Insights-Small-Space-Place/dp/B003DNEKZW/ref=pd_sbs_op_3

on each end of the cart. One side is dd's, one side is mine. The drawer hold all my TM pens, pencils, timers, scissors, tape. The top and bottom holds my TM's books, workbooks, flashcards, etc. When I am done, I roll it out and I can roll it to my computer to plan or just roll it out of site.

 

Another thing is that I have a laminated table that has legs that raise or lower: http://busy-kids.com/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BK&Product_Code=6408JC&Category_Code=

I was going to sell it because dd is almost 12, until I decided I can lower it all the way down and use it as a coffee table. DD sits on the floor and does her work on it. You can also use any coffee table and put square baskets under it to house books.

 

I'd assume you don't have many "toys" left, but if you did I have above the doorway shelving that I put parallel to the ceiling. Just above the door frame from one wall to another.

 

Any white board or chalk board if you use them, small ones fit on my cart and I'm going to magnetize the back of my little lap-chalkboard and stick it to the back of my cart. (I LOVE METAL!) I can just pull it off to use it. Or you can slide them when not in use under the couch or behind some shelving. Some I've heard put a map on their kitchen table with glass over it. So you can eat or whatever, but the map stays clean.

 

A pic of your space and what you need or have would be really helpful!

 

Genius ideas!! I love the idea of the rolling cart that you can bring out or roll out of sight!

 

I agree on the visual clutter thing, too. I have a small school room that I *try* to keep fairly clean lines in because it makes me feel more claustrophobic the more visual clutter there is. I second the light colors, as well.

 

I'd look into some tall pantry type cupboards so everything his hidden, but accessible.

 

Something like this...

 

A cheapo version: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Double-Pantry-White/12399669?findingMethod=rr

 

Or a nicer version:

http://www.target.com/p/White-Americana-White-Pantry/-/A-13923460?reco=Rec|pdp|13923460|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency&lnk=Rec|pdp|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency

 

An efficient use of space while keeping things out of sight, IMO.

 

I would get rid of the secretary and get 2 of the tall cabinets... 1 on each side of the white board. Then you'd have a nice little space where you're not looking at a ton of school stuff because it's mostly hidden in the cabinets, but you'd also have storage. I'd look for the cabinets in natural oak to match your table and then paint your computer desk & hutch to lighten it up. I agree with a previous poster that you should replace the low-hanging light with another ceiling light. You can get them for like $30.

 

Just an idea.

Edited June 1, 2012 by TaraJo29