BlsdMama Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I absolutely promise you can purge, organize, and plan with children underfoot. We've never done camps except DS (14) does boy scout camp every summer for a week. It's fine and if it works for you, great, *but* as an encouragement for those mamas that can't "get away" or send the babies off so they can focus, it can still get done. Seventeen years of parenting, twelve years of schooling, eleven children, and currently a 3yo, a newly turned 2yo, and a newborn and yet I'm neck deep into planning, culling, packing away, binding, and lesson planning. :) It's all good. I find it harder to get planning done while on the forums, lol. Now, for that there is no cure. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Yeah, my thing is that I know I can do all this with the kids hanging around. And, yes, I do purposefully teach them these skills. I just really like to be alone when I'm in deep planning mode. :tongue_smilie: The closest I can get sometimes is to turn on ABBA Gold to (what I refer to as) concert volume. The kids know not to interrupt and scatter like thieves in the night. Cheaper than camp and almost as effective. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Where was this thread and photos a month ago when I really needed it?! I just finished our space this past week and ended up pretty happy with how it looks so far. The entire downstairs will be painted (hopefully soon) and that horrible orange color will be gone, but for now I am loving the changes. You can see the before here. And the after here. My biggest step was a purge. If we weren't using it, didn't love it, or it no longer matches the philosophy then it is gone. I managed to get everything in that Expedit and three small cabinets in the living room next door. The art supplies have their own cabinet upstairs and that will have to be OK. The big challenge will be keeping everything pared to this amount. Someone asked about integrating the school space into the living space -- this is right in the middle of ours. The first thing I did was embrace the school space. Once I did that and stopped working so hard to minimize it (i.e. have a few things in the dining room) I think it actually looks better. Of course I was lucky because DH is fine with however it looks, and we have another place for us all to eat. Of course right after I took all of these photos I moved all of my partial projects back to the table top. Once we begin next week my goal will be to have a clean table each evening, but I admit that it has not been that way during planning. How fun! I did a Google search, found your space, fell in love and Pinned it for our basement redo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I am currently planning two co-op classes, and getting some books listed on amazon that I do not wish to keep. Books that don't sell in 10 days are going to the Book Samaritan. Some (not listed on amazon) are going sooner. I don't have much other clutter to deal with. (Not now anyway. I've been picking at this room since April.) Phase two includes painting and building 2-4 more bookcases (simple quick project). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 :grouphug: Nothing like sweating out the wait for medical news. :grouphug: Benign - it's such a beautiful word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILiveInFlipFlops Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Benign - it's such a beautiful word. I am so glad to hear this! I was just thinking about you earlier today. Thank you for letting us know your good news :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Really? We have a set of Billy & Expedit(I think) book shelves that DH bought before we were married. They've done great for over 12 years & through 5 military moves. I love those things. They have held up well. On the other hand, our precious Drexel Heritage bedroom furniture gets beat up more & more with each move...Should have waited until after military retirement to buy the good stuff. There is definitely a huge range in quality there. Like anywhere, I guess. I had some IKEA chairs not last very long at all, but the wall cabinets I bought for storage in various areas (sewing, school supplies etc) still look like new. I wish I had bought the Expedit instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 So last year we used an individual better binder for each subject. It was just.too.much. So I am purging about 10 of them. Anyone want some? :) the boys are each going to use ONE binder with dividers, and that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I found four different colored crates at Target and was all set to fill them, when 27 lbs of math was delivered!! But hopefully tomorrow will be better. How did your day go? I ended up getting 12 more weeks of booklets finished for each of the kids this week. I picked up some school supplies and talked to the school about Dd participating in band. I was discouraged about how little I'd gotten done until I took the kids to piano lessons. I had to drive past one of the local elementary schools. They are rebuilding on the site and the old building is a pile of rubble. At least my schoolroom has walls. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmiel Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I had my husband and his pal move our old, unplayable (but oh-so-beautiful) grand piano across the room so I could set up our school room at the end of the living room. I think I have most of the needed supplies, but I think I need to put more "schooly" stuff on the walls. Now, I don't know how to put an image in, so this might not be such a great post. http://file:///Users/TJ/Desktop/school%20room.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I got the non-computer desk AND my computer desk cleaned up yesterday evening, and the floor picked up. I went through my 'to do' sewing pile and got rid of a bunch of things I'm just not likely to get around to before half past never, and got the floor around the desk area picked up so that the desk can be sat at properly. While I did this, DD was cleaning out her "misc. Junk" cubby. To do today: Box more of DD's old schoolwork she insists on holding on to; Get DD's computer desk cleared off and educational stuff she'll be using independently installed or put in her favorites Move things to be gotten rid of to the garage or car, including a bag for Goodwill, a box to take to the used bookstore, and past school stuff we're storing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Alright, I spent some time with the genius at Apple last night and the pics I've taken on my phone communicate with iphoto again. LOL I can post pics of what I've been doing. Later today! I'm excited to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 What to do today: 1) order electric kettle (don't you think it will be nice to have an electric kettle in the homeschool room so I can have tea?) 2) order curtains 3) reorganize shelves and reshelve books Still waiting for rug to arrive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Can anyone give advice on how to set up a temporary space? We are house hunting, so I don't want to spend too much money and time on this house. That being said, we have no good spot to do school. I think I am going to move the operation to the basement, so it's at least out of the way in our living areas while we are cleaning up and fixing up this house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILiveInFlipFlops Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 OK, I got sidetracked by digging out DD7's room yesterday (now THAT accomplishment deserved pictures!), but I'm hoping to finish the schoolroom today. I did go through my curriculum shelves the other day and was surprised that not too much needed to pulled/reorganized. We're still finishing up some things, continuing on with others, etc. I'm not starting planning yet because I have a big planning session with friends coming up (I'm hosting, eek!), so right now I'm just focusing on decluttering and organizing. I'll try and post the final pictures tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Runningmom: I'd say, use portable bins/drawers. Plastic drawers can just be taped shut when you pack to move, making that part very easy. I use such drawers for added storage quite a bit. A folding table (the sturdy plastic kind) would also serve well, and after the move can continue use in the schoolroom or (if you camp) find its way into the camping stuff--if you already have one for camping, use that one! Or, a comfy spot to sit (old couch, bean bag chair, whatever) and a lap desk or clipboard, if your student prefers to lounge over sitting up at a desk. Right now, DD is working at the cleared-off desk (which had been a clutter zone pretty much almost since the last time I cleaned/reorganized), and is delighted to have the space (less delighted with doing a math assessment on Saturday morning, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Can anyone give advice on how to set up a temporary space? We are house hunting, so I don't want to spend too much money and time on this house. That being said, we have no good spot to do school. I think I am going to move the operation to the basement, so it's at least out of the way in our living areas while we are cleaning up and fixing up this house. Are you selling your current home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 No, we rent, so at least the house doesn't need to be staged. But, we've been living here over 5 years, so there is a lot to freshen up and fix before we leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Runningmom: I'd say, use portable bins/drawers. Plastic drawers can just be taped shut when you pack to move, making that part very easy. I use such drawers for added storage quite a bit. A folding table (the sturdy plastic kind) would also serve well, and after the move can continue use in the schoolroom or (if you camp) find its way into the camping stuff--if you already have one for camping, use that one! Or, a comfy spot to sit (old couch, bean bag chair, whatever) and a lap desk or clipboard, if your student prefers to lounge over sitting up at a desk. Right now, DD is working at the cleared-off desk (which had been a clutter zone pretty much almost since the last time I cleaned/reorganized), and is delighted to have the space (less delighted with doing a math assessment on Saturday morning, lol). These are great ideas! And we already have a couch down there, so that's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Well I finished deciding which books would be kept in the kitchen school space and which need to be boxed up in the backroom until later in the term. The ones in the kitchen all fit onto the new smaller shelving unit and look neat and tidy. The backroom is a whole different story, yikes. I also rehung my huge whiteboard. When I put the expedit in there I had to take my white board off the wall, now that the expedit but the dust my white board can be back up and ready for action.Today I am hoping to clear out and organize "the drawer". I have an armoire I use as my "teacher cupboard" and the top drawer hold writing utensils, scissors, and everything else that was not put away properly. It is a hot mess. So hoping today to dump it and sort everything out all pretty and functional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Alright, here are my "before" photos. We no longer have a dedicated school room, as I realized we weren't using it and preferred to work in the middle of the house. We moved all school stuff to the living room, and the tv, etc to what used to be the school room (converted garage). We now call that the TV room. First, the school shelves and drawers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68352016@N02/9326423975/ The Ikea Expedit is cluttered and currently has a bunch of stuff on it that we no longer use. I need to do some purging and re-arranging. I am taking down the book covers from the FIAR books we did last year that are along the top of the wall. I loved those hanging on the wall when we had our school room, but I don't like them now that it's all in the living room, and I surely don't want that to spill onto additional walls this year, which it will if I continue, so they're coming down. The orange dresser and the brown fabric bins on the bottom row of the Expedit hold puzzles, games, manipulatives, etc. They need a good purging, too. The pile of board games in the corner? Oy. We are replacing flooring in the now-TV room next week, so all of the stuff that goes in cabinets in that room is currently displaced. They'll move back into the other room in a week or so. Until then, they clutter the corner and annoy me. The basket on the floor by the orange dresser is for library books and is constantly overflowing. I need a better system for that. Preferably not one that lives on the floor. I also need to see what all has been stashed on top of the Expedit and deal with it. I want that surface CLEARED OFF. Other side of the room: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68352016@N02/9326424501/ It's MESSY since my kids have books and toys everywhere. That's fairly easy to deal with, though. There is also some Craigslisted stuff on the floor that people are supposed to pick up this weekend, so that will help. The white cabinet holds some kid art supplies at the top, and my kitting supplies, yarn, etc in the bottom. The white board leaning up against the fire place goes in the rooms with the floors being replaced, so it'll move back soon. I have that space between the fire place and the back door free and I'm wondering if I could figure out a good library book solution for that area? I'm open to ideas. and for context, the other side of the room, so you can see where the rest of our working space is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68352016@N02/9329218756/ Again, MESSY. Crafts from VBS this week on the floor and taking over the coloring table. We use the kitchen table and the kitchen bar for school work. The little wooden table is just for kid coloring and general crafting. It's always too cluttered to do any school work there. I need to make DD5 clean it off again. It's pretty much hers, as the boys are not so into coloring. So that's it, that's my starting point. As I get stuff finished, I'll update! I'm open to any questions, comments, or suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I"m trying to figure out how to deal with putting the craft closet back together in some sort of order (my kids just dumped everything on a twin daybed that is missing its mattress), and the adjacent closet. The closet is going to drive me nuts because it has the potential for "good storage" - but i'm lacking the funds to put shelves in it. I dunno.... i'm more than slightly overwhelmed at some of the messes created here this week.... sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyE Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Feeling accomplished! The homeschool room is sorted out with all books on the shelves, and lesson plans are finished through Christmas. Dd and I decided we didn't like sharing a desk, so I found a cute kid's sized desk for her. The size probably won't last her for more then a year or so but she really liked it and it was cheap. Already have it sanded, painted, and freshened up the top with a coat of poly. It's drying in the garage while I move on to repurposing two little lamps for our desks that came out of one of the girls' bedrooms. I want to find some magazine style holders for each of our subjects to keep the bookcase a little neater, and I have a few more little crafty things I'd like to make. I'm not usually so good about finishing projects, but this thread is inspiring and I feel like I'm getting a lot done. Can't wait to post completed pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jec3113 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 All these rooms look great! Now, I feel shame, I need to go organize mine! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 We officially started 3 wks ago, although wk 2 the kids were at camp. At the end of last year we had finally made a long anticipated move to the basement. We did a fair amount of summer school down there but then we ended up moving back upstairs. I really prefer for us to be upstairs, although I wish we had more space. We've been schooling with a bit of a mess since we were half-way upstairs and half-way downstairs. Today I cleaned out our supply cabinet, which houses our art supplies and math manipulatives. I rearranged my upstairs bookshelf as well and now all the curriculum we are using is upstairs and everything else is downstairs. I'm hoping I can avoid the urge/compulsion to look at everything else we have and just focus on what we have planned. I still have to finish organizing ds' bookshelf. Right now I need to finish sorting through his books and pull out all the books he's outgrown and stock him with new books. I really need to thin out all our shelves and donate a bunch to Goodwill. I need 2 composition books for the kids spelling/phonogram work and decide what in the world to do with WWE3. I hate having loose papers but it is impossible for ds to work with it as it is so big and he is left-handed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I hate having loose papers but it is impossible for ds to work with it as it is so big and he is left-handed. You can.... 3-hole punch it on the right side take it and have it spiral bound on the right side in smaller chunks buy some sort of binding machine and bind it on the right side yourself look at the Circa stuff at Levenger (similar/compatible with ARC from Staples) which is very lefty-friendly DD loved it when I put her stuff together bound on the right side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilma Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 For WWE, I've always had the binding cut, three hole punched and then put in separate binders for my part and Lefty's part. She pulls the page(s) needed for the day, and her lefthandedness is a non-issue. I had never considered punching the opposite side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jec3113 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Well, I was going to show you all my room but I cannot figure out how to post the pics......oh well. It's awesome, trust me! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Pictures finally uplaoded. I made a blog post about it to make it easier on myself showing them. Wow my blog was neglected lol. I have to post more often. Anyway it shows part of how we are set up using the rooms we have. It does not show the couches since my neglected, yet to be folded laundry was on them, and it does not show the kitchen table because my neglected, yet to be washed dinner dishes were still on it. Yeah I am behind on my chores today. But you will get the idea based on pictures how we do things. I am not done organizing but the main things in the living space are complete. Link in my signature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 I really enjoyed looking at your room, swellmomma!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I really enjoyed looking at your room, swellmomma!!!! Thank you! Can you believe that wall in the livingroom with the bookcase used to have 2 columns of mirrored tiles with a strip of beige/white striped wall paper between them and on either side of them. In fact the whole room was a disaster with orange shag carpeting, mirrored tiles and orange velvet drapes. I started the reno project last august and will completely finish it this august (need to put in the baseboards and thresholds yet). I love our new cozy space. Once I put the laundry away I'll post another picture that shows the sofas and window seat because those things really show where we are working on school ETA: last night I made another blog post outlining the reno project. That shows our couches where we do our read alouds and most of the konos stuff gets done in the livingroom. Seatwork in the kitchen, and messy projects/art, everything else is done in the livingroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I didn't get DD's computer taken care of, but you can see most of the floor again. I think I'm going to rearrange a bit yet again. We are forever tripping over the small green Ikea table in front of the couch. I'm going to move the toy kitchen and put the table beside the couch instead of in front of it. By tomorrow I should have the floor totally picked up (except for vacuuming) and I'll take some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awisha. Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Your living room looks amazing swellmomma!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Thanks for the WWE ideas ladies. I had meant to take it to Office Depot yesterday to have it bound. I think instead I'm going to go ahead and tear it out and put it into a folder but he can take out each paper for the day and put it back. I wish now I would have picked up some smaller binders but this will work. The papers will be contained and he can write on them. I went to WM last night and I believe I have everything I need now to finish organizing. I bought a clipboard to keep oru weekly schedule. I did have a folder but I really don't need anything that big but I'm tired of losing my papers. I have post-it tabs so I can finally keep track of our page/chapters, if I can only keep the girls out of them. Oh, and I bought the cute little comp books Tracey posted about for our phonogram and spelling work. I love that they will be strictly for this. I hated all the wasted space of the notebooks we were using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I was looking for the comp books at target last night (to no avail), and my boyfriend says to me, "why don't you just yes those ones I found today?" Um, they aren't cute, 'er, half sized? He told me to go get them cut in half. Humph. My living room didn't get emptied by the deadline today.... Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 4. I found things I did not even know I had lost. :lol: That happens to me too. It's like winning mini lotto. My boys have been asking about dry erase desk tops. I'm thinking of getting glass table tops from IKEA and putting them on top of their desks. I just need to measure the desks. This makes me wish I'd gotten white desk tops when I bought the desks. I got black to hide smudges and stains. However, white desk tops would be better for putting glass in top for writing on. I guess I'll just put white fabric or paper on the desk and the glass on top of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I'm pondering my closets today. I have a craft closet, and a square regular closet without shelves. I think i'm putting the two bookcases in there (3 shelves high?), and I will put my teacher stuff and future stuff in there. I have no idea what was even IN the closet because I didn't empty it. I think it was all junk.... OK, I have about an 1.5 to work today before an airport run. Time to go try to make a dent somehow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sobeknofret Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Where was this thread and photos a month ago when I really needed it?! I just finished our space this past week and ended up pretty happy with how it looks so far. The entire downstairs will be painted (hopefully soon) and that horrible orange color will be gone, but for now I am loving the changes. You can see the before here. And the after here. My biggest step was a purge. If we weren't using it, didn't love it, or it no longer matches the philosophy then it is gone. I managed to get everything in that Expedit and three small cabinets in the living room next door. The art supplies have their own cabinet upstairs and that will have to be OK. The big challenge will be keeping everything pared to this amount. Someone asked about integrating the school space into the living space -- this is right in the middle of ours. The first thing I did was embrace the school space. Once I did that and stopped working so hard to minimize it (i.e. have a few things in the dining room) I think it actually looks better. Of course I was lucky because DH is fine with however it looks, and we have another place for us all to eat. Of course right after I took all of these photos I moved all of my partial projects back to the table top. Once we begin next week my goal will be to have a clean table each evening, but I admit that it has not been that way during planning. Love, love, love this room! This is kind of how I'd like to do ours if we'd had the space! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 I'm finding more quotes I want to make as posters. I might just print them onto legal size paper and laminate, then put up on the wall. That way I can change them out easy. I'll go bankrupt if I try to frame them all. :p I made matching posters from these: Fair vs. Equal It's ok not to know In this room Sorry about the Mess I was thinking of doing the same, but with poetry! You could buy an inexpensive frame from Walmart and then just swap them out on occasion. I am going to print mine in color, enlarge them to 8 x 10 and frame em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 I'm pondering my closets today. I have a craft closet, and a square regular closet without shelves. I think i'm putting the two bookcases in there (3 shelves high?), and I will put my teacher stuff and future stuff in there. I have no idea what was even IN the closet because I didn't empty it. I think it was all junk.... OK, I have about an 1.5 to work today before an airport run. Time to go try to make a dent somehow.... For your square closet without shelves, you could do what we did in our upstairs closet. Get these from target, and voila, shelves. And they are sturdy and easy to put together. Not beautiful, but they're in teh closet, so who cares. You can get them in different dimensions by buying a couple of sets: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I've made pretty much zero progress. I'm blaming it on the fact that our refrigerator up and died without any warning. Did you know there's no "I have no refrigerator and need you to bring me the exact one I want right now" service?!? We do not have a truck or friends with a truck. So we grabbed a new college mini fridge in hopes of reselling in about a week, when our new fridge will hopefully get here. That mini fridge is in my main curriculum area, money just got a little tighter, and my nerves are shot, so not much is happening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleidoscope Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 This thread had me feeling a bit inspired so I headed out to the school room only to find all 4 girls happily playing school. It just seems wrong to interrupt their play doesn't it? So I guess I'll just have to wait and have another cup of coffee instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I got my Expedit and orange dresser o' crap all purged and reorganized! Woo hoo!! I'll update later with pics. A few discoveries along the way: 1. I have 4 HWT Kindergarten workbooks, unused. That's more workbooks than I have children. Whoops. 2. I am missing 3 library books that I had yesterday. I've *seen* them. I just can't remember where. 3. It had been far too long since I dusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love My Life x4 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Oh... LOVE this thread! In the last week I have converted a room in our basement to our homeschool room. I am SO excited. It's just concrete walls but... we can cover those up. This week I have set up all the bookcases and organized like CRAZY!! Desk stations are being set up this week along with more organizing, hanging some maps... I am so excited!!! I found Duck Peel and Stick Dry Erase Sheets in a 3 pack at Walmart for $3.47. They are 10x10". I can't find a link to them ATM, but these are close. I went a bit crazy looking at all those dry erase idea sites. They looked like so much fun! I bought some of those too! They look really neat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Well, I got our new school area painted yesterday. It is in the loft, so because I did the loft, dh decided that he needed to finish the stairway (those with stairs know how hard those high ceilings over the stairs can be!!!) Our house is almost done being painted, now. Just got to do the two kids rooms, yay! I was going to post pictures, but I know dh just told me he's working on a school table for us, so I will wait until that's done! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 For your square closet without shelves, you could do what we did in our upstairs closet. Get these from target, and voila, shelves. And they are sturdy and easy to put together. Not beautiful, but they're in teh closet, so who cares. You can get them in different dimensions by buying a couple of sets: I forgot about those - I will keep those in mind. For now I moved the two 3-shelf bookshelves in there, and have a big (holds 12x12 paper) Iris cart with some Sizzix dies in it. I need to figure out what I am doing - I have two more Iris carts that were in there, but aren't going back in there.... sigh. But, I overstuffed the taller cheap bookcase that has to go back in the room with what was on the 3 shelf ones, have to move 3 more pieces of furniture before I can put that shelf back there. I realize I should have played a way more active roll in the emptying process because what they did has left me with major work to do.... sigh. I need a plan. And a fluorescent bulb for the closet because every time I turn on the light it makes it 200 degrees back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 So here is my, "keeping it real" pictures. This is actually AFTER the kids mucked them out, so more like, "in the middle of". UGH. This is in the old schoolroom, now office/craft/guestroom space for the big kids in the house :D I think the lower half of the craft closet will stay with the stuff the kids can freely use, with the upper having our art class type of materials. Some of which they can use freely, some not. I babysit 1-2 times a week, and I really don't want her randomly digging into some of it, so I will go with that plan. I'm thinking I should put a green stripe on the shelves that they can use, and a red if they have to ask? The upper portion needs sorting of the various papers and supplies in there. The closet is the one from above that I have to empty my living room back into. No way is it going to fit, but I'm hoping to at least have it organized. if from the tops of the shelves up it is more storage that is fine. Maybe I can get some of the Target cubes for the upper shelf I despise..... really it needed to have an Ikea Gorm in it! I could take the one from my master bedroom and put it in there - but I'd have to keep the stuff on it for now too. So, nope! :p The regular closet. Craft Closet - upper section Craft Closet - lower/kids section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 FINISHED!! :D Well, almost. There are a couple of loose ends to tie up, but mostly. Are we ever really finished?! Sorry for the blog link, but since I typed it all out there, I'm not going to do it again here. http://lookwhaterinmade.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-school-stuff.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 FINISHED!! :D Well, almost. There are a couple of loose ends to tie up, but mostly. Are we ever really finished?! Sorry for the blog link, but since I typed it all out there, I'm not going to do it again here. http://lookwhaterinmade.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-school-stuff.html I need your cutlery thingy - how long ago did you buy it?!?!?! LOL! Now I shall go look at the rest - you got me sidetracked with the first picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 FINISHED!! :D Well, almost. There are a couple of loose ends to tie up, but mostly. Are we ever really finished?! Sorry for the blog link, but since I typed it all out there, I'm not going to do it again here. http://lookwhaterinmade.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-school-stuff.html OK, and the bins you are using in the top row with the nifty chalkboard labels (i'm buying a can to paint some nice shoe boxes I have in the craft closet!). They looks perfect for the cubes to be divided in half!! I need those!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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