Back to Homeschool: Our Schoolroom

A few years ago, I shared my homeschool space (or lack thereof) in our tiny, 960 square-foot house. We lived in that house for 5 years! I haven’t shared with my blog friends yet, but one year ago we found our dream home! There is plenty of room for everyone, and almost 9 acres to roam!

So, our homeschool space is now greatly improved, and I can’t wait to show it to you!

We still don’t have an official school “room.” But remember when I said I wanted a library? Well, we DO have that!

Before:

It was originally a small, narrow living area (with built-in bookshelves). Since there was a second, roomier living area, we quickly made this our library. What a dream!

Now the built-ins hold our current Sonlight books, preschool books, puzzles, and other activities, Tolkien books, westerns, and photo albums. We keep our board games, extra school supplies, and extra curriculum under those cabinets.

We house most of our books in this room, but definitely not all. : ) Click here to see how we make it easy for the kids to put their books back in the right place.

On top of this cabinet is a cute vintage chalkboard that my husband had as a kid. I love vintage; I love it even more if it’s a family heirloom!

At the end, under that window, is the Lego table. And the cute little boy in the picture is Nathan. He’s 5.

And that view, my friends, is a Texas Live Oak.

The dining room is where most “school” takes place: writing, math, geography, breakfast devotions, and lunch reading happen here. Other reading time happens in the living room, with kids spread out on couches and the floor doing their various activities.

When we moved in last year, it was very 1980’s vintage country, complete with brown and yellow tones on the walls and the floors.

It held some nostalgic charm for me, since that was the era in which I grew up and homeschooled. But it wasn’t vintage or charming enough; we updated it. That wallpaper was stubborn. (We finally gave up and textured over it and then added a fresh, creamy coat of paint!)

The freshly finished room: new creamy wall paint and light-colored laminate flooring.

And the pretty version. Before we made it the “official” school room.

Where did I get that awesome Pottery Barn-like black table, you ask?

I found it on a local Facebook swap site for $20. And then I painted it. I LOVE spray paint.

So HERE is what it looks like now.

Where did I get that delicious creamy hutch, you ask?

My grandparents gave it to me. And then I painted it. And sanded it. I also love sandpaper.

Here is the corner where we pile our school stuff. I’m in search of a good piece of furniture for this corner. I want a tall dresser or a bookcase. And of course, I’ll probably paint it. : )

But for now, the stacked-up crates are kinda cute, with my soda crate on top. But there’s never enough room in the book holder or the crates, so the extra stuff gets piled everywhere else.

Where did I get this super-trendy book rack, you ask?

It used to look like this…

…or something very close to this. But with a little SPRAY PAINT and burlap, it was transformed into more creamy goodness.

Our chalkboard. It’s a little small, but I got it in a swap, and freshened it up with a coat of CHALKBOARD SPRAY PAINT. : )

The view from the other end isn’t much to sneeze at yet, but with a little more inspiration from Pinterest, I’m sure it will be in creamy, country, vintage schoolroom goodness in no time. That IS a ruler/growth chart in the corner, thanks to Pinterest.

And the big blank wall next to the hutch, which is the perfect size for a giant world map, is currently displaying our human bodies for biology. When biology is over, I will have that map.

But as is the case with many homeschool families, school can happen just about anywhere, like the living room floor.

In the kitchen, we painted this door to the HVAC unit with chalkboard paint. It usually has a mixture of to-do lists, grocery lists, and drawings by kids.