School Room Makeover!: Homeschool Room Tour

Family Life

We just redid our school room and I’m super pumped about it. It’s not some beautifully decorated space (I wish I had that talent!), but it finally works for our crew of four kids, ages 8, 5, 3 and 1. Here’s a quick tour of how we set it up, and why you don’t need a school room at all to homeschool.

What you’ll get from this post

  • Why you don’t need a dedicated school room to homeschool
  • How we set up desks for the big kids and a table for the littles
  • Why my desk sits right between the two areas
  • What we keep in our storage cabinet
  • Where we got our desks and chairs

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Do you need a homeschool room?

No, you really don’t. When we started, we just worked at the kitchen table, and that worked fine. If you don’t have an extra room, please don’t feel like you can’t homeschool.

That said, I really love having a space for it. School isn’t all up in our living area, I can tuck things away and keep it clean downstairs, and I can close the door when we’re done. If you have a room, or you’re thinking, “Maybe I can move two of my kids into one bedroom and make a school room,” it can help to see how other families set theirs up.

Our school room is our bonus room above the garage. It’s pretty large, so it doubles as a guest room and my office, and we even keep toys up there for the little kids.

Our first IKEA trip

We recently made our very first trip to IKEA, which was super fun, and they have great prices on school desks and chairs. We got the white PÅHL desks and the SKÅLBERG/SPORREN swivel chairs for the two big kids. They’re so pretty and functional.

The big kids’ area

This year I’m mainly homeschooling two: a rising first grader and a rising third grader. Each has an IKEA desk and chair, plus a bookshelf.

My desk comes right out in front of their area, and I love it. I can see both of them while they work, they can easily come up and ask questions, and my desk acts as a sort of barrier between them and the littles.

A little table for the littles

My one- and three-year-old get their own little table. If they want to come in and color, it’s there. (That’s usually very short-lived, but it’s there!) We also have toys and the Jumperoo, always in hopes of keeping the baby wrangled. He doesn’t stay in there long. The piano is up here too, and it’s an open house to play.

The whiteboard and storage

Our giant dry erase board is super helpful during school time. A wonderful friend gave it to us, and I really appreciate it.

There’s one corner I haven’t redone yet: my oldest’s old desk and the cork board we used for last year’s curriculum, with last year’s Bible memory verses still up. I need to deal with that.

Next to it is our storage cabinet. Inside we keep toys, extra craft supplies, science experiment kits and little hands-on manipulatives. I also shared how I used organizational drawers for my oldest’s first grade curriculum in 3 ways to organize your homeschool books and supplies. And past all of that? The guest room. Welcome!

Will it work for a full year?

We haven’t used it for a full school year yet. We just finished and have only played with it so far. I’m really digging it, and I’ll let you know how it goes. If you have photos or videos of your school room, I’d love to see them.

Key takeaways

  • You don’t need a school room. A kitchen table works fine.
  • A dedicated room keeps school out of your living area and lets you close the door.
  • Put your desk between the big kids and the littles so you can see everyone.
  • Give little ones their own table and toys nearby.
  • IKEA has good prices on kids’ desks and chairs.

What viewers say

What a great makeover! I like the idea of having their desks back to back so they don't distract each other!

@ourthriftyhomeschool on YouTube

You have a nice space! I like hearing you don't need a big space like that to homeschool; I just set up our space for our first year homeschooling and its just a desk area and bookcase in our living room!

@Sweet_tooth90 on YouTube

Things we mentioned

Setting up your own school space? Come hang out with our crew on YouTube. Subscribe to The Johnson Crew on YouTube.

FAQ

Do you need a dedicated room to homeschool?

No. We started at our kitchen table and it worked fine. A school room is nice for keeping things organized and out of your living area, but it isn’t necessary.

How do you set up a homeschool room for kids of different ages?

We gave the two big kids desks, the two littles a small table with toys nearby, and put my desk in between so I can see everyone and act as a barrier.

Where did you get your homeschool desks?

We got the desks and swivel chairs at IKEA, which has great prices on school furniture.

More from our crew

Full transcript

Hi guys I am super excited we just recently redid our schoolroom super pumped so where we have our square room is our bonus room which is the room above the garage and so it kind of acts as a guest room my office and the school room but it's it's pretty large so it fits all the things in there we even have toys up here for the little kids so it works out well if you do not have an extra room in your house to dedicate to a school room do not feel like you can't homeschool it's totally not necessary when we started we were just working at the kitchen table

And that worked fine I really love having a space for it so it's not all up in our living area and we can kind of tuck things away and keep it all clean downstairs but if you don't have that room that's okay but if you do or you're considering like oh maybe I can move two of my kids into the same room and dedicate that room as our school room then maybe you're interested to just see how other people have their school room set up

So that's we're gonna do today I will say that mine is not some beautiful decorated room there are lots of amazing people out there who have that I wish I had that talent of decorating but I just don't I love it but anyway so we recently made our very first ever trip to Ikea which is super fun and they have amazing prices on school desks school chairs so check them out so let me show you okay so here's where you enter our schoolroom that's the door to the Attic over here is our main school area

So I've got just two that I'm really mainly homeschooling this year so I've got a rising first grader rising 3rd grader so we've got their desks here from Ikea love it desk chair from Ikea bookshelf and also his desk and then my desk kind of comes right out in front of this little area which I like I'm kind of able to look at both of them while they're working they can come up to me very easily and ask questions and also sort of act as a barrier between them

And the littles cuz I've got two littles right now so my one and three-year-old get to have this little table over here I love it if they want to come in color that's usually very short-lived but there it is if they want it we've got toys and the jumparoo which is always in hopes to keep the baby wrangled but he doesn't stay in there long piano it's all house to play with dry erase board is super helpful for school time that was given to us by a wonderful friend

And I super appreciate that now this area has not been redone yet this is my oldest old desk and this was the cork board that we used for last year's curriculum so that I need to deal with and this was last year's Bible curriculum this is like all their little memory verses up there next to that is our storage cabinet where we've got I'll show you inside we've got some toys extra crafts things science experiment kits little hands-on manipulatives and then I did another video about how we used these organizational drawers for my oldest 1st grade curriculum

So I will link that below so you can check that out and then over here is our guest room welcome that's how we are currently organizing our school room I'm really digging it we haven't actually used it for a full school year yet we just did this and have just sort of played with it so I'll get back to you and let you know how feel about it but digging it so far so if you have photos or videos of how you've organized your schoolroom I would love to see that

So if you enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe and I'll talk to you soon

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