One Room Schoolhouse

When I first stepped foot into what would become our new home, I immediately fell in love with the huge, bright, wide-open room behind the garage. I instantly dubbed it the "school room" before we even knew if we would put an offer on the property. An entire wall of windows opposite a full blank wall just bursting with possibilities, four built-in bookshelves and an opening directly into the kitchen... the purpose of the room was so clear to me it was almost humorous!

Flash forward a few months, and we are now settled into that house and are slowly making it our own. The room I claimed for our school room is becoming what I envisioned that very first day. We set up our computer in one corner, a perfect central location for use by everyone in the family. We found a perfect table to put in the middle of the room: used and slightly battered, with a shiny lacquered top for easy cleaning. The speckled carpet hides everything. The bookshelves are bursting with all of our children's books, so many of which were packed away or inaccessibly high in our old house due to lack of shelf space. I even have shelves left for display! I bought an old globe for $5 at Goodwill (I have a total soft spot for globes) and added it to a shelf with my ancient dictionary and some binoculars. The saint dolls even have two shelves just the right size for them. In the back of the room, between the bookshelves, is a small bathroom and a closet. Moving from our old house (with one small bathroom upstairs and no closets) to this space, I can't help but feel a bit spoiled.

And just last weekend, my dear husband broke out the chalkboard paint to officially turn it into my dream room. We painted an entire wall and made a gigantic chalk board! In the few days we have been able to use it, it has already transformed our school time. Instead of scrambling for scraps of paper to write on, or constantly erasing our small white board, we can fit an entire day's worth of learning on our wall! I love looking back at the end of the day to see the amalgamation of scribbles, artwork, and schoolwork... it is a great reminder that we really did learn something that day, even if I felt like nothing happened.

I still want to put the finishing touches on the room; I want to add art to the walls, maybe change the paint color (the current tan/peach color is my personal definition of drab), and add something comfy to sit on for read-alouds, but we are well on our way to completion! My goal for educating my children is to inspire them to develop a love of learning. In our new space, we have an inspiring space to spread out and explore while still remaining in the heart of our home. That's exactly where I want to be.