Saturday, May 1, 2010

Carnival of Homeschooling: The Story of a School Room


Carnival of Homeschooling


This week's Carnival of Homeschooling host, Sprittibee, asked, "What does your homeschool, schooling room look like?"
A few months ago she'd probably have been sorry that she asked me that. :o)

Here's our story...
There once was a school room that was...okay.





There was some furniture that was too big for the room and it's purpose.



Not enough storage or shelving. We are Sonlighters, after all.



Not to mention the the Wee Babe hated it!!! She'd enter the room and start tearing stuff apart. Plus we moved a living room shelf into the room around Christmas (to make room for the tree) and never took it out. Not to mention, we ordered nexts years curriculum in January and had no place to store it. So it wound up in the middle of the room that the babe had trashed.

The result...(Beware it isn't pretty. Not for the faint of heart.)



While looking at the pit, my hubby and I made a tough decision to postpone a much anticipated trip to NYC this summer. This has been something we promised our eldest on her 7th birthday. She's 9 now. We decided it wasn't the best use of our $$$ when there were things around the house that wanted to improve. So we broke the news.

We eased the tears with a trip to Build-A-Bear, and signed her up for the drama and church camp she's been wanting to go to. Oh and a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. Bribery at it's finest.

We replaced the trip to NYC with a trip to IKEA. Oooh, it's not down the road, so we emptied out the van and buckled in. And being the mean parents that we are, we brought some school along with us. Yes, that's right, we canceled her trip and made her do school on the way to a boring store. =o)

Here's the proof.


We wandered around IKEA with our map and our pencils and furiously scribbled down everything that we we planning on getting. And a few things that called out to us while there.

Whoaaa! Look at that cart? Maybe we weren't so wise with the $$$? Of course we were, it's IKEA. Cheap, cheap,cheap. We actualy came out $200 under our limit. Yay wallet!!!



Then we spent the about 3 hours total assembling 11 pieces of furniture. Easiest assembly of our lives. IKEA is our new favorite place. Those shelves from Target or Walmart take about 30 minutes a piece. And that's for a small, 3-shelf, bookcase. We built a 6 shelf bookcase from IKEA in 10 minutes.

Then came the sorting, purging, and organizing. Ack!!! Long, not fun work. But we called the "Big Guns" to help with the purging.






Yes, it would have been cheaper to rent a truck or dumpster and haul it out ourselves but we decided our sanity was more important. (I'm a tad on the weakling side. LOL) Plus, we removed a bunch of shrubs that we hated, and cleared out the garage while they were at it. They took it all. And they recycle and donate everything that they can. Which saved us several trips to several different places. Worth every penny. If you have it.

And the moment you've all been waiting for.





34 comments:

JessB said...

Woo Hoo! That room looks great! You guys did a lot of work and it certainly paid off.

Erica said...

Great makeover! The room looks great, and I am totally jealous! IKEA is great for what you did! I hope everyone enjoys your new school room!

Elaine said...

Wow! That is one good looking school room!

Samantha said...

I simply cannot believe that you accomplished all of that work in one week! Your school room looks so awesome. I love all of the book shelves! That project would have taken me all summer! I'll bet you love your new space.

Samantha

LindaI said...

ok, you are the most awesome homeschool mother and your husband deserves the biggest kisses there ever was on the planet!!! Shower him with them girlie!

that is amazing!!!

Cheryl Pitt said...

Wow! What a great project. I'm seriously impressed!!

Christi said...

I'm so jealous and that's all of got to say. No, not really! What an awesome room, y'all did such a great job.

Ellen said...

I'm so envious of your new shelves! We need them badly, so I may be IKEA bound very soon. :-)

Kristenph said...

Wow, wow, wow!!! Incredible job. I just went to IKEA for the first time last August and it is my new favorite store. I love that place. It's a little over an hour a way (luckily) or I might spent too much. (even if it is cheap.)

Laura said...

Love love love the new school room!!! Looks really awesome. I am sure it makes you and the kids super excited to do school every day :)

Confessions Of A Homeschooler said...

Wow, the after pics are wonderful!

Madonna said...

It turned out great. We were looking at the Billy shelves too, but I was afraid the shelves weren't deep enough. I was excited to see that they shelves could have doors.

Kelly Burgess said...

Wow! Great job, Stef. I'm so relieved to know I'm not the only one with "the pit" effect once the new Sonlight boxes arrive! LOL. Holy cow. It's so hard to have two years worth of stuff in one room at one time! And I've got THREE cores in my room x 2 years! LOL. It's a disaster zone at the moment, but getting better. Only 2 weeks of school left, so we can put the bins of books from this year out in the shed. Yay! Order will be restored shortly...

By the way, where the heck is the closest IKEA? I was looking for one recently and never could figure out where the closest one is located.

Mozer said...

Thanks for sharing your room redo with me. I love those bookcases with the drawers! Now I really want to make a road trip to IKEA. The only problem is that I need to find a vehicle big enough to fit the furniture in. I don't think my mini-van is going to do it.

~Maureen

Robin E. said...

Wah, wah. I soooo need to convince hubby that a trip to Ikea is absolutely essential when we take a long weekend trip to San Diego next month. I keep seeing the beautiful things people get from Ikea and I am just a wee bit covetous. I've never even stepped foot into one :o(.

Thank you for sharing on the NOT Back-to-School blog hop.

Angela @ kinder days said...

love the cute story that went along with your pictures! =) Fantastic Job!!!
we are a miltiary family too! Living in Germany! God bless you in this schoool year!

Angela
www.dailythoughtsonmytots.blogspot.com

Jenn said...

No IKEA near me...boo hoo! But we are Sonlighters this year too. Thanks for sharing your room with us. Great job!!

Shawon said...

What a nice space! Love the before and after transformation! I would have went with the truck too:) That was A LOT to accomplish in such a short time period! Enjoy your new space, and have a great year!

Nichole said...

Your room looks great! I love Ikea. :)

Nichole said...

Your room looks great! I love Ikea. :)

Nichole said...

Your room looks great! I love Ikea. :)

Amanda American Girl said...

great makeover, I love all the shelves - Have a great school year

DSLA said...

I love the new room! We love IKEA here too!

Beth said...

Love the room changes! You guys did a great job. It must feel great to do school in there this year. have fun!

JACQUELIN said...

What a great space you have, thanks for letting me take a peek inside. I love the organization and IKEA rocks!!! Sonlighters here too (cores 3 & 7), have a great year!

RockerMom said...

I soooooo want to visit an Ikea. What a great room makeover! Thanks for sharing!

Anna P said...

Wow, what a transformation!! Thanks for showing us before and afters. I have NEVER been to an IKEA store but I *DROOL* over there stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Catherine said...

You did a fantastic job! Isn't Ikea wonderful? I hope that you have a great year in this beautiful new room. God bless. =)

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Hurray for IKEA bookcases! :)

(It's where ours are from, too!)

groovie mom said...

Looks great! I need to do the same.

Anonymous said...

I AM SOOOO JEALOUS!!! I love it! Love the colors. WOW, Looks great!

Debbie said...

Wonderful transformation on your school room!
I love the red walls too.. so cozy!

amber @ classichousewife said...

Oh I LOVE all the great big shelves!!! I daydream of great big bookcases and shelves. *Sigh* =)

Nikki said...

This might sound silly, but I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! That was no small task and you guys did awesome! I just keep putting off stuff like this because I have no clue where to even start! You are truly an inspiration!

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