Home | Charis Buckland

Hello! It’s open window season! Some days anyway…the cooler days are starting to appear more frequently and it makes me so excited! I love to open windows in a room I am working in, whether it be the kitchen or our front room. 

Our front room has served many different purposes over the years, and it’s actually a tricky room to use. It is the first room when people walk in the front door and has no frame or door. We currently use it for the school and craft room and it we are constantly adjusting it based on changing needs. 

I becomes difficult to use it for school at times, because it is easy to be distracted by what is going on at home, like preschoolers in the kitchen or living room, and they can hear the noise from other rooms. I have used it to write in and sew in, and it is not exactly separate or quiet, but we all have to do the best with what we have. 

Whatever you are attempting to organize, ideas from others are super helpful! I love learning from others and getting new ideas for ways to make life easier. Regarding homeschool, or maybe a space for studying for yourself, here are some helpful ways we have organized the front room this year.

Identify what you already have. If you already have some shelves, baskets, or bins, use those for a good start. 

Group like items. Keep craft items together, put paper in a drawer or bin, put pencils, highlighters, pens, and stationery items together. 

Give easy access to frequently used materials. If I have to move four items to get to the one I need to use, I probably just won’t use it. Each student has two cube spaces, which include a shelf for student books and a shelf below for my curriculum guides and books. Extra manipulative like flashcards, cash register, calculator, and more are on shelves that are low enough for anyone to grab and go. Frequently used resources like markers, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, and colored pencils are in pails, so even the preschoolers can take the pail of crayons and color on their own. 

Give everything a home. For completed tests and quizzes that need to be graded, wall files labeled with each student’s name hang on the wall. For graded test and quizzes, each student has a folder on their cube shelf to put their graded evaluations in. Sometimes papers still get scattered or lost, but this has helped to keep them together better. 

Make it work for you. Many people don’t have room for a designated school or study space and we all just have to do what we can do with what we have. Our entire craft storage is from a china cabinet transformed into a craft cabinet. We have so much at this point in time because there are five people in school now and we have collected craft items for eight homeschool years. Many people will not have that much stuff, so a few bins might suffice.

Make it pleasant. It doesn’t have to look like pinterest, but some cute wall art or bright colors might make it fun to study in. This year, I made a canvas with a Bible verse to match a pennant banner we sewed to freshen this room up. We have been using this room for several years and it definitely  needed a refresh, and we used supplies we already had. 

Maybe homeschool is not part of your life, but you need a pleasant place to work in as a work from anywhere employee or study in as a student! These ideas can help start ideas for other work space needs as well. 

Have a wonderful day organizing and enjoy that pumpkin spice and all that’s nice. Praying for you.

Love,
Charis

Pic(k) of the day:
Laundry day means fort making…