5 Week Design Jumpstart Program:
Kid’s Homework Station
Welcome back to the final week of the 5 Week Design Jumpstart Program! For the last five weeks I have revisited some of my most popular posts, have updated them, added tons of new content, and best yet: created BRAND NEW Design Freebies to go along with each week!
If you have already signed up for the Jumpstart (or already have access to my Free Resource Library), you can find all of the freebies from the Jumpstart Program + everything else in there right here:
FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY
If this is your first time here, you can sign up HERE to get access to the Free Resource Library. You will receive an email with the link and password so you can access it anytime-check back often as I’m always adding to it!
Past Weeks of the Design Jumpstart
And if you missed any of the past weeks you can catch up on them all right here:
$1150 Farmhouse Living Room Mood Board + Shopping List
10 Items for the Perfect Playroom + Free Mood Board
Free Locker Building Plans + 10 Steps to the Perfect Mudroom
FREE GUIDE: 75 Ways to Update Your Bathroom
Kid’s Homework Station: Pinned Over 100K+ Times
Okay friends, I was shocked beyond shocked when my humble little kid’s triple Homework Station makeover went viral. To be honest, I have done more expensive, more complicated makeovers. In this case all I did was turn our hallways into a Homework Station for my three kids. It is a pretty straightforward space and it is actually really budget friendly, so I think people could relate to it. And at last count it has been pinned over 100,000 times which blows my little old mind.
Here is the Before and After of our Kid’s Homework Station:
So today I want to revisit it with you. I have gotten SO many questions about it on my blog and on social media. And today I’m going to share the whole Mood Board and Shopping List with you, so you know exactly where you can find it all. It is so easy…and so functional.
Other Uses for a Kid’s Homework Center
I have had so many people ask me if my kids actually line up and all do their homework together at the same time. And my answer…NO!
My kids are crazy. They would never line up and quietly do ANYTHING together!
Instead, I created it as a triple Homework Station for two reason:
1. I had the room to do it since I was working with a long hallway. You can easily modify this as a one or two person length desk.
2. Even though I knew my kid’s wouldn’t all be using it at the same time, I wanted to them each have their own “station”. They can keep their personal things there, and it was one less thing to fight about. How’s that for thinking like a Mom?
Maybe your kids aren’t in school yet. Or maybe they prefer to do their homework near you. In my case, our homework desk is fairly isolated from the rest of the main living spaces, so it could be a quiet place to work. But the very best spaces need to be multi-purpose. So what else do we use their Homework Station for?
A Kid’s Craft Table
All three of my kid’s are artsy-fartsy so they will often use this desk to draw, color, paint, etc. We have had a lot of Play Doh on this desk as well! My desk table is a dark walnut finish and it actually wipes up really well. If you knew a lot of art projects were going to happen here, you could replace the wood top and use a laminate one instead for a really use to clean surface.
Kid’s Lego Table
Again, all three of my kids love Legos, especially my eight-year-old son. This extra long table is the perfect place for the kids to dump their Legos and go crazy. In this cases, having a triple desk works great because they can all play with them together or create their own separate masterpieces. Because the homework desk is so long, they can actually have a place to keep out their creations that isn’t on my kitchen table! It has also been known to host Shopkins and My Little Pony parties as well.
My Laundry Folding Station
And let’s be perfectly honest here friends…sometimes it is only a dumping ground! Our Kid’s Homework Station sits right outside their bedrooms, so I often use this long table to fold and sort laundry as it is easy access to their bedrooms. So yes, sometimes they do homework here, but there are a lot of other things we use our Homework Station for!
Creating the Perfect Kid’s Homework Station
All kid’s are different and have such different needs. So feel free to adapt this to make it fit YOUR family’s needs. You might need more closed storage. You might need something smaller. You could change it up for an entirely different design style. But here are some things that have made our homework center work really well for our family.
One. Location of your Homework Center
Do you want it to be very much in the heart of your home? Or a quiet, secluded place? In their bedrooms or in shared living space? Our Homework Station works well for us because it is in a more isolated part of our house, therefore having messes or projects out doesn’t bother me as much. Furthermore, it happens to be right off the kid’s bedrooms so it is close to them = it gets used more. If you put your Homework Center down in the basement where you never are, chances are they won’t want to spend time there.
Two: Desk Organization and Desk Storage
In my own Homework Station I kept it super simple. I put out a wire basket to store paper and supplies, and it can also corral their papers. I only have one out, but you can easily use one of these for each child. You could also use it as your inbox/outbox where homework is kept until it needs to be turned in. In my case I have a closet right next to this area to store extra supplies in so I’m not looking at it. But, instead of using open desk legs, you could easily swap it out for file drawers or cabinet drawers. Give each child a cabinet or a shelf for their items. Or use bins instead of the cabinets: one bin for school supplies, one for craft supplies, etc.
Usually the simplest organization solution works the best for kids.
Try to over complicate it or make your kid’s space too organized and you will be the only one re-organizing it!
Three: How Can Multiple Kids Share a Homework Center
I mentioned this before, but I happened to have a long, skinny space so my 98″ long desk worked perfectly in it. My desk top is from Ikea, and you can actually get this desk top in different sizes and finishes. Or you can cut it down yourself. Make it work for you and your space.
In my case I marked each kid’s spot with a framed photo of themselves. I also am obsessed with monograms. I should have been a Southerner. So I found these adorable Periodic Table inspired monogram pillows, so each child gets their own initial pillow. That way they know whose station is whose, and that solves half the battle! However, you could create a labeled bin for each child. Whoever is using that homework station or craft table at the time can simply pack up their things when they are done so it is ready for the next child. Or assign a drawer or cabinet to each child.
Four: Keep your Homework Station Affordable
I can’t stress this enough: this is a space for K-I-D-S so it has to work for them! My entire kid’s homework station is very budget friendly: the desk is from Ikea and most everything else is from Target or I DIYed it. While I did DIY my rug I know not everyone wants to do that so I did find an alternative option you can buy.
You can find the whole Mood Board and Shopping List link at the bottom of this blog post!
Affordable Kid’s Desk
The entire desk is from Ikea. Those cute metal legs? $15 each! I was going to have something custom built but instead came up with this idea. There is no assembly at all. In fact, the legs don’t even attach to the desk. You simply put the desk on the desk legs and you are done. You can find all of the links below.
DIY Rug Tutorial
My rug is actually an outdoor rug (super durable) that I painted a swiss cross pattern on myself. Being an outdoor rug it is meant to be hardcore and durable, which works great for kids. The dark gray also helps hide dirt and stains. If you want to see how I created this rug you can check out the tutorial here:
$20 DIY Painted Rug Tutorial
Inexpensive Kid’s Art
Keep the decor simple and affordable. I repainted existing frames I already owned and put in black and white photos of my kid’s. Free Artwork. You could also frame their own artwork, or use inexpensive Etsy artwork here. I also created a knock-off of vintage flashcards to get the school-inspired decor going. I came across these at Restoration Hardware but knew I could make them myself for a fraction of the cost. In fact, I created this for FREE, you can see how it did it right here:
Free Vintage Flashcard Tutorial
Affordable Kid’s Decor Accessories
You can find all of the links below but nearly everything else is from my beloved Target. I kept the palette really simple with white, black, and browns with pops of gold. I wanted a few fun elements since this space was for kids. So the Periodic Table pillows and adorable bulldog tape dispenser made me smile.
Create this Kid’s Homework Station for Your Own
So want to know where to find one of these items? Re-create this for yourself? This week’s Design Freebie is exactly that! I re-did and updated the Kid’s Homework Center Mood Board and created a Shopping List to go with it. In the Shopping List are all of the items you see here, the prices (you will be thrilled, believe me!), and the links to all of the products.
Simply click on the image or link below and it will take you to a place to sign up for my Free Resource Library. You will find the Homework Station Mood Board + Shopping List, along with dozens of other free Guides, Mood Boards, and other Design Freebies:
Grab both the Mood Board + Shopping List right here:
FREE KID’S HOMEWORK STATION MOOD BOARD + SHOPPING LIST
P.S. If you already are a member of my Free Resource Library just click on the link below, type in the password and you can access it there:
More Kid’s Spaces, Kid’s Playrooms & Kid’s Bedrooms
If you came here looking for design ideas for your kid’s space, whether it be a nursery design, kid’s Playroom, or kid’s Bedroom…then you came to the right place. Here are some more real life Postbox Designs Projects that I think you will love. Grab some ideas and inspiration for your own sweetie pie’s space:
4 Rooms in 1: Playroom, Craft Room, Homework Station & Reading Nook
Boy Bedroom Makeover: Before & After + Free Mood Board
$10 Items Under $40 for a Kid’s Space
Adventure Themed Playroom Makeover
And finally, if you are interested in getting your own custom designed room, I would love to work with you! No matter you budget, or your style, all of my Room Packages are a fixed cost price and it is fully custom designed just for you. Every Room Package includes two different, mix-and-match designs, and the whole process is finished in two weeks. You will receive your room-inside-a-box: inside you will find your Mood Boards, Floor Plans, 3D renderings, Step-by-Step instructions, Shopping Lists, and even material samples-everything you need to order your entire room.
Order your room in an hour without leaving home. In your jammies over a cup of coffee.
Imagine having your room custom designed without ever having to leave home. No meeting with a designer all over town, or doing the never ending buy-and-return cycle. That is the beauty of Online Interior Design.
You can See How It Works or check out all of the prices of my Room Packages. Or if you just have questions and want to talk more about your project, you can always email me at kristin@postboxdesigns.com and we will talk all about you!
Cheers,
Kristin
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