School holidays are in full swing here, but my little one is engrossed in a 3 day computer animation workshop, with Day 2 just about to start. That means I get another 2 days in which to get all my work done this week. I spent yesterday unpacking newly arrived pallets of my Custom Hamptons Pendant light #theglamour. I have heaps in stock now....well stocked for the next few months anyway!
Have a great day!
We have this awkward in-between room that separates a first floor bedroom and the only downstairs bathroom. Sort of like a giant hallway. A roomway! It took us a good six months to figure out what to do with it.
Until the kids have flown the coop, it will serve as a schoolroom of sorts. Some of their homeschooling is done on the computer, so we decided to have a dedicated area for computer set-up. It also serves as a spot for Charlotte’s Brailler.
In a later post, I’ll show you the floor to ceiling bin system set up on the opposite side of the room that holds all of the school supplies. I’ve come to love this room for all the organizational goodness it provides. This room (like so many other rooms) is far from finished, as you can see below:
I can at least show you what we did with the big empty wall in the room. My husband built a long table which I’ll be sharing more about in another post. I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate a map, a chalkboard, and a bulletin board above it, and this is how we ended up going about it…
We measured and cut (with a circular saw) a big piece of inexpensive “hardboard” to fit the space and the map and spray mounted the map onto the center of it.
Our map is a 4’ x 2.5’ Rand McNally World map. I liked the vintage colors in this particular one.
After applying the map, I brushed chalk board paint on the right side.
And on the left, we applied the burlap also using spray mount. I don’t have pictures of us applying the burlap but you can imagine. Spray and press.
And then my handy husband made a simple frame using inexpensive 1 x 2 pine. Otherwise known as “fingerboard”.
We put it up on blocks to make staining easier.
I used a “Weathered Oak” stain to make it look old.
My husband attached the board to the frame from the back using wood screws. And WALLA!
A custom bulletinboardmapchalkboard-thingy-me-bob! :)
For the bulletin board, I used the same braille flashcards we had in our last house. You can read about them here.
Once again, the flashcards are a good visual reminder of what we’re all supposed to be learning (yes, the whole family is learning braille!), but it’s also handy being able to take the flashcards down from the clips to quiz Charlotte. It’s really just a faux bulletin board, since I used stickies to attach the metal clips. If you really wanted to use tacks, you would likely have to use cork board instead of hardboard. Because hardboard is very… hard.
The verse written on the chalkboard reminds us of how we are to work, and for whom. Fitting for a school room.
The lights came from Restoration hardware at 50% off! I’ve long admired them and so happy to have them for this space.
I can’t tell you how thrilling it is for me to be organized again! After this crazy move, I spent so many months feeling discombobulated. But now I feel like I can finally let out a sigh of relief. It’s all coming together…little by little, wall by wall.
Next time I build, I want to incorporate some 'interesting spaces'... like this beautiful staircase library. You can see just off to the left, there is an entryway to an office... so it's not just a little staircase library nook... but a path to somewhere. What a perfect entry to an office. I'd make it as far as the window seat.
Happy Friday!
Some plain white index cards sit on top and serve as convenient notepads. We can never have enough of those. Same goes for pens... they disappear as fast as socks do around our house. I stock up on cheap clear Bic pens from Target. I like them all matching.
The stone dog wears my watches like a fancy schmansy collar. He looks downright puffed up about it too.
Mr. Man can be found in a variety of unusual poses throughout the day. He's actually a fun accessory to have around.
I borrowed the #7 crock from my kitchen to display a single Clematis bloom. And underneath it sits a box with blooms all it's own.
Meet Poppy.
He's only been with us for a couple of weeks,
and already he thinks this desk belongs to him.
Remember my bird calendar? This month's parakeet is strikingly beautiful.
And, well, poor Poppy is a wee bit jealous...
and tries to vie for April's slot.
But our girl's room had a huge blank area needing to be filled with something (which I didn't show in the pictures). We decided to move the art table to their room, and utilize the school room more efficiently. The kids take turns doing a few different things on the computer (mine) during school time, so my desk works in here rather practically.
I love the bird calendar I found at Barnes and Nobles. It has the most amazing paintings. I think I need to move it up higher though, as the computer screen is competing for attention (it's interesting how perspective can change when I see a room in photos as opposed to real life).
My desk was a hand-me-down from my parents. It's an antique drafting table and I grew up BEGGING them to pass it down to me. They finally did, and I'm so grateful... it's one of my favorite things.
There are just some plain old ugly things about today's technology... ugly computer, ugly printer, ugly cords (why oh why do they make them black???). And then to top it all off, paperwork, cd's and other miscellaneous office junk just adds to the ugly. In an effort to mask it, I made some white fabric liners for our printer cart. Still ugly. But not as much. One day I'll replace our cart with a nifty piece of furniture and actually hide the printer. I love how Brooke from Velvet and Linen hid her uglies in baskets.
The industrial stool I picked up years ago at a junk shop. Lucky me that day!
So, this is where I will sit and continue to blog. ;) Thanks for all the kind comments and encouragement to keep it going. I think I will.
(oh, and that Friday Feature idea I had? Two weeks of no Feature=bad idea)
