Gorgeous Homeschool Rooms and Kids Play Areas

If you’re hanging with me on Instagram you know that I can get a little cray cray putting our creative workspaces together.  I have completely done an overhaul of our home school space from last year.  We added a huge new sofa for the room and recycled my old faithful desk. You can see details of our space HERE

BUT before I even started changing our entire basement, I searched high and low for inspiration.  I found four lovely, awesome, hands-on mamas who have constructed an environment in their homes that would make any kid excited to learn!  

Brit @thesmittyfamgram who also blogs at The Smitty Fam

I have a soft spot for black and white.  I am so in love with this clean set up. The bins, the desks, and the personal touches she added to their space.

Brit is also great at putting together fun themed learning units!  Be sure to follow her on Instagram to get some great ideas. 

Steph @the.rome.home who has created a homeschool planner you can find HERE. 

What drew me to her space is all the fun pretend play items that can be used for learning.  I love all the wood elements in this room.  How adorable is that little kitchen area?!

Becca @beccas_homeschoool_journal who also has a Youtube channel you can find HERE.

Becca’s feed is full of home décor inspirations along with great tips for homeschooling mamas.  She does a book round up that is fantastic.  This is a nook I fell in love with!  I think it is so sweet that she also wanted to create a space for her preschooler.  I love the pops of color, the gorgeous rug, and that sign!  It oozes cuteness. 

Amy @ourgatheredhomeschool who also blogs at Our Gathered Cottage

First off, I loved her caddy of school supplies so much I went on a hunt to buy one for our room. There are so many things I love about this room!  The little fun little details with the globe and duck book holders.  How sweet is that reading nook where her kiddo can snuggle up and read.   

I just love that design on the wall!  

So much inspiration from these spaces!  I hope you all have an amazing school year wherever you are sending your kiddos to this year.

Happy learning, 

Homeschool Room Ideas

The kids counted down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until school started and they are overjoyed to have finished their first week!  The minions go to a hybrid school so they homeschool part-time.  They get the best of both worlds, a classroom at school and a classroom at home.

Last year we found this sign at Kirkland's and thought it would be a great name for our home "school".  Welcome to Wonderland!  The name is based on the verse from Psalm 77:14 because we want to learn all about God's great wonders.

"You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations."

The workspace is my old sewing table.  It's actually a dining table that folds down on each side.    Cindy Boo picked out the plants.

TABLE: IKEA   MAP: Hobby Lobby  TOY BOX: Target  PLANTS: Michaels 

I added my old white bookshelf at the end to hold books, games, and all the extras!  I love the wood chalkboard boxes.

BOOKSHELF: Ikea    BINS: Michaels 

We found this adorable bin from Pier One on clearance woot woot!  It holds all of their supplies.

I'd love to be able to find some cute wood chairs for them but until I do these Ikea stools will do!

We've been simplifying the play area down to their absolute favorites.  It also helps that they are older and could basically play legos for hours.

TOY BINS & TABLE: Ikea 

Two cheap side tables pushed together to make the perfect lego table.  Chairs have been spray painted black.

This corner has my favorite pieces of the room!

A friend gave me the board.  We're using it to put mail for daddy, goals, and prayers.  Their book holder was something I saw on Pinterst and daddy made it happen.

We have these huge walls in the basement so I used some stained pieces of wood, eyelet screws, wire, and clips to create an art display.  Because they only hold art I was able to use velcro command strips to hang them up.

Last but not least is the newest addition to the basement and I am calling this spot the Cozy Nook.  We got rid of our tiny ten-year-old couch and replaced it with this gigantic grey beauty.  I love that the sofa comes in pieces and can be rearranged in eight different ways.  I turned a ladder I built into a book holder that will carry their favorites and current holiday reads.

This nook has become our new movie, video game, reading, moms quiet morning spot.

Even without any natural light, our homeschool room has become one of my favorite places!  BUT sometimes the kids like to work and craft on the kitchen table, so we created a mobile bin full of supplies that they can pull out any time they feel creative.

Hope this inspires you to recreate a space in your home!
Happy decorating,

Free Kids Lunch Printable

Feeding all the people all the food all the time can feel overwhelming.  One thing that helps stress and chaos is to SIMPLIFY.  I'm sharing some tips and created a chart to and I hope it helps packing easier for you as it as helped me. 

1. We eat the same thing for lunch every week.  

Yup.  I know it sounds boring but it makes grocery shopping and packing so much easier.  We waste less.  Boring for the win.  The boss and I also follow this same rule for our lunches.  It amazes me that the man can eat a salad every day. 

2. Use the chart and let them pick.  

In the ideal world, my kids eat all the fruits and veggies on this list.  Ha!  I keep them all in there in hopes their taste buds would change at some point.  We pick one from each category, add it to the grocery list, and boom you have lunch packed.  Thanks to a sweet friend for sharing this idea.  Click HERE or on the image to get this printable for free.   

3. Give yourself a break.  

If your kids are old enough, let them pack their own lunch.  When my daughter was in school full time I would give myself a break once a week and let her buy lunch.  She thought it was such a treat. A  win for the both of us!  

I'd love to hear your ideas as well on how you simply lunch!  Drop me a comment and be sure to subscribe so we can stay in touch.  Let's hang out on Instagram @pattymaymullen, that's where I do all my cooking and meal prepping! 

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A post shared by Patty Mullen (@pattymaymullen) on Aug 2, 2019 at 1:20pm PDT

Happy Packing,

I Want to be a Fun Mom

We were all sitting on the couch watching the new Mary Poppins movie when the little lady said, "Mom I wish you were Mary Poppins."  After more investigating what she really wanted to tell me without hurting my feelings was she wanted me to do more fun things with them, not simply for them.  The truth may sting but this is no surprise to me.  I know I lean more towards the "striving to accomplish" and less on the "fun mom" side.  

The boss wanted to shush her and list all the things I do and all the places their fun mom takes them but I wanted to hear her out.  What can I do to be a better mom to you?  What is it that you need from me that I am not giving?   Taking a deep breath I brace myself for the critique on my mothering and her list was basic:

1. Not clean as much so we can play legos
2. Do more arts and crafts
3. Sit and watch movies with us
4. Cook more together.

After agreeing with her and telling her I will strive to be the mom she needs me to be God reminded me of Hebrews 12:6 which says, "The Lord disciplines those he loves."  When God disciplines there is no shame and I know he did not want me to feel the mom guilt.   The discipline that came from my eight-year-old was an opportunity to course-correct.  

Being the achiever that I am I wrote out ways to fight the urge to always do and simply be.  Here is how it has translated this past month: 

1.  Schedule Craft Time 

A friend once told me "I bet you're the person who has to schedule in time to rest." Guilty!  I like to schedule most things.  The kids have activities of their own so I've been planning and scheduling one craft time a week.  We simply sit at the table, play some music, and craft away.  

2. Just Us Rule

Many times I can credit moments I am taking the kids to their activities and on play dates as time together but in reality, they are not times together.  These are simply fun times.  The rule means every day we do something together, just us.  

3. Turn Chores into Times Together

 The kids fold and put away their own laundry but I've been making it a point to make this time I spend with them.  When we are sitting and rolling their bundles of clothes together it gives us an opportunity to just chat.  I take the time to help each one of them and then send them off to put the folded clothes in away on their own.  It's a win for both of us. 

I wish I could say I am now a "fun mom" but it's something I work on every day.  I'm better at it some days than others.  What matters to me most is to have an open heart for my minions.  I want to see their needs and do what I can to provide them, even if that means changing myself first.

From the fun mom in progress,