Our Useful Porch: Living Room/School Room

I finally got the school room rearranged and organized for the start of the school year a couple weeks back and am making time to share them today.

For some reason, there is something about having a "new" room to go to that makes the first day of home-schooling seem more like a new place to be.

The new set-up gives useful separate areas for the different needs this porch room fills.

We moved the table up against the wall in front of the bright windows.

I love the long table: it offers a lot of elbow room.

The bottom was an outdoor table that the glass broke out of

and we found the wooden top to replace it on Craig's List.

On one end of the table I put needed supplies in separate containers...

and am hoping they will stay separated long enough to make the effort worth it.

 It seems I/we can keep things more organized when we have enough containers and storage spaces.

I especially like baskets because not only do they look quaint,

the handles make them easier for kids to carry.

A big basket of markers on the floor seems harder to lose than a generalized plastic box

(or maybe it just stands out to these eyes that seem to miss things that appear too ordinary...

"Scream at me, markers, where are you?")

 I have read over and over that if the artist in me ever wants to get much of my own projects accomplished, I need to set up a distinct place that is mine

and a distinct time to work there.

 At least with my easel and desk set up here, I can view the television to catch an evening movie while I work, or get a few strokes in at the easel while seat work is going on.

I like to repeat using some colors/boxes for storage.  Somehow, this makes me "feel" more organized;

but then allowing for some different basket containers makes it seem more inviting.

I also have found it helpful to keep a different child's books on different shelves.

My 5 year old's school books are on the second shelf,

my 7 year-old's school books are on the bottom shelf.

My supplies are on the very top and the first shelf holds some school games.

 I also think it's fun to employ old pieces of furniture to hold things.

 

The top part of this piece came out of our barn.

The bottom is a dresser that was missing the two large lower drawers.

Painting them the same color helped bring them together.

The large crate beside it holds my oldest daughter's school books.

 The top part holds my things: some of my favorite tea cups as well as sewing supplies and some ink supplies for artwork.

 The bottom behind the curtain holds some of my teacher books and art pads;

a fabric box full of extra reading to go with our year of schooling: 

one for my son and the other for my daughter.

 There are also my special art markers in a basket and a box tin full of CD's underneath the cupboard.

A smaller bookshelf hidden partially under my sewing machine cupboard has art supplies for the kids to use.

Isn't it a necessity to keep a good amount of green plants around to make it seem like the outdoors isn't too far away?
(Or to put it simply: I love plants!)

The other side of the room is set up for relaxing to read books, or watch a movie in the evening,

or, occasionally, to watch something educational.

I worried the fuzzy wool off-white rug would be hard to keep in this room,

but I took a risk and got it,
hoping it would make this part of the room feel more welcoming.

I am glad a fellow blogger gave the advice that stretching to take a small risk like this doesn't need to be such a scary thing to do; so I took a small bit of my kitchen money I had set aside
(and that was not going to happen this year),
and I bought a few rugs during a good sale at USA Rugs,
weighing in that the immediate warmth they would give to our home was worth the extra wait toward the kitchen.
  I have been so happy with the results).

My son's bearded dragon on the other side of the room enjoys having the constant flow of traffic throughout this room, I'm sure.

Now we can hit the books...

and paintbrushes!

Thanks for stopping in for our tour.

Sharing at:
ABowlfulloflemons.net 
Wearethatfamily.com 

Curtains: A Fun, No-Sew Fix.

Hello!

I have been working on a bunch of different projects but haven't completed most of them, 

so I went looking through the photos I have in my files and found this easy project I did to transform the curtains in my daughters' room.

The girls had picked out some very long sheer turquoise panels with embroidery and sequins on them.

We could only find four of them, and there are three windows in the room.

Knowing that they were only going to be for decorative purposes and not to be closed up at all,

I bought them and decided to cut them in half, with one extra curtain left to make a valance across the center of each 

(which did require sewing, but if valances had been available, this step could have been skipped).

I could tell that these were completely synthetic and the fabric would melt if heat was applied.

 The curtains were about 3 feet too long for the windows, so I cut the length to the windows.

Then I took what was left and cut strips in different widths from about 3 inches to 5 inches or so.

I took the strips and began to pinch them up to gather them, accordion style.

When the entire strip had been gathered up, I pinched it together.

 With some turquoise thread cut to about 10 inches long that I had thickened by folding it over on it itself about six times it's normal self, I tied the folded material in the middle.

(I wanted the long extra string so that I could tie them onto the curtains later.)

When this was knotted well, I pulled the folds out to create a poof.

 I continued creating poofs until I had used up all the left-over material, making about 60 poofs
(this is great to do while watching a movie with your husband, especially a war one.
I may be speaking from experience).

 To seal the edges of the poofs, I lit a candle and lightly held the edges over the flame until I could see they had begun to melt.

 The poof on the left has not had the edges melted.

The one on the right has been finished.

 Next, I cut 4 inch wide strips lengthwise into the sheers that were going to be used as the actual curtain panels 

(ABOUT 3 INCHES FROM WHERE THE BASE HEM OF CURTAIN ROD POCKET IS SO THAT THE CURTAIN ROD PART WAS UNHARMED).

 and then lightly sealed the edges of each strip over the candle flame.

(This made the curtains each have three hanging strips to each one.)

 (The hem of the panel could have been melted as well, but I chose to actually hem these up.)

I then tied the poofs at intervals on the different strips of the panel.

Toward the middle of the curtains, I tied two strips of the curtain together in one poof, and then below that toward the base, I tied the other with one of them into a poof, so that the curtain had more of a unified look instead of looking like strips.

This created a fun, fuller look for the girls room and added a bit of character to the panels.

Because everything was sealed with the candle flame or fastened tightly with knots for the poofs, these curtains will be washable on the gentle setting.

Adding artistic touches to the home is rewarding because it makes your home unique and special to you and your family and it is almost as fun as creating art it on paper...
almost. :)

(You can see more of the my daughters' room in my home tour  >HERE<).

Have you added any personal touches to your home lately?

I'd love to hear about them!

 

(If you have any questions, let me know.  Explaining this process was a challenge, but I hope it made sense).