4 Homeschool Classroom Ideas You Can Do Yourself
The school year is finally here! Kind of. Depending on where you live, your kids may have a different back to school experience than others. Some schools are opening, some are virtual, and some are relying on parents to teach their children while they’re trying to work themselves. For those parents, a homeschool classroom is a fantastic idea.
If your kids are stuck learning from home, finding the drive to get anything done can be challenging when distractions surround them. For that reason, creating or modifying a special place for your kids to do their schoolwork is one of the most important steps to conquering this very, very unique school year.
For many families, especially those on a tight budget, creating an entire space for their kids to do schoolwork in just doesn’t seem doable right now. For that reason, we’ve come up with a list of affordable, DIY homeschool classroom ideas to get your kids ready to work.
How to Create a DIY Homeschool Classroom
1. The Workstation
A cheap or old desk with a decent chair is a great place to start. Once you have those, the only thing you’ll need to do yourself is decorate. Personalizing your kids’ workspace can make them much more productive than they would be just sitting at the kitchen table. So, work with them. Go to the Dollar Store and buy some knick knacks, add a plant and some books, maybe even a headphone stand, and you’re done! You’ve created a homeschool classroom without needing an entire room of space.
This is a more professional looking example, but some natural light is always a plus if you can get it. Your kids are spending 8 or 9 hours a day doing schoolwork without the normal recess or lunch breaks that they’d normally spend outside. Keep that in mind!
Contrary to what every post on Pinterest or interior design blog will tell you, your kids don’t need an entire room to themselves to learn in. Especially if they’re learning virtually, a cool, personalized work area will do the job. So, don’t get hung up on the idea that you can’t do this because you don’t have the space. The corner of a bedroom, the living room, or even an area that will need to be changed back to what it was before can act as the perfect workstation for your kids.
If you do happen to have a spare room to set up your kids’ classroom, that’s great too! There are a ton of great setup ideas and schemes, color palettes, and amenities that will make sure your kids aren’t distracted by being at home.
For example, blue is often considered a good color to paint a classroom. It’s calming, cool allure doesn’t distract as easily as louder, bright colors, and gives off a cozy, relaxing vibe for students. So, if you’re picking out paints for your homeschool classroom, consider going with blue.
But, personalization is still important here. You want your kids to feel like this is their space, and that they feel proud to be there doing what it was meant for.
2. Storage
When it comes to homeschooling, you want your kids to have as few reasons as possible to leave their workstation or homeschool classroom. When they’re at school, your kids can’t just get up and come home for a snack, or to find some materials to use for a project, or ask you a question. Though those are benefits from working or educating at home, it can easily take them out of the headspace required to focus on school. This is why storage is so important in homeschool classrooms.
For smaller workstations, entire rooms, and everything in between, there are a ton of creative and practical storage options for homeschoolers. Snacks, supplies, electronics chargers, books, and anything else your youngsters need for school should be within arms reach. As long as it’s organized, you can really make the storage look anyway you want.
But, a little style never hurt anyone. Here are a few examples.
For smaller workstations, entire rooms, and everything in between, there are a ton of creative and practical storage options for homeschoolers. Snacks, supplies, electronics chargers, books, and anything else your youngsters need for school should be within arms reach. As long as it’s organized, you can really make the storage look anyway you want.
But, a little style never hurt anyone. Here are a few examples.
These parents used floating shelves to mount little plastic containers for supplies. The color coding is just a nice added touch.
You can buy these containers from a Dollar or Department Store, or you can make them yourself out of stuff you have lying around the house. Old milk jugs, tupperware, margarine containers, or even to-go soup containers can be easily upcycled into some storage materials.
This example also shows us a great use of space on the bookshelf. Using different storage materials and containers, these parents were able to stuff as much as they could into the space they had. This is an important point to make for DIYers on a budget or with limited space.
With enough creativity, you can do almost anything with what you have around your home. You shouldn’t need to buy anything new!
3. Chalkboards and Whiteboards
If you want a truly authentic look for your homeschool classroom, you’ll need a chalkboard or a whiteboard. Either of these are great tools for keeping notes, working out problems, and working with your kids on projects or assignments they might be struggling with. Plus, they’re always fun to play with.
Whiteboards can be a bit more difficult to DIY. If you want something to mount on the wall, you’ll probably need to purchase one. Luckily, they aren’t too expensive. But, another option is to buy some dry erase paint. If you’ve seen the Social Network or literally any movie that features a startup, you already know what we’re talking about. For the uninitiated, dry erase paint is basically chalkboard paint, but for dry erase markers. It’s white, glossy, and can be drawn on with erasable markers, obviously. Just don’t use anything permanent.
Chalkboards have a much more well-known and easily available option: chalkboard paint. Now, you could go the route of creating your own removable or stand-up chalkboard using this same material, but we would argue that the wall looks a little cooler.
One great example we found thanks to Martha Stewart’s blog was a monthly calendar painted directly onto the wall.
In a similar process to the whiteboard paint, you’d simply roll it onto the wall, allow it to dry completely, and start drawing. If you’re looking for a more traditional classroom look, the chalkboard option offers a more rustic, nostalgic look to your homeschool classroom. But, if you want something a little more modern, and that won’t get chalk dust everywhere, we highly recommend the whiteboard option.
Just don’t go sniffing the markers or anything, okay?
4. Stained Concrete Flooring
If you’re reading this, you probably have kids. If you’re a kid reading this and want to give some ideas to your parents, that’s really impressive and the following statement might insult you.
Kids are messy. Whether they’re dropping food on the ground, spilling something, using those whiteboard markers to recreate the Sistine Chapel Ceiling on your walls or carpet, they are bound to ruin something or another in this homeschool classroom you’ve worked so hard to make for them.
Generally, carpet is the type of flooring that parents want for their kids playrooms and homeschool classrooms. The problem is that, ultimately, that carpet will be ruined. But, laminate flooring can be expensive to install, and bare concrete floors might not go with the rest of the decor in the room.
For that, there’s concrete staining.
Concrete staining is an easy, affordable flooring option for your homeschool classroom, basement, kitchen, or even outdoor concrete surfaces. Offered in a variety of colors and styles, concrete staining can turn your homeschool classroom floors from drab to fab in a day.
Take a look at some of the amazing projects Direct Colors customers have done.
If you’re reading this, you probably have kids. If you’re a kid reading this and want to give some ideas to your parents, that’s really impressive and the following statement might insult you.
Kids are messy. Whether they’re dropping food on the ground, spilling something, using those whiteboard markers to recreate the Sistine Chapel Ceiling on your walls or carpet, they are bound to ruin something or another in this homeschool classroom you’ve worked so hard to make for them.
Generally, carpet is the type of flooring that parents want for their kids playrooms and homeschool classrooms. The problem is that, ultimately, that carpet will be ruined. But, laminate flooring can be expensive to install, and bare concrete floors might not go with the rest of the decor in the room.
For that, there’s concrete staining.
Concrete staining is an easy, affordable flooring option for your homeschool classroom, basement, kitchen, or even outdoor concrete surfaces. Offered in a variety of colors and styles, concrete staining can turn your homeschool classroom floors from drab to fab in a day.
Take a look at some of the amazing projects Direct Colors customers have done.
Direct Colors Concrete Acid Stain DIY Kit
This concrete flooring started out textured, dusty, and discolored. But, after applying Direct Colors Concrete Stain and Sealer, the business owner ended up with modern, professional-grade flooring that’s easy to clean, and was even easier to apply.
This bedroom floor started out as plain old concrete flooring. After staring at it for years, the homeowner decided to make a change. Combining a few shades of concrete stain, they created a marbled, variegated effect that resembles natural stone. After the High-Gloss Concrete Sealer was applied, they were left with a beautiful bedroom floor.
Concrete stain is a unique, easy, and affordable way to upgrade the look of your homeschool classroom or any other concrete surfaces around your home. For information on what to buy, how to apply, and how to take care of your newly stained concrete surfaces, visit our resource center.
Interested in concrete acid stain, but want to try it out first? No problem. Check out Direct Colors’ DIY Trial Kits of our concrete stains to try before you buy.
Homeschool classrooms are our new normal, at least for a little while. We hope that this guide has helped you find ways to affordably create a learning space for your kits all on your own.
