Currently living in a 3 bedroom, 1600 square foot apartment with all seven of us I knew I would have to get creative with a way to give the kids proper space for home studies. Don’t get me wrong, I like the more casual approach, but between storing their supplies and giving them a proper place to sit and study was important. Especially because we don’t have bedrooms full furnished yet. Have I mentioned that we are rebuilding after giving away 75% of our belongings to move to Tennessee? Yeah, it’s definitely a process. And one that is teaching me patience. Luckily, our apartment has a very large built-in desk within the kitchen/dining nook so I wanted to share with you a temporary study space for the kids that we were able to make happen. Inexpensive with it being only temporary, but gets the job done which I am so happy about!

I wanted to approach this in a very simple way since I am still not sure about decor and other furniture. Because this desk is part of the open concept of our kitchen/dining/living room, you can see it from all angles. And because this was the first project that needed be tackled in time for the kids to dive back into homeschooling, I went simple with the idea that I can add to it as I continue designing and decorating our space.

I found these stools on Amazon from Poly & Bark which were a good fit. For the dining table we are adding upholstered chairs eventually so I wanted to break that up with a bit of metal and an industrial feel.

My goal was to make sure that this area didn’t look cluttered in any way. Especially since we eat all of our meals right next to it. However, to fill out the wall a bit, I thought it would be great to add a basket to hold the kids’ clipboards. They use these daily and I wanted them to be accessible. The basket was a great find for only $10 and an easy install.

Even though the built-in desk had lighting installed already, it was awful. Definitely not good for the eyes and I wanted something better for the kids’ task lighting. I found this pair of sconce lights that worked out perfect as a piece we will use in the next home. For right now, we had to install them in a temporary way so we attached them to the wall, secure the cords to run down the wall and then along the top of the desk backsplash. We decided to paint the cords the same as the wall colors once they reached the backsplash to help reduce the clutter feel. However, in the next home, we will absolutely be installing these more permanently and the cords will be routed through the wall.

For the shelf above the desk I grabbed these wood crates from WalMart – one for each core subject the kids have supplies I need to store – and then added my favorite bookplate labels to make it more organized and efficient.

With all of the kids having some work to do online in their core subjects as well as the older two doing more research and essay work, we decided it was time to invest in laptops for all of them. And while we are an Apple family, that type of purchase just wasn’t in the budget. Especially two devices that we knew would make life easier instead of just getting one new device for all four kids to share.

We had been hearing wonderful things about the Chromebooks for kids and school/homeschool so we pulled the trigger on two of them. One month in and we are really loving them! They are perfect for what we use them for and get the job done. They power up instantly and have 12-hour battery life. So while the kids are always expected to use the laptops at the desk, they don’t have to always be plugged in.

All in all, I have loved having a dedicated space for the kids that is minimal yet functional. It has really helped keep things organized and make things more comfortable for them as we dive back into their home studies for this year.

Two thoughts I had and am mulling over after writing this post and staring at these images… care to weigh in?

Thought 1:

Wondering how it would look if I were to paint the wood crates white and perhaps distress ever so slightly

Thought 2:

What about adding a wreath on the wall above the crates? There is so much wall space available and I am wondering if a wreath would soften things up a bit.

I would love an outside opinion so feel free to drop me a note below!

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today and every day to see what the family and I are up to. It means the world when you visit, take the time to comment and share about Haus of Layne and follow me on social media! Thank you for being a friend!

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