March Simplify Results

It's March 30th and I'm so thrilled with the results of my school-room project. I wasn't sure it would work for me to get it all done in about 10 days, but things turned out so well. Our school room had become a catch-all for chunky, wooden, furniture. We are so grateful to have a room for school, but if we're going to be doing school in this room for many more years, we should at least enjoy our room. I just love how this turned out. The first thing was to take everything...I mean EVERYTHING, out of the room and paint. The name of the color is Greenhouse Basil and even the name makes me happy! I cleaned and painted all evening on Friday and finished the 2nd coat on Saturday night. My other plan was to get rid of some of the furniture and replace it with items that were cleaner looking, more streamlined... I made a mad dash to IKEA on Tuesday and brought back the computer desk/hutch, and the kids long desk. I also found the red shelf brackets and the chairs. We put everything together on Tuesday night and I got busy for the rest of the week putting all the stuff back in the room.

Here's a picture of the wardrobe and the bookshelf and a picture of the "new" corner of the room. We found this wardrobe at a warehouse sale and Roger added a hinged desk to the front. I don't really use that as a desk anymore, so I removed it and then cleaned up the inside. I got rid of the book shelf. These shelves hold a year's worth of books. I replaced the book shelf with the wall shelves. You can see in the new picture the little boxes under the kids' desk. Once they're done with one of their books, they can put it in their case so we don't lose it.

Here's a picture of the computer corner. This wooden computer desk is supposed to be able to close when you're not using it, but because of the way it's against the wall, and because the printer is right next to it, we've never used the doors. And, it gets so dusty in the back. And, I threw out about 100 computer discs that either don't work, or I have no idea what's on them. The amount of outdated stuff was unreal! It felt good to get that out of the room and replace it with the new one from IKEA. You can also see in the left side of the "old" picture a small desk next to the window. This was given to us but is just too small for Sam. And, it takes up more space than it's worth. So, Sam and Nate use the new long table/desk in the picture above. Also, I removed the wipe board from the window, It was so old and stained, so I got rid of it. I used a credit that I had at Office Max and bought a new one and hung it on the wall behind the door.

I think this is the best part of our new room. In the old room, I had an oak table in the middle of the room. This served as Nate's desk as well as just a place for the kids to create. The problem is that it was just so intrusive in our room and made it difficult to get around. I got rid of it! The only piece of large furniture that I kept was the wardrobe. I moved it to the opposite corner and got it all cleaned up. Katie's desk sits next to it.

Finally, I have a few things hanging on the wall and the door. I really tried to use wall space wisely, but also to make it attractive.

I just can't tell you how much I love the new look. The kids love it, I love it...we will just love walking into that room every day to do school... Right?

And, I now have a boat load of furniture that I hope to sell to pay for the new stuff. Maybe I should have a little "blog garage sale".

April is turning into a real bear on our calendar, so I think I'll choose a room that is a little less involved. I'm thinking about it.... I'll let you know.

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