Homeschooling. It’s a battle on so many fronts right? We’re struggling to find a good place to put the girls to work. So I’ve set up a temporary homeschool workspace, that I can also use after ‘school’ as a home workstation. I’ve used things we already had around the house, and the girls are working so much better now and say they love their new homeschool. Read on for some ideas to create your own temporary multi-purpose home workstation, which can be removed when the kids go back to school.
Why We Need a Home Workstation
You’d think that the girls would be able to work on the lovely desks we got for their playroom. But no, because that is next to the home office, where Ryan is working. So that didn’t really work as they are too noisy when he’s on Zoom calls! Also their desks are covered in all their art and craft stuff and we don’t have time (or inclination) to sort it all out.
I had a brainwave to transform the cosy reading nook in the living room into a temporary homeschool work space and work station for me and the girls to share.
Before & After: A Cosy Reading Corner to a Multi-Purpose Home Workstation
Now it’s a home workspace for home schooling from 9-3 and a home workstation for me from three onwards.
We’re calling it our ‘Isolation Inspiration Workstation’ in honour of Bob Mortimer’s Train Guy. If you haven’t seen it, it’s very funny.
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How I Created our Multi-Purpose Home Workstation
I moved the chair to the bay window, next to my upcycled drinks trolley. The coffee table my brother made us has gone up to our home office. Ryan moved the white IKEA desk down from my home office, (there were two up there so the larger one is set up for my husband to work at). We got our folding chairs out of the utility room. We use them when we have friends over for dinner, which won’t happen for a while now. The table was against the radiator with the chairs side by side.
We kept it like this for a while but it didn’t really work – the girls got annoyed with each other. Look at the barrier Ava made for the desk.
Then they started adding loads of ‘precious things’ to the space. By ‘precious things’ I mean actual rubbish to be made into creations, and lots of art and craft materials. Obviously I needed to think again!
So over the weekend we tidied it all up. Then I set to work making it into a calm, uncluttered home workstation that we can all use.
Isolation Inspiration Pegboard
I’ve (reluctantly) taken down our Zeena Shah prints for now, and replaced it with an IKEA Skadis Pegboard which was in my office. I also used non-permanent Command Strips to put up our DISKO KIDS ‘We are Family’ print and a framed card.
I hung up our kitchen clock on the peg board. This is very important for them to know when snack time is approaching. I’ve put up some mini plants on a shelf, and Thea’s highlighter pens. We picked up the poppy on one of our walks, and the inspiration cards are from Got2Jot. The girls coloured in the Strong Girls Club pictures our favourite brand Mutha.Hood – you can find this free download here.
I added a shaggy rug from our bedroom to create a bit of cosiness, and a bin from our office.
Homeschool Supplies Storage
I moved the IKEA Raskog trolley from upstairs to hold their work folders, art supplies and books. (Just seen on the right). We had the educational books scattered around the house in their bedroom and in their cosy reading den. I didn’t realise we had so many!
One Home Workstation, Two Ways
Our Home School Workstation
During school hours, this corner is our home school workstation. I pull the desk out, so the girls can work on either side. It works so much better and the girls were actually excited to start work on Monday!
During school hours, this corner is our home school workstation. I pull the desk out, so the girls can work on either side. It works so much better and the girls were actually excited to start work on Monday!
My Home Workstation
At about 3 o’clock, ‘home school’ is over. So the desk gets pushed back against the radiator, one of the chairs gets folded up, and the shared desk becomes my afternoon and evening workstation.
Completing my Home Workstation
My home workstation has a few essentials that I highly recommend for home working.
A Laptop Stand
This is so important for good posture and helps stop the dreaded ‘laptop hunch’. You can get all sorts of adjustable ones, but I chose a laptop stand that is solid, with no breakable parts so it should last a long time. There’s no way I’ll risk it collapsing and smashing my Mac Book! You can also slide the keyboard, or a book beneath this one so it saves space.
A Wireless Keyboard and Trackpad or Mouse
I couldn’t justify the high price of a real Apple one, so went for this great value compact wireless keyboard and am really pleased with it.
Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
Because my home workspace is in the lounge, noise cancelling headphones are a must. My headphones are by Urbanista (gifted) and work so well – I can drift away in a bubble of music and block out the TV.
These premium Urbanista New York headphones come in a box, with a storage pouch, charging cable and laptop connection wire.
They have a battery life of around 16 hours with Active Noise Cancelling switched on, or 25 hours with out it on (or a 700 hour standby time) – impressive! And I can walk around the house with them on and leave my laptop or phone where it is, without the sound dropping out. The sound quality is excellent so I’m really pleased with them.
These headphones are super comfortable so you can wear them for hours – unlike in-ear headphones, which I find a bit annoying after a while. But best of all, they block out the majority of the kids’ noise when I’m listening to music. Bliss. I have to say I can’t notice a great deal of difference between noise cancelling and active noise cancelling. But the regular noise cancelling is great so I’m happy!
Wonder where I got my t-shirt? It’s from Mutha.Hood and the girls have matching ones – read all about our ethically-made organic empowerment t-shirts here.
I also Recommend Stationery, Tea and Candles to Make Your Home Workspace Pretty
A nice notebook and pencils are essential in any workspace. My friend got me the brilliant grammar pencils for my birthday – ideal for a copywriter like me!
Tea is a given – no work without it! And I made this soy wax candle and the concrete candle holder myself, see how here.
I hope you’ve found my guide to creating a temporary home workstation useful, why not Pin it for later?
