I suggest using your dinning area for most of your home school activities. I homeschool and we do most of our work on the dinning room table and in the kitchen. I would replace the two smaller storage pieces on the left side of your photo with one long credenza to store all your home school materials. I like to have one space for books, paper, and larger items. Then another space for pencils, markers, paper clips, etc. Honestly I typically keep all the current books and papers that we are working on in a dinning chair seat along with a box of pencils and markers. That way it is easily accessed for the next day. When the doorbell rings, I move those few items to a cabinet. If I were you, I would move everything inside a cabinet except maybe the globe.

You could even use two cabinets that are both the same. Something like

this might work. Just make sure that whatever it is, that its sturdy and durable. Capable of holding heavy books and supplies.

IMO the whole space has been taken over by the kids.If you want to have a DR you will need to have some long table height storage all the same and in one color this can double as a nice buffet and storgae for all the home schooling items that need to be put away at the end of the day just like at school.Same in the LR closed storage for toys and put away . Also remove all the wall clutter is makes the space feel even smaller than they are .What ever that twisted drapes is get rid of it.The TV placement makes no sense since there is no seating facing it. The table by the fireplace makes no sense and just adds to the clutter in that room too.This type of storage all along that wall where you have the odd pieces in will give you tons of storage then if you must do the collage of family photos on that wall and add a large piece of art work on the other wall. . Ikea has a line called Besta and would answer all your storage and display needs.

Hon, nobody can even tell what you have going on in there. Which is the area you most use for home schooling as it appears it is ALL of it.

Take some more photos in better light. The FIRST thing I'd be inclined to do, is build simple framed, shelved 18 inch deep , floor to ceiling closets to flank the hearth. Open shelving within to store the necessary school related stuff.

You need a prune to what is necessary for home schooling. You need a pro organizer to help you purge to that level. You do NOT need more bins, crates, containers. They have already descended to become part of the clutter, from what I see in the photos.

I will be honest with you: There is a very specific list of must haves with most families who home school. It is not a criticism. But it is why I refuse them : ) I have tried to help several. Most have one priority only. It is their children/home school to the exclusion of ALL else, and home decor is always the sacrificial lamb in the endeavor. That has been my own experience. You have to want to change it. .........and usually, the "but I need it", right down to every last picture ever drawn is tacked on a wall. It's literally a special decor need situation, it seems. Or those are simply the ones I have encountered to date : )

Patricia sounds like you would use dinning room for homeschool storage and Jan you would use downstairs space by the fireplace for it? I definitely need to go through things I'm always waiting for when my kids aren't here and task is so daunting. That is a great starting point though then when essentials are left I can help organize them easier. Jan question do you mean put a large picture on the opposite side of the family portrait wall?

It's fine to use the dining space table. You can't build or buy, enough practical for your storage needs to place in there.. It will narrow the room. Don't even think about decoration, until you have the teaching essential pruned to ESSENTIAL. I bet there no less than a thousand pens , pencils, colored markers..................................? Wanna bet me? You are not yet ready for decoration.

Jan Moyer - OMG You are so right about homeschoolers and décor. Speaking as a homeschooler, it is a generalization but based on the looks of my own home and the homes of fellow homeschoolers whom I have visited, it is spot on.

...right down to every last picture ever drawn is tacked on a wall.

I have to giggle but it is true.

I try to go against the grain and keep décor in mind but I confess, I am guilty of keeping every single thing that my kid has ever done in life. Every single scrap of paper... It is like an affliction.

I'm not going to get into the concept of homeschooling, but the name itself describes the problem from a interior design perspective. You either have a home or you have a school. Your home is not big enough to have both. But if this is what you choose to do to your children and yourself, then it makes sense that the dining room would become the "school" since a table and chairs are needed the most. I would get large plastic bins and transfer as much as possible from the table top during the day, to the bins at night, to try and be able to use the dining table for actual dining. Then reposition the sectional into the center of the room so that it faces the TV. Beyond that, there is nothing really to comment on here. This is a design forum and your problems cannot be fixed with interior design, this is a lifestyle problem that you are dealing with and apparently asking for help with which is a different type of license.

@likefriday

OMG Thank you so much for candidly sharing! I was afraid of being beaten senseless! I had to walk away from one . Forty minutes after arriving! I was just overcome, first by the clutter, but my undoing was the fact the ENTIRE family,( five children ), was sleeping in one large master bedroom, and the other bedrooms ( four) with seemingly no purpose at all. I got the bugga bugga wooly woolies. !!! I think my tire marks may still be there.

I am no expert on the topic,. I can understand the spiritual issues, issues of locale, and others. I can't see how people manage it is all, without the discipline of a drill sergeant, or an addition to the house solely devoted to the purpose. If ONLY for the simple reason that going "to school" is your "first job". .... and everyone deserves a respite from a daily, all day endeavor, no matter they love it. Working from home is similar. You need a way to close it off, step away, and have no visual reminder: )

Jan Moyer - I think homeschool is very misunderstood by most folks. They just don't get it and that's ok. People home school for many, many reasons. It is definitely growing in popularity and it becomes more of a lifestyle then JUST a way of educating your kids. The lifestyle is a huge part of the education and the living happens throughout the home. The fundamentals happen at the kitchen table. At least that's how it works in my house. Because of that, I think it would be a great niche for a design professional because where on earth do we put all the stuff???

Personally, I have no more school stuff displayed then the average family with kids but..... I do have more stuff then most families and if you were to dig deep you would discover my 1000+ colored pens. Crayons and pencils would be added on top of that - seriously. I couldn't imagine teaching my kid algebra without 15 different shades of green Sharpies ;- )

I think smaller storage boxes placed in larger cabinets are a good way to control all the stuff. At least that is the way we handle it in my home. The really fun and challenging part is figuring out a way to make all those storage bins look pretty and put together.

Thanks for the comments and ideas! we only have one medium size Tupperware of markers and small tin of pens/pencils believe it or not lol. It's games. Games, books and tons of and craft supplies! I feel like when others find out your homeschooling you get purged on LOL we have been given so much stuff because of that I have begun to insist on saying NO more.
Jan it's hard but I want a beautiful property brother decorated house haha. I'm trying to have both but mostly just stare at the disorganization of things cause I don't know where to begin but this has given me great ideas.
Thanks for commenting fellow homeschool mom you have probably been in my shoes. We always seem to end up being in the dining room and kitchen for our work yes, so I think the long low cradenza idea is a must. I have my eye on a nice one at Ikea. That along with dining table should be the only visible thing in there. Decor on top once we have handled other. I will post after picture I plan on changing the dining room this week!

As for the other level with the fireplace and sectional there is no TV in that room right now .. I think people are referring to a large painting? I would however LIKe to put our TV in that room I'm just unsure of where. Do you think it would look good in that corner if I got rid of the high table near the fireplace?

I just watched the movie “Wonder” again and they had a great little home schooling area in the corner of their main living area. Very cute and stylish... I’ll try to find a pic

I can’t find a screenshot of it....bummer! Regarding your other level room I think a tv would look nice next to the fireplace. It looks like you have room to pull the sofa closer to the fireplace and move your game table to back of room.

Could you do floor to ceiling storage to the left of the fireplace with doors and shelves? Or in the dining room on the sides of the windows? Then get containers in different sizes from a place like the container store ( they aways have good sales and their plastic storage containers are good quality.) Get sizes like their shoe boxes and deeper containers which you label and then store everything in its place, neatly and organized behind closed doors.I love my matched shoe boxes and my dymo labeler. I think the mismatched storage pieces could add to the clutter and not address your storage needs adequately. If everything is in matched storage containers it looks organized. Go onto pinterest and search home school rooms and craft rooms which have similar needs.

I agree Grover, but sometimes it is autocorrect. With the “help” of autocorrect, if I don’t proof read my comments, I can “write” some doozy things!

Perhaps a different parent teaches spelling. It cracks me up when people are so narrow minded and opinionated about how other folks raise their own kids. My guess is not every teacher in the USA is a good speller. I am a horrible speller. No doubt. Thank god my dh takes care of that. Just because I home school does not mean that I teach my kid every subject. My dh teaches some and if need be we will hire a tutor to teach what we are not capable of. Joy is correct, autocorrect can sometimes make you look like an idiot. Would you have the same thought if a math teacher at your local school makes a calculation error or god forbid, simply does a problem wrong? After all, calculators are widely available. If he/she makes an error or miscalculation the entire class of 20+ kids is affected. Not just the one that sits at my DINING table each day. It just occurred to me, perhaps that's why kids in the USA are so far behind in math..... that calculation error/mistake they were taught in school by teachers with teaching degrees.. I presume that worries you too????

sowkmom I will look for a picture of that thanks!

I agree Jan. My younger son is very good in math and with numbers, however my oldest struggles. It's nice to be able to cater to their learning styles and give them one on one when needed.

Jan I wish I could like your comment a million times. My kid is fabulous at math. We use the hundred year old method in my home....

WTH do I know!!? I still remember my dad holding up FLASH CARDS at the kitchen table. Just the other day (last week, my how time flies ) I got an email from my sister, who is prone to thinking and writing as If I am in her mind....or even in the same room.

With no lead in whatsoever she writes - Store room! : " Mr Campo, I had no idea Jan was falling behind. Please take whatever measures, including remaining after school for additional help"

I..... at that point,,,,, am in the middle of xmas eve dinner prep. I shoot back: WTH???!!! are you talking about??!!

That evening, she shows up with my BABY BOOK. A report card with a note FROM MR CAMPO, MY SIXTH GRADE MATH TEACHER, tucked within. He, apparently very tired of trying to drum fractions into my then thick skull. The good news, is with additional help, and more head drumming, I mastered those .

Try to laugh........at the whole thing : ) I sure did. Sixth grade? I'll spare you how long ago that was. Shortly after horses and buggies left the roadways....................lol

Many moons ago when I was in high school I got thrown out of my chemistry class. Forward a few years later, my undergrad degree is in chemical engineering. That despite having a horrible hs chem teacher who was ultimately fired for the whole fiasco...

I took chemistry over again in the dreaded and embarrassing summer school! Per mom's attempt to be rid of me longer, added typing. I.flunked the chem yet again.......got an A+ in the typing. Clearly a science deficit in both interest and talen! Hellloooooo H 2 O is water. So far, it's all I have needed. That said, my pre conceived notion regarding the total uslessness of facts in math? Pi for instance...... yeah, God Bless Pi and that 3.14 thing lol

As I have said to my kid often, math is the language of science. In order to be successful at it, you must be able to speak the language. Most of the time when we are working on math/science he has no idea how to differentiate the two. I really, really love math and science...

I am really good at painting and art. That is because I am really good at math, believe it or not.

That pi thing is awesome.

I am really good at this design thing. Rather a miracle of an oddly wired brain , perhaps. Because those "flat bakery box" questions on tests in high school? No good at those. But i can jiggle furniture in my head at two am, take it all apart and put it back together . I rarely goof a measure, and yes, manage more math in a day than most in a month. I HAVE NO CLUE. Maybe my brain needs to be donated to research...............hahahhahahahaha I still suck at all science, other than weather. I looooooove weather . I can tell you what someone wore, four Tuesdays ago. I find this to be helpful........with nothing. : ) in most cases. I do however, remember in living color, ........most houses in one single glance. That, is helpful and lucky.

I agree with the idea of "floor to ceiling"--some of your storage might need to go UP. (I often find rooms look very squat when they have shorter bookcases, etc.)

Re: the "new math":

That teaching method is essentially what I did with numbers in my own head as I was learning the "old-fashioned," rote-memorization way. So I'm not going to bash the modern teaching methods.

Some photos to inspire you!

Couple more...

As a former homeschooler, who shifted children between Catholic elementary school and homeschooling, and who later went to work at her children’s school when the last of her many children was in junior high, I learned, and was shocked, at how few the materials school teachers actually have at their finger tips. Too much homeschool stuff often derails the family. I’m still dejunking homeschool supplies now 25+ years after I started, and will probably die with my math manipulatives-they are just too amazing to let go of. Four of my children are college graduates, a couple of them have advanced degrees. My baby is in high school.

Anyway, the homeschool mother juggles her own sanity, a tight budget, limited space and the busy children she isn’t interacting with at any particular moment. Little time for the marriage. Often pregnant or nursing a baby. The appearance and decor of her home slides to the bottom of her priorities.

The mistake is is believing that more educational stuff will buy her time, patience, energy, and brilliant children. By the time I realized this, I was drowning in materials and curricula. Of course, online access has changed so much. Things are simpler in many ways.

To the OP, you owe yourself a home that brings you peace. Use closable storage, not open shelving. This is important. You will be more likely to invite people over if you can simply close your school things behind cabinet doors. Conserve your energy. Tidying up open shelving is exhausting! Homeschooling should not wipe out the balance of family life when school is done for the day. I might suggest looking at tall cabinets on Amazon. Sometimes the are called Pantry Cupboards, and are about 6 feet tall and 32” wide. being able to close doors over stuff is really important, in terms of visual order. You might also store things in milk crates that go under the table at the end of the day. Those rolling carts that you can find at Target are awesome too.

If you you can afford it, perhaps get a tall cabinet or locker for each child. You can keep your teacher materials on the tops shelves and let the child determine how he wants to store his possessions. Or maybe a math cabinet (with manipulatives), a craft cabinet, science cabinet, library, etc.

Also, storing like things in one place is a constant reminder of exactly what you have. This is very important, in so many ways!

We paid $160 for this cabinet in November. We use it to store a lot of grown up board games, like Dominion. It’s particle board: 32” wide, 65” high and 16” deep. Very heavy. It’s good looking, nice hardware and sturdy enough. It also comes in white. They make it in a locker size as well, same height and depth but only 16” wide-it’s cool looking. I think you can find it Walmart.com and Home Depot too. Read the reviews, most buyers are very pleased!

Here is the change! We are still deciding how to position the table. Thoughts? I would like to put it up against the picture wall but we can't swag that chandelier because it's too heavy. So either means hardwiring the ceiling or swaging a new chandelier.. anyway next is onto the third level!

the last option.