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My Nephew’s Homeschooling Room; Before & After

By 02/16/2020February 23rd, 202045 Comments

When home is your school, you need a proper homeschooling room. So, I helped my sister makeover a neglected room inspired by a splash of colour to create a kid-approved room design.

Keep reading to find out what I used as inspiration for the amazing wall colour.

All photos by Macy Yap Photography

The best part about the formerly neglected little room located at the end of my sister Elizabeth’s home (beside the most beautiful room in the world) is that it has windows on two sides!

A few months ago my sister and I decided to turn this room (that was basically being used for storage) into a proper homeschooling room. Here were our homeschool room ideas.

Choosing the paint colour was easy, I simply found one that matched the X ottomans (in the photo above) that sit in front of the fireplace to create flow!

I got the stamp of approval from William and Markus. They immediately declared it a ‘kids colour’. Hooray!

Markus & William

Here was the before photo. As you can imagine, this room was never used:

And here’s the much better after:

Desk | Blue office chair

William and Markus love lego, and it turns out, it’s a transferable skill in the real world!

They assembled their desks (below) and the IKEA cabinets that went into this room perfectly. And super fast!

See the basket with the faux fern in it? That was the best way to hide the internet boxes.

Here’s a look at the other side of the room:

Before

I love the way drapery (hung BESIDE the windows, never OVER the window) instantly makes the door look bigger!

The IKEA drapes were perfect in this room. Just enough pattern to add interest without being too busy!

We also installed a row of skinny shelving to display all their art and then it can easily be rotated (below):

Lamps no longer available similar herehere and here

My nephews love their new school room and the best part is, it’s close to Mom who’s always in the kitchen. The kitchen makeover will be up soon as well!

If you’d like to learn how to choose the right colour for your home, check out my How to Choose Paint Colours; or White is Complicated ebooks here.

Do you have a neglected room in your house that could use a makeover?

Related posts:

The Best Colour for your Childs Bedroom Furniture; Before & After

Inside my Nephews Bachelor Pad Makeover; Before & After

Tour my house; Learn the 6 Best Ways to Transition Colour

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45 Comments

  • Jo Chrobak says:

    Love this Maria!! It’s so refreshing to see such real-life, down-to-earth projects. Exactly what I needed today x

  • Calliope says:

    What a beautiful and joyful room! Once again, well done Maria! Your sister’s house is turning out so good!

  • Liz in Oregon says:

    I LOVE those blue chairs!! What a great room for your growing-too-fast nephews to work in.

  • Ann says:

    Terrific room, Maria.
    The lamp is PERFECT for my house, and even though it is no longer available, I’d like to try to find it online, perhaps even used. Could you kindly share manufacturer and model name?
    Thank you,
    Ann

  • Lorri says:

    I’ve been waiting for this room and it’s even better than imagined! Love the paint color and curtains. And I’m impressed that the boys built those desks at their young age.

  • Kristyn says:

    Beautiful! Is the flush mount ceiling fixture new as well? I’m in the market for one and would love to know where they purchased theirs.

  • Tara Redenbach says:

    You did it again Maria! So enjoy your posts. One more year to retirement and my gift to myself is to attend one of your workshops. Can’t wait.

  • Amy says:

    Hey Maria — love the new schoolroom! So many great ideas to take away. One question – where did you get the boys’ desk chairs?
    Thanks!
    Amy

  • Great makeover! What an inspirational room to learn in!

  • Laura says:

    Beautiful room! Did the kids make the artwork hanging on the wall under the clock or did you purchase the art from somewhere? It looks great!

  • Julie says:

    Maria: ooh this is fabulous!! What a beautiful and functional use of this space. Gorgeous design and colors. Love the lamps and drapes. What I love must of all is all the artwork and how it pops off the wall color. Did Markus and William create the art? If so, they are super talented! Maybe those adorable fellas need their own Etsy store:-). Good for them for putting together their furniture. So smart! I love all your family photos. Just adopt me and come design at my house:-) And tell Elizabeth I will need some of those treats she makes. Have a wonderful day!!

  • anne says:

    Love it! We are in the process of updating my almost 9 year old son’s room and he wants a “graffiti” theme, so I found a mural and am going from there, hoping it turns out!! But mostly I came to say we LOVE the Wild Robot series that your nephew is reading in the photos–highly recommend!!!!

  • Becky says:

    Wow! As a fellow home educator here, I’m feeling a little envy! This space is gorgeous! Look at all that lovely storage! I also feel hope when I see those before pictures. This is for REAL PEOPLE.

  • Glenda says:

    Questions about curtains and baseboard heat….are those curtains going to close over the baseboard? (Yikes?)

  • Fran W. says:

    Oh my, this is perfection! What lucky boys to have such a sweet and talented aunt! And they are both so cute!!! 🙂

  • Valerie says:

    Maria, once again you are proving that small rooms can look gorgeous in a deep or dark color! I love how you mixed the dark wooden desks with the crisp white cabinets and all the white frames! This room will grow with the boys.

  • Melissa says:

    We also homeschool and I LOVE THIS! Turned out great. Such a nice and inviting room to homeschool in. My boys would love this.

  • Lucy says:

    First of all I am a big supporter of home Schooling and secondly what an inspirational room to learn in! Every detail is perfection! Love the color that you chose for the wall and the accent desk chairs. Good job! You may have a couple potential engineers in your family.

    Great post and hats off to your sister!

  • Tammy says:

    HOME RUN here! WOWEE!! I just love ALL OF IT!! I’m impressed also with that large white storage unit (2?) that conceals all the “stuff” that I’m imagining behind those sliding doors. Really nice, was that Ikea also?

  • Lee Waters says:

    What a lovely, and balanced, space! Would you mind sharing where those white credenzas are from?
    Thank you!

    • Maria Killam says:

      They were from IKEA, aren’t they fabulous! Maria

      • Paula says:

        Would you mind sharing the name of the Ikea storage/credenza? The Ikea website can be a little overwhelming.
        Thanks!

        • Maria Killam says:

          Hi Paula, I would suggest you go there, I didn’t find it online originally either and I’m sorry I don’t remember the name of it anymore. Maria

  • Nadine Mathieu says:

    What I didn’t notice at first, but rather on my second “go round” of your post, was the addition of the curtains flanking the single door to compliment the second set on the window. I have never seen this done before. How brilliant! It really brings a feeling of coziness to the space. A beautiful, functional room overall. Love, love, love.

  • Jennifer Johnson says:

    Super beautiful and truly Colour Me Happy!

  • Maggie says:

    Really lovely! I’d go back to school if I had a room this gorgeous to work in.
    I’m curious about the picture ledge being natural wood – I would have thought white would tie in better – was there a reason being the wood? Love their art being in display!

  • Rhonda says:

    I LOVE that happy homeschooling room!!

  • Ange Mills says:

    The transformation is awesome. Great job!

  • Sheree L says:

    This room is perfection! I love everything about it. And your nephews are so talented. Not only with putting the furniture together, but their artwork is beautiful. Thank you for sharing this, Maria; can’t wait to see the kitchen 🙂

  • Marina says:

    Hi Maria,

    I will repeat myself again, this marine color is a great choose, it is very suitable for the kids and studies: green calms down and at the same time this color is very bright, so it helps attain a balanced state of mind.. 🏞 I would choose the same color for my boys if I had them .. 🧸 Also, the paintings look very nice on the green walls..
    Hey.. they are smart guys.. making the furniture themselves, this is such a fun for them !! ☺️
    The room turned out to be very neat and the curtains are really lovely.. I think the fabric goods are the best in IKEA 🏡

  • Monica says:

    You have the cutest, kindest looking nephews! Really love the way this room turned out.

  • Cindy says:

    What lucky kids!

  • Charlotte Ferguson says:

    Love that upbeat paint colour! I also like the white birch artwork in the first photo. Can you tell me where I could find it?

    Thanks,
    Char

  • Connie says:

    I love that you show IKEA can make a beautiful and functional room.

  • Kd says:

    Glenda, they make little “stands” that keep the curtains away from baseboard heaters. Here’s an example: https://www.linenchest.com/en/curtain-protector-for-electric-baseboard-heater.html

  • Kd says:

    Paula, the Ikea cabinets are the Havsta. Here’s a link to the US site: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/havsta-cabinet-with-base-white-70388620/

  • Susan S says:

    Awesome!

  • Jane says:

    I love it this room! it’s so fresh and colourful and happy.

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