UHeart Organizing: The Ultimate Homework Zone for Kids

My contributors have been bringing it in the Back-To-School department this year!  And good thing, because that is something I haven't even begun to focus on yet.  Time for this mama to get out of her summer coma and get back into the school swing of things.  I am so grateful for the recent inspiration and ideas from Jen, Karen and now Aniko.

Aniko blogs at Place of My Taste, and I admit to stalking her Instagram feed on a daily basis because everything she touches is colorful, fun and fabulous.  So it is no surprise to me that she created one of the most incredible homework stations around.  My little guys are uber jealous of this area that is designed with homework in mind, yet happy enough to want to spend time at.  I have placed a lot of focus here over the years around creating a work environment you love, and that is no different for kiddos.  It's time to get #homeworkhappy!

School will be back with full speed before we know it. I know in some states school has already started, but we still have 3 more weeks to enjoy summer (sigh).  I can't even believe how fast these past 2 months went. It feels like we are always on the go with my boys and with that said the days and weeks seem to fly by crazy fast. I started working on my boys room last year. Wait. Last year? Yeah, it is typical Aniko style to start a new project and getting quickly lost in another project without even finishing the first one. I can't help it, when I have new ideas I have to jump right on that wagon while my creative idea is fresh.  Last year I stenciled an accent wall and did a few smaller projects in this room, but I never got to finish one little corner in here - the homework station. I am sending my eldest son to First Grade this September and he needs his private space to do his homework after school.

I wanted this corner to be fun, colorful and functional where he would happily want to sit down to do homework and practice art. I chose a bright orange and blue combo for the walls when I started working on this room last year. I love these two bold colors together, I think they are playful and fun for kids room. I knew IKEA had great shelving systems and I was confident that I wanted to create this little corner from IKEA. By the way, it's one of my favorite stores. It's about an hour drive for me but I am always delighted to go there shopping. Have you seen their new catalog yet? I am smitten with so many amazing design ideas this season.

I did not have much space to work with in the boy's room as we already had two beds and toy storage, so the corner that I had left was pretty small. I found the incredible shelving system at IKEA which was the perfect solution for my teeny- tiny corner. The shelving system is called ALGOT and let me tell ya, it is pretty awesome. You can build your system as big or as little as you want.

For the desk, I chose the largest and widest shelf that they had available and I added two smaller shelves to hold his file folders and small bins which are great to organize markers and pencils.

I really like the idea of hanging that big roll of paper right above his desk.  I use it for reminders but it is also perfect for my son to draw and write on whenever he would like.  It even works great to list his sight words to memorize.  In fact, I even use this paper to cover my kitchen table during Play-Doh time, when the boys draw their art and even for my own art work which I then display in large DIY Wooden Frames.

Do you assign daily to-do chores for your kids? I just recently started having my boys to do daily chores and it helps tremendously. I like to have my son's daily to-do items visible right in front of him, as I am hoping that looking at those clip-art pictures will help him remember to pick up his toys and get those books in hand. I cut out images of each item and I attached each of them to the paper with some little chalkboard clips from Target.

IKEA has so many great and functional items. This "BYGEL" rail can hold cute plastic organizer bins that are ideal for crayons.  It also works well for hanging his scissors or other office accessories.

That small plastic container that holds erasers and glue sticks was also found in Target's dollar section.

While I was taking pictures of this corner I asked him to write "back to school" for me... he tried very hard.  #cute

I did not purchase a desk chair but I updated an IKEA Stool this past weekend and placed it next to his desk.  I really love how it turned out.

My son was very happy about his new, awesome homework station. He sat down immediately and started coloring.

As you see I am not afraid to mix and match bright colors as color simply makes me happy. Next to this homework station there is also a reading corner that I created last year.

ADDITIONAL ROOM PROJECTS:

• READ sign
• Painted Stripe Rug
• Stenciled Wall

I think I created a fun, cheerful, happy place for my love to do his homework and I hope I inspired some of you to create something special for your kiddos as well. If you like these ideas or perhaps you would like to replicate it, I listed all the source links for you below. Some of the items, like the blue lamp shade and the green wall light, are no longer available at IKEA but I included alternative options that work just as well.

leg, algot shelf and shelf, algot wall rail, lamp shade, shelf bracket, cord kit, rail, cups, bracket, stool, paper rail, paper

It is always a pleasure to be here, thank you Jen for sharing your space with me today!

"Hey there. My name is Aniko and I blog over at Place Of My Taste. I am a wife, mother, business owner by day, DIY-er by night, design, decor and photography lover by heart who loves to cook, taste wine, dance for therapy and create all things beautiful. I share all this love over at my blog - at my happy place. Come see me there. xo"