Homework Station in the Playroom

In addition to getting the mudroom up and running before the school year, we really wanted to get a homework desk set up in the playroom. The two older girls have been begging for a real-deal desk (they're sick of sitting at the kid-sized play table), and putting together a homework station felt like a great way to start the school year off right!

I have been working with Office Depot and Expo brand to spread the news about the #TeachersChangeLives campaign, where we are trying to make it easier (and more affordable with these coupons!) for families to donate school supplies to classrooms, or to help ease the financial burden that these teachers are taking on personally each year to stock their classrooms. Here's where you can learn more about #TeachersChangeLives.

Office Depot invited me to share this brand new homework station in celebration of the campaign. I'm so happy with how this cute desk area turned out and my girls are over-the-moon excited about having a big girl space to do their school work and to display their art and best projects! Here's what we did:

We started out by getting a piece of homasote, which is a great soft-but-sturdy material, cut down to 40x40" for a large memo board. We get our homasote at Heldt lumber in Phoenix, but when I lived back east I could usually get it at Lowes or Home Depot. I upholstered the cut-to-size board in a soft lilac linen fabric from my stash.

Tips for how to tackle corners can be found HERE!

I have a feeling this board will be well-used. I hung it up (using D-rings) and tacked on these papers and things only yesterday and already it looks completely different today. Michael likes to say there are four decorators that live in this house. :)

We also had one of the smaller 2x4' pegboard sheets cut down to 12x40", so it could sit evenly right under the memo board. We sprayed it that Rustoleum Aubergine color that I love so much.

I think it pairs really well with the lilac linen!

I stacked eight small washers behind the pegboard before screwing into the wall, so that the board would sit off the wall a bit, making it easier to move around the pegboard accessories.

Home Depot has tons of these pegboard accessories. We spray painted a couple of baskets and prongs to match the pegboard, and then loaded them up with all sorts of school and art supplies.

Expo and Office Depot sent us some new highlighters (which have see-through writing tips?!) and a few mechanical pencils that have mix and match colors (which, of course, the girls love). I put assorted little cups in the baskets to help us keep the supplies organized and off the desk top.

Yesterday was the inaugural run of the new desk area and I'd say it was a wild success. Never have I seen my girls so excited to do their homework! The real question is, can this excitement last? I'm really, really hoping so. :)

A big thanks to Office Depot and to the #TeachersChangeLives campaign for inviting me to contribute to the program! Click here to read more about how we can help these wonderful teachers who already do so much for our children.