Our former “school room” was more like a “school corner.” We were tucked into a small corner in the smallest bedroom in our home, shared with our exercise room and board game storage room. It was getting pretty snug, especially when thinking about my youngest starting kindergarten in the coming months and I’d have two young ones with two separate lesson plans at the table with me.

When I started preparing for our next year of homeschooling, I knew I needed more storage near our table, so I headed to IKEA’s website, found a table with more storage, but wondered if that bigger table would fit in our little corner.

My next thought was that my current office/studio was really not used as a studio anymore. When we purchased our home in 2014, this room was perfect for me to use as a pageant coaching/headshot photography studio. It’s about 220 square feet of space, has lots of windows and tons of natural light, and enough room for me to coach my pageant clients on their modeling skills. (I’m a former Miss Arizona USA and have been coaching contestants for the last 10 years.)

As time has gone on, I’m no longer shooting headshot sessions and my pageant coaching schedule is both seasonal and limited, so I had this large room that had become my desk and Client Closet storage. (I have a collection of dresses that my maternity and newborn portrait clients can borrow from for their sessions.)

I originally thought about swapping the two rooms so my office would move to the small bedroom and the school room/exercise room/board game storage would move to my office. But my husband didn’t like the idea of moving our exercise equipment into such a “pretty room.” I love him even more for thinking of that aspect!

Next thing I know, I’m drafting a floor plan and ideas for where everything would go when we combined our school room with my existing office. I scoured Pinterest and IKEA’s website for ideas. It took about two weeks from the time we decided to combine the room, shop for furniture, and unpack our next school year’s curricula and supplies to get to this point.

I’m absolutely in love with this room! It’s a much better use of space for our family, and my kids can even hang out in there with me and color while I get some work done if needed.

White Loveseat | Table | Chairs & Frame | Rug | Storage Unit & Legs | Desk (old) | Desk Chair (old style, similar) | Rattan Stools | Wood Wall Shelves | Teal Storage Cart (old color, similar) | Vintage Wall Maps & Frames | Rattan Wall Clock (from Hobby Lobby, sold out) | Wood Tone Essential Oil Diffuser | Terracotta Plant Pot | Terracotta Decor Vases (Hobby Lobby) | Faux Air Plant Stem

Storage Unit Insert Details:
Row 1: Magazine Files | Letter Trays
Row 2: Gold Basket | White Wire Basket | Storage Boxes with lids
Row 3: Linen Storage Boxes