Schoolhouse Design Week Five

I almost forgot how much we got done this last week until I pulled up Schoolhouse Design: Week Four. Wow, I have lots to share with you for Schoolhouse Design: Week Five. I think I will remember week five of this schoolhouse design as Dream Week! Week five is the week my schoolhouse dream came true!

Gratitude

Dream week, however, would not have been a reality without my amazing board members and family. Stephanie packed up her two kids twice last week and came over for the entire day to help set-up the furniture and hang bulletin boards. Any friendship that can endure an IKEA build is true friendship! I am happy to say… we are still friends!

Also, my brother and his wife came to town this last week to visit my mother and my family. Little did they know that they would be helping me with yard work and deep cleaning my basement! But, ya know what, that is exactly what they did Friday night and Saturday morning! What amazing people.

Also, I feel like I have ignored my husband and kids a bit in the “fun” department. I know I will be pouring a little bit more of myself into these relationships this week. They have been such supporters and cheerleaders. I could not have asked for a better family.

The Process

If you follow me on Instagram stories, you were able to see this week unfold a little bit. For those of you that missed my videos (and why is that???) here is the blow-by-blow!

Desks Update

I started off the week thinking I was going to get those blasted desks done! Well, little did I know how I was going to battle with them this week! Sigh.

Let’s just say, I will not be writing a glowing review of spray polyurethane. I am sure it was my inexperience with this product, but after spraying five desks and one chair, the ploy covering began to bubble up! Ugh. After some Googling and calling of my sister with much more experience with this than myself, I determined that, yes, this is a common problem.

Well, in short, those desks are going to need a little more sanding and maybe another coat of stain. I am now the proud owner of brush-on polyurethane and will be proceeding in that manner. Maybe next week those desks will be done. Maybe…

IKEA Trip

Next up on the to-do list was an IKEA shopping trip. I can’t say I was sad to have a no-kid trip to IKEA. As a matter of fact, it was pure bliss. What really made my day was the two employees that, independently of each other, said I had the best stacked IKEA cart they had ever seen!

Thank you. My life is now complete.

I picked up shelves, desks, storage thing-a-ma-bobs, and chairs. But, then, of course, it all had to be put together.

Enter Thursday and Friday.

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Assembly Days

As I said in the intro, any friendship that can endure an IKEA build is a true friendship. I will forever be grateful to Stephanie for volunteering to help with this assembly project. I am also grateful that our kids play well together and did not burn down the house as they played.

For two days we built, arranged, and anchored things to the wall. But, when we were finished, things began to take shape. It was an amazing feeling to walk around the space and see things starting to look like a schoolhouse!

The Last 36-Hours

The last few hours before Homeschool 101 was busy, to say the least. I designed and printed countless resources for our parents. Stephanie and I assembled dozens of binders for our new homeschool families. I checked and double-checked our RSVP list.

And then, of course, we cleaned. The backyard was straightened up, the floors mopped, the baseboards shined, the windows washed, and the bathroom scrubbed.

As I got dinner ready on Saturday night and my babysitter arrived, I felt ready. As I rocked my baby to sleep before going down to the schoolhouse, I knew we had done it.

Transformation Complete

I know, I still have things to do in the basement. Yes, those desks WILL get done. Books still need to be moved in and labeled. Furniture is still arriving. But, the craziest thing happens now when I walk down my basement stairs.

My old, professional me, clicks into my head. It is the shortest work commute ever but as I step down those fourteen steps, I walk from my mom life and into my teacher life.

It is truly a hybrid. My little one-room schoolhouse is in my home, with my children, but others are coming to join us. The basement has become a meeting point of family, education, and community. I can’t believe it. Transformation complete.

Last night a family was visiting the schoolhouse. After looking around the schoolhouse, the six-year-old daughter asked, “What’s upstairs?” I said, “That’s were I live.” Yes, my dear girl, this is my home and our schoolhouse. Welcome little one! Welcome!

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Homeschool 101

The cherry on top of this week was Homeschool 101! We had fifteen families join us for this amazing event. We talked, we laughed, we learned, we visited, and we built community. I was so glad to welcome all of these families into the world of homeschool and into our schoolhouse.

This event, actually, had nothing to do with the schoolhouse. It was just the gathering point. Rather, this event was all about supporting families starting their homeschool journey.

Each family left with all the materials they need to be a legal Pennsylvania homeschool family. But, I hope they left with more than a binder and some papers. I hope, that like me, they left feeling like they had grown their tribe. That each family felt supported and uplifted.

Looking Forward

Honestly, I can’t wait until July 11th. Why? Because that is our next Homeschool 101 night! I already have a list of seventy interested people on the Facebook event page!

Make sure you move your response to “going” on the Facebook page to secure your RSVP. I will most likely cut this event off at thirty families so you will want to make sure you have your spot reserved early.

A final note: I will most likely do one more Basement Design post after all of the furniture arrives and the desks our done. Due to shipping times, that might be in a few weeks. But, as things come in, I will update “stories” on Instagram and Facebook. Make sure you take a look to see all the changes as things arrive!