the essence

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Our homeschool room is (mostly) finished!!! 

I'm
 so happy to have this done! It was all Ray's doing really - I most
likely would have left this as the guest room and continued using the
kitchen as our classroom. I don't know why I would have done that
because it drove me crazy having the school supplies that would fit in
the kitchen, the rest of the supplies scattered around the house &
the table constantly in use.

We still have some organizing to do & little things to finish, but, I'd say it's about 90% complete.

I
 must mention the table. A LARGE table for only $30!!! Certainly not my
first choice in style or color but it's solid & big enough for us.
I'm so happy with it!

Our Classical Conversations Memory Work whiteboards are directly across from the double doors. 

The
 boards were $7 each at Target and the timeline cards are in page
protectors with sticky velcro on the back of the page protector. The
other velcro sticker is on the wall so I can easily take page protectors
 off of the wall.

It
 makes me so happy to have a place for all common items to go together.
This is so much more efficient & helps me be so much more
productive. Hiding on one of those shelves I have 10 copies of "Climbing
 Parnassus" to give away - anyone want a copy?

I
 got this idea from Briana - a place to put all of the crafty items
where they are organized but too high for tiny hands to reach them! This
 is another unit that came from IKEA & I purchased the chalkboard
stickers for the front of the containers.

Another
 awesome craigslist find! I really wanted the Expedit 5 cuve by 5 cube
but IKEA was crazy & DISCONTINUED THE ITEM!!! I found this one on
craigslist for only $100 - a bargain compared to the original price
& it was still in great condition!

The
 paper chain on the wall is our school day count - at the end of the
school day we add another link to the chain. Florida doesn't require us
to keep track of our school days so I'm only doing this for my own
benefit & accountability.

The
 wall opposite the shelves holds two maps - one of the U.S. & one of
 the world. I bought these a few years ago (it was either 2009 or 2011)
at the Target Dollar Spot! Once the baby is past the stage of ripping
things off the wall I'll probably position these one on top of the
other.

While
 we lost our guest room we gained a much more functional space for our
family. Also, we purposed made sure the kids rooms are able to hold more
 people than kids we have & this table is easily moved to add an air
 mattress. In other words, please come visit, we still have space for
you!