{Small Spaces} A little learning space

Today, Ting would be sharing with us how she carved out a learning area for her son. She manages also to keep all his learning materials organized, and shares how she does that.

Ting is a recently converted Stay-At-Home Mommy with a three year old son. She also started blogging frequently at "Miracule, Everything Happened for a Reason", to share her life as a SAHM, as well as bits and pieces of her child's growing up years. As the family of three is still staying the parents-in-laws while waiting for their own flat to be ready, read on to find out how they managed to create a little cosy space for their growing child.

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I stopped working two months ago and removed KD from childcare, so that i can spend quality time with KD before his sibling arrives. As we are still staying with my parents-in-laws, and the new home will be ready in a few months time, it's necessary for me to setup up a temporary new space in YeYe's home so that I can engage KD in meaningful, interactive, learning activities without too much distraction. This space is new because previously we didn't require this space, as everyone is working and KD goes to play and learn in the childcare centre. However, although I call it a Study Space, please note that I am not a "Kiasu" parent wanting KD to "study" at 3 years old, I just want to continue to engage him like what he is used to in the childcare.

It's not easy to find a suitable space in the very cluttered home with good natural lighting. As I do not want to restrict KD to doing everything (sleep, play, learn) in our bedroom, I ended up moving the furniture around in the living room (with the blessings of in-laws) to create a nice corner for KD. We can use the living room as everyone is out for work in the day, thus there will not be a computer, TV, a bed or his toys boxes to distract him. :) We have been spending our mornings up till lunch time in this room, usually from Mondays to Fridays. If you are keen to find out more about what we have done, you can click here.

KD's study corner in the living room. 

This is his study area in the middle of nowhere, but it's cosy enough! Doesn't it have a classroom environment?  The table is from Ikea at S$39 a set, inclusive of two similar chairs. However, as the chairs couldn't withstand KD's jumps, I replaced the chairs with this very nice and colorful study plastic chairs that i found in the Giant Supermarket! You may wonder why do I need four chairs? Well, my vision is use them to set up a more beautiful space in my new home with more children! KD is also a very good boy, as he will help me return the chairs back after our "class".

KD packing up after we are done.

The blue, green and yellow chairs were purchased during a sale at only S$10 each, but pink was sold out then. So I went back to buy the pink chair on another day without the discount at S$15 instead. :) Having four colourful chairs not only helps to brighten up the area, they also allow me to ask KD which chair he wants to sit in each day. It also gives him another opportunity to make a choice, on top of his choices of clothes and food etc.

Beautiful colourful chairs from Giant

The art board easel (if you noticed, it's standing in the balcony area! ;p) is also from Ikea and it's really good to have! It is extremely helpful, especially when the study space is in the middle of nowhere. We have ample space to move in front or behind, as one side is a whiteboard which KD can doodle on and it's easy to clean. The other side is supposed to be a black board, but as KD is asthmatic and I do not want the mess, I used it as a board to stick on some posters, or projects. 

Front of easel

Back of easel

Now that I have the space created, where do I keep his books and writing & art supplies? They are all very well organized inside this big box with wheels below, that I can easily tuck under a table and pull out when needed. It has a cover too, thus preventing dust from settling onto his books. This is another great buy from Giant Supermarket!

KD's box with wheels that can easily be pulled out from under the table.

The stationery and art supplies are packed into different clear ziplock bags, so it is very easy to identify and pull out the respective stationery quickly for endless activities and fun. We have all the stamps in one bag, everything related to painting - paints, brushes, waterproof apron etc in another bag, marker pens in another separated from the crayons. Pencils, safety scissors, erasers and glue are kept separately in a pencil case that we placed at the table instead. I store books for practicing writing (alphabets and numbers), right brain development, left brain development, coloring, stickers, Chinese, Maths and more inside the box.

KD's art supplies packed into separate ziplock bags.

What greets us upon lifting up the cover. 

Organized and easy access to different activity books. 

And of course, the most important feature: I stuck up all his work up on the wall in our bedroom itself. This is to serve as a gentle reminder for him about what he has done and has hopefully learnt, as well as to allow him to show them to Daddy when Daddy is home from work. :)

KD's work.

All in all, the space may be temporary, however it's really cosy and serves it's purpose well. Until we get our keys to new home that is. :)

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Ting certainly has everything well organized, isn't it? I think she did a great job, especially since this space was squeezed out from her in-laws home. And if you need more organization ideas, do take a peek at how another mum, Jasz, keeps all her son's toys and materials organized by hopping over to this post.

I hope you've enjoyed this series as much as I have. We'll be starting to count our blessings for December starting today, but you'll still be seeing "Small Spaces" posts now and then on the blog. Oh, and do hop by later for a really nice giveaway!

{Thankful Today} 1 Dec: Beginning

Its a brand new month! Today, I am thankful for all beginnings. The birth of a baby. The starting of school with its opportunities and new books. The start of a new month. The beginning of a new day, as the sun rises and gives forth light and warmth. On bad days, I am glad that I can go to bed and tell myself that tomorrow will be a better day. Perhaps God gives us nights and days, to allow us to have hope in the breaking of each new day?

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness."

- Lamentations 3: 22-23

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. 

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{Small Spaces} So much to do, so little room!

Kids spaces are often the busiest in the home. There's sleeptime to accomodate. Then you need to store toys (which tend to multiply like rabbits!), learning materials and books. And you need room for play, exploration, and art work. How do you squeeze all that into one room? Today, we have Adora to share how she manages to squeeze all that into the room shared by her two little girls!


Adora is mum to Poppy, 4, and Calla, 7 months, and blogs at "The Gingerbread Mum". She is a freelance writer for parenting magazines and runs Buggy Bee Kids, a crafts-for-kids business, when she's not changing dirty diapers or doing rubber band round-ups. Adora enjoys cheap chocolate, smelling her baby’s neck, and would really like a good night’s sleep.

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I often look at pictures of homeschooling rooms and drool. Unfortunately, we don't have the room for a dedicated homelearning room, so we make do. We're very lucky to be living in a place with considerably big bedrooms. The challenge is that we have to fit many functions into that one room - The girls' bedroom houses a cot for Calla, a bed for Poppy, a set of chest of drawers, toy storage, a bookcase, changing table, small wardrobe, and table plus chairs. That's alot of stuff.

The Door

We have little wall space and have realised that the paint comes off easily if we stick anything to the walls. So we utilise the space on our doors instead. Poppy is in charge of keeping the calendar up to date. Poppy and I finally made it officially also Calla's room by putting her name up. It's washi tape (thank you for sending some over to us, MamaJ!) covering letter cut outs from cereal boxes.

Welcome to our hideout!

First Look

Poppy's bed is from IKEA (actually it's easier to play the "Guess-What's-NOT-from-IKEA" game), and is reversible. For a long time it was the other way round, and she slept on the upper bunk. It's down now, just for the fun of it. It is sandwiched between a small wardrobe and the changing table.

Calla hangs out sometimes, especially when Poppy and I are doing a craft. The carpet on the ground is a new addition. We don't really believe in gender specific toys and Poppy loves to roll her (very few) cars around on the mat. Sometimes they have to make detours because 'a certain little giant' is blocking the roads.

One of my favourite things is the POPPY bunting that I made a long time ago (seen in subsequent pictures). It was one of the ways to teach her to recognise her name, and I really enjoyed making it too.

The Wall

We were really thrilled when we got this wall sticker installed before Poppy was born. It's so cheerful, which is perfect for a child's room. The only problem was that we couldn't really put any furniture against this wall. Well technically we could, but that would be kind of a waste, wouldn't it? So we figured the cot would be the best :)

Hi there!

Toy Storage

Most of Poppy's toys go in these colourful Trofast boxes (no guesses as to where they are from).  They're all easily accessible. I strive (but often fail) for neatness but I firmly believe that kids must be able to reach their own toys. Then 1) they will play with them often and on their own accord, and 2) there's no excuse for not being able to keep them

The big red box on top is mine - scrap craft materials and the like. Then moving down, drawer by drawer, there's bits and pieces of miscellaneous toys that don't really fit into any category, Duplo blocks, plastic animals, Lego blocks/vehicles (cos for now, all of them get played on the carpet), and train tracks and trains. Right at the bottom are board games.

Learning Area

Our old learning area was not very pro-learning. It was always in a mess. Toys and learning materials were constantly jostling for space on our 2 old-and very flimsy-set of shelves. Nothing was accessible. Plus, half the table was always covered with a pile of stuff. Not conducive at all.

A trip to IKEA solved all that. A sturdy bookcase and an afternoon of packing resulted in this:

Right on top of the bookcase is "Mama's stuff". She's not allowed to touch those things. That's my newly bought (I'm so proud of it, I am, I am!) laminator, and it's not shown in the picture, but there's also my box of dangerous stuff like one hole puncher, and sticky tape with sharp edges, magnetic tape. Stuff that I don't want her playing with.

The top shelf houses crayons, markers, coloured pencils and scissors housed in recycled yoghurt containers, the second shelf is for her school stuff (readers from school and reading cards from her teachers), and the yellow document holders hold the things we're doing for the current week. Below, there are boxes holding paints, stamps, and other materials. Right at the bottom are where all sorts of paper is kept - recycled paper for her to draw on, coloured paper that we use for crafts, and our collection of lapbooks in a magazine holder. On the side, we've stuck on hooks for her bags.

The wall holds some of her craft/art work. The 2 drawings are of Calla and Poppy, done by Poppy :) I so wanted to have the whole area dedicated to learning and move the chest of drawers out of the way but there just isn't any room. But looking at it, I suppose it does work rather well.

Artwork Display

This is where artwork is left to dry, and sometimes, left there for a l-o-n-g time. Ultimately I'm going to paste a big blackboard sticker (as opposed to painting the wall with blackboard paint) on that strip of wall and we can then write on it with chalkboard markers. I can't wait.

In case you were wondering, it's "Germany", not "Germ Ant" :P

So there you have it. Alot of stuff, done in not alot of room!

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Such a cozy room, and a great use of space, don't you think? Thanks Adora, for sharing your daughters' room! If you have a small space to share with us, do drop us an email, and here's to a blessed weekend!

{Small Spaces} A lovely little room

There are a few things that I especially love seeing in kid's spaces: vintage findings, handmade treasures and the display of children's art. And we're going to take a peek into a room that has all three! Evelyn would be bringing you for a tour of her kids' room, and I'll leave her to introduce herself: 

Hi! I'm Evelyn and I blog at The Bottomsup Blog. I never thought much about what I wanted my living space to look like, until I discovered Apartment Therapy about five years ago. My previous home was renovated in two weeks on a terribly tight budget; I picked colours, tiles, and furniture on a whim and it didn't occur to me to think about the big picture, creating a cohesive look, or what I wanted my home to represent. Thanks to Apartment Therapy and other inspirational DIY blogs and magazines like Living ETC, my new home reflects our family's aspirations towards a fun and creative life, and I'm here today to give you a room tour!

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Hi! I'm Evelyn, mom of Layla and Z--they're 6 and 1! My kids will share a room eventually, but right now the room is mostly Layla's. So come on in, and first I'd like you to met the pink side of her room:

And this is the grey side:

Permanence makes me uncomfortable, generally. I know that's not considered a strength, but I think it comes in handy when you're planning a kid's room! I have one kid who's just a couple of years away from plastering her room in boy band posters (sigh), and another who's probably weeks away from drawing all over the walls. For them, I want a room with elements that can be switched around or replaced easily, and that's what we've got.

First, the bed. You might've noticed that Layla sleeps on a mattress, on the floor. We all do, and there's a story behind this: I like wrought iron bed frames, but my husband likes wooden frames. It's hard to make the two meet, so we did what all married couples do--we avoided a tussle by not getting beds at all. It helped that we already knew baby #2 was on the way when we were planning our rooms, and we wanted to avoid those bed roll-offs as well.

Right now we're using a giant version of the Hungry Caterpillar board book as a headboard. I found it for $8 at a bargain bookstore and grabbed it! If you know the story, you'll know that all the days of the week get a mention in the book. Layla uses it to track which day she's on, and she hasn't missed a day yet:

Next to Layla's bed is her box of vintage (or vintage-looking) and handmade goodies. Well... maybe it's more like my box of goodies. My mom painted the box by the way. More of my mom's artwork coming up soon!

These dollhouses are a gift from my dad: He bought the one on the left, and made the one on the right (out of Daiso wood planks). I did the easy bit: Wallpapering!

Peering into her dollhouses makes me smile:

Over on the pink side of Layla's room is her roll-top desk; that was our only splurge for her room. Sometimes I'll arrange her knick knacks for her, but she created this display herself:

Her desk is also where I place artwork; I love pieces made by the people around us--anyone and everyone can create art, and good art at that. This was drawn and printed for her by a mom blogger friend:

Clipboards are useful for displaying artwork! I prefer to showcase one piece at a time and store the rest in ziploc bags and folders. Layla worked on this with her dad and this is her current favourite:

Her desk is also home to random stuff made by me! This one's a collage featuring her grandmother's picture:

My kids are lucky because they have one grandmother who sews, and another who paints. More of my mom's paintings:

Of course, you can't talk about a kid's room without mentioning storage. I have my IKEA Trofast boxes too, but I prefer to keep them out of sight. For storage that's out in the open, I like to use baskets:

And cardboard boxes. When you find a box like this, there's only one thing to do with it: Keep it and use it!

Finally, our life would be a lot less pretty if suitcases didn't exist:

That's it from me for today. Thanks for joining us on this room tour!

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That certainly was one room filled with lots of love! I especially liked the idea of having that giant board book as a headboard, and the use of baskets and suitcases to store things. What about you? Do you have a special small space to share? Do drop us a note!

{Small Spaces} D's room

Today, Dotz is sharing her son's room with us! I love her crafty little blog, and this is what she has to say about herself:

I'm a stay-at-home mum who loves having the excitement, challenges and beauty that each day brings. Every day is a new opportunity to learn more about love and to trust God for all the little and big moments, through both joys and trials. I have two boys, big D, 2+, and little D, 4.5 months, and one big boy aka hubby, who is my pillar of support and the voice of reason in all situations. I love all my boys very much!

 In my spare time, I love to scrap simple layouts and projects, because I believe in cherishing every precious memory. Along the way, I've learnt that it's better not to aim for the perfect layout or artpiece, because there are too many moments to capture! Better to enjoy the journey and move on... :) I also do customized scrapbooking pieces and cards as a small home business. You can find me at Dottieshop.

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Ever since we knew number #2 was on the way, we decided to move our older boy, big D, to his own room. That was when he was about 15 months old. Thankfully, he adjusted very quickly to his new 'big boy bed' and surroundings! Over the months, we've been adding bits and bobs to his room and around the house, to make it more child-friendly and fun! Come, have a look...

The view when you enter the room - on a neat day. We put a mattress next to his bed in event of night-time tumbles. It's also handy when I'm playing with both boys in the room, as the mattress doubles up as a play mat for little D to roll around on! As you will see, most of the furniture in the room is from good old Ikea.

The chest of drawers which serves as the boys' 'wardrobe'. Each boy has a drawer, and the bottom drawer holds bedding, towels, swim diapers and a few other odds and ends...

Their bookshelf is pretty full at the moment. It fits snugly under the window. We love to read!

Against the other wall in the room are their toys. Stuffed animals, mostly inherited from their dad and I, go into the mesh cylindrical containers on the floor. Duplo blocks take up one container on wheels, and the other is filled with anything transport-related, including an aeroplane, several cars and a train... The cupboard holds big D's art materials, while the shelves above contain more toys! Didi's rattles and various puzzles fill the boxes on the lower shelf for now.

Here's a closer look! Everything thrown nilly willy into the boxes, as you can see... ;) If you ask me, I think they have way too many toys... :(

Some precious items for the wall. The otter picture was beautifully illustrated by the clever Dawn Tan of handmade-love, the birdcage print is a gift from a good friend, and the colourful masterpiece was one of big D's first attempts at finger painting!

So, you might be wondering where that painting took place? Well, to avoid messing up the room too much, we created a little study/play corner for the boys outside in the living room. It's where big D gets his painting and colouring done, and does crafts with me once in a while. Little D normally sits near us in his comfy chair while we do art, so we can include him in our conversations.

Thanks for visiting our little space! :)

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I especially love all those little personal touches on the wall. Thanks Dotz for sharing your boys' space with us! Do drop by tomorrow to take a peek into a lovely little girl's room, and drop us a note if you have a small space to share with us!