home schooling our kids is hard.  and i only do it part time!  over the last 5 years i have fought against how hard it is, wishing instead it were always magical and always went smoothly.  but thats just not reality.  reality is that its hard.  i spent all last year just accepting that this life we chose is hard.  but this year?  this year i am all in.  i have accepted that this is hard, but that doesn’t mean its not good.  we can do hard things.  and you know what?  when we do, it can be beautiful!  both the results and the actual doing.

i got to help at our school (our kids go to school 2 days and school at home 3 days) by fancying up our staff lounge.  its still a bit of a work in progress, but it is so much better than it was!

we love our teachers and staff – they love on our kids so much!  we just wanted to give a little bit back to them, and provide a beautiful resting place for them during their breaks.

the room needed a small kitchenette area, and these crates helped to clean up and organize the area so nicely!

a couple cute canisters and a handful of mason jars did the trick!

we also hung these hooks for bags and coats so they don’t have to be tossed on the floor.

the nicest addition to the room has to be these tufted back benches!  the tables work well for lunch, working alone, or collaborating with other staff members.

and since this room isn’t all about work, but a little reprieve, we installed these magazine holders for some nice distraction time.

i love pieces with a good story:  we needed a new mail sorter, but darn, those things are expensive!  after finding this one on craig’s list a few hours away, struggling for a couple months to coordinate a good pick up time, then finally getting someone to go pick this beast up… the seller heard the story of our school and gave it to us for free!  how great is that?!

i love crates for organization!

this sweet sign from barn owl primitives is a great reminder for our teachers!  what they do is so hard, but so worth it.  i hung it right by the door to encourage the teachers as they head out back to the classrooms.

every time i see this saying, i am such a dork and say to myself “yeah, i can!”

have you checked out barn owl primitives before?  kristi has so many creative signs – these are a couple of my favorites: 1, 2, & 3.

which are your favorites?  guess what?!  kristi has generously offered one of you $75 to her shop!  just enter in the raffle copter below.  and if you just can;t wait to see if you’re the big winner, she’s also offering a 15% discount with code POPPY15 (good through february 10th)!

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway