Cents-able Spaces: Kids Craft Space

Hey there! I haven't posted in the past week as I was out of town. I flew to my hometown to be with my sister when she had her baby. My nephew was born a week ago. I was so glad to be able to be there to experience this special time with my little sister. I flew back home yesterday but my husband & I are making the drive back up there on Friday so he & the kiddos can meet the newest member of the family. So...I've been a little busy.

But I wanted to post our kids craft space. Thrifty Decor Chick is hosting monthly "show us your house party" and this month is craft/office spaces.

kids craft/homework space

I've struggled with this area of our house since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago. There were only 3 bedrooms & a huge bonus room with 2 walk in closets (technically the 4th bedroom) when we bought this house. There was also a fairly large loft area with a built in desk (a.k.a. laminate countertop with cheapo looking base). Hey...but who's complaining the desk area was huge & I could paint the fake wood base (ummm...which still has yet to be done). And I was so excited to finally have a craft area after years of looking at all the awesome craft tables & rooms in the Pottery Barn Kids catalogs.

Shelves from Home Goods & dollar buckets from Target

Okay back to the rooms...we had 3 kids...and coming from a smaller home the bonus room just seemed way too big to give one child as a room. My boys (or I should say my oldest) weren't feeling sharing a room. So....we hired a contractor to put up a wall in the open loft area to make a bedroom for our oldest son. However, his room turned out much smaller than we envisioned (10 x 11) and the kids craft area lost the only window & became very dark.

New wall = Dark

My boys actually shared the bonus room this past summer. We moved their furniture in & they enjoyed living together for a while. I think they enjoyed having the tv & xbox in their room more than sharing the room. But once school started up again it was difficult for them to share. They go to different schools so they have different times they have to be up in the morning. And since there is 4 years between them they have different bedtimes. So...back into their original rooms they went. But as our 14 year old gets bigger & taller (yikes that boy has grown 5 inches in a year) his room seems to get smaller.

Bonus room when boys were sharing room as their bedroom

As for the kids craft/homework space. Although I had such high hopes for this area. It never gets used...I mean NEVER. My youngest two do homework in the kitchen....my oldest does his in his bedroom. As for the crafts as much as I'd like them to be crafty they aren't. And if any crafting is going on it's in the kitchen. So this area outside their bedrooms is such a waste of space and I hate wasted spaces. Don't even get me started about our dining room & "formal" living rooms. I'll save that for another post. :)

These were done a year ago...yes that was the last time we painted

So...what to do???

We have considered lots of different options...

1. I could use the area for office/scrapbooking/crafting. But I know I won't because it's toooo dark. I need lots of natural light. Too depressing without a window. Plus, we have an empty sitting area in our bedroom with lots of great light I'm planning to use for an office area for me.

2. We can remove the desk & put in bookcases to create a reading nook. All 3 of my kids LOVE to read. But still no natural light.

3. We can take down the wall. Create a lounge, tv viewing, xbox playing, reading hangout area for the boys in the open loft area. Move my 14 year old into his sisters room (much bigger than his but would require paint as it's pink now...lol) And move our 7 year old girl into the huge bonus room. Our daughter has the most "stuff"...as in dolls, barbies, strollers, kitchens. She also dances & does gymnastics. So we could keep all her toys in what would be her bedroom. Thought of giving "big room" to the oldest but even he says he just doesn't have a lot of stuff so it would be a waste (smart boy).

The down side to option #3 is losing the playroom/bonus space as it would become one of the kids bedrooms. And the tearing down the wall that we paid to have put up...that would stink! And there's no going back again. And would we want to create a game/teenage space for kids as they get older? Decisions...decisions....