Study area

Our most recent addition/ reno to our house is a study nook for the kiddos. This came about for a number of reasons: I was sick of having their homework books, colouring books, pencils, craft etc all over the dining table and secondly, we are hoping to eventually extend our eldest son's bedroom into the space where our original 'study' space was.

 I am not a fan of desks in kids' bedrooms. I want to be able to see what they're working on or viewing on the i-Pad and computer and help them if they need me to. I also like that they can be involved in each other's learning if they are all in the one place.

This is the closest I have of a before photo of this space:

 It's a funny little area really. We had a play kitchen, dolls houses and a drum kit here.

I began gathering ideas on a Pinterest board. People are so clever! I love getting inspiration from Pinterest. Here is my Study Area ideas board.

Firstly, I cleared it all out. Kitchen went into the cubby house in the backyard, dolls house went into daughter's bedroom, drum kit moved into family room. I then started to collect second hand furniture as it came up on ebay and gumtree. All 3 desks and chairs are originally from Ikea. Desks are called 'Micke' and chairs are called 'Tobias'. Once I knew these were exactly what I wanted, I kept searching gumtree and ebay until one came up. Then I had to be quick to snap them up and my poor long-suffering husband was sent all over Sydney to collect them. He's the best! If I had bought them brand new, the chairs and desks would have cost me $600. Buying them second hand, meant that I got the lot for $240. It took about 2 months to find everything but I think it was worth the saving.

Bit by bit, it started to come together. We bought the overhead cabinet and printer cabinet new from Ikea as they were tricky to come across second hand. After much deliberation and discussion with the husband, we (I) decided to paint a wall with chalkboard paint. I used Dulux brand. It was thick and sticky to roll on, but I'm happy with the final product. I have plans to write up a new quote every month or so.

The wall was finished just in time for our Jonah's 10th birthday. This is the first word art I completed and I loved doing it. This idea was from Pinterest. I now have a Pinterest board for chalkboard ideas. You can check it out HERE.

 Gabby loves using the chalkboard too. Sometimes she writes words on it and sometimes she just draws. Here is one of my faves:

And here is the finished product:

We are really happy with the way it has turned out. The kids enjoy doing their homework here and sometimes I find myself sitting here working on the computer.

To give you an idea of where this space is in our house, the above photo was taken from our lounge room. If you look over the railing behind the lounge in the photo below, you will see the study area.

I love seeing our house come together into something that looks like 'us.' It's certainly a slow process, but we're getting there!

Luke's pinata and Jonah's football jersey cake

My boys have both had birthdays since I last posted on here. Yes- it's been a while! Felt like I had to share their cakes. I love making them and wonder how old they will be when they finally stop wanting a special cake for their birthdays. Until then, I'll keep on enjoying the time I spend thinking about my babies and how they've grown while I decorate their cakes.

So here is Luke's pinata cake for his 8th birthday. Lots of fun to crack open with a hammer and share the goodies inside!

And my biggest baby turned 10 recently. T.E.N! I can't believe I have a 10 year old! Jonah lives and breathes all things soccer. One of his fave players is Lionel Messi who apparently plays for Barcelona. Here is Jonah with his personalised Messi Jersey cake.

Who knew these cute little babies would grow so quickly into young men?! Good thing they're still gorgeous or I might want to put a stop to this growing business!