How to get your child’s bedroom study ready & styling at the same time

This post is sponsored by Sealy – An mattress and foundations company with the vision to to help the world sleep better.

We have all been challenged in one way or another with lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic that is affecting virtually everyone around the globe. South Africa, as with many other countries, implemented lock-down at the end of May 2020. For a lot of us moms it meant starting to home school our kids.

The first few weeks was a blur, an emotional roller-coaster and simply put – chaotic. Then one Saturday morning I decided it was time to change the situation, it was up to me to take charge of the situation (and get to DIY at the same time). I went into manny’s room, moved things around, got organized, cleaned up and created a beautiful and dedicated study space for him. This literally changed the way we did things for around 4 weeks before and with better light, better use of space and simply being organised… there was peace.

I can actually not believe that I have never shared images of manny’s big boy bedroom now that he is in ‘big school’. (See this link for how the room looked before). But glad that I can now share the full reveal with some tips on how to get your child’s bedroom study ready and styling at the same time.

Not all houses have dedicated home office spaces and even if you do your child might not be comfortable sitting on their own doing their homework in that space. I find that doing schoolwork in the Kitchen or Living room does not work as there are simply too many distractions and we don’t get anything done. It is vitally important to create a dedicated space for your child to study or do their homework at, I find that their bedrooms are a great space that they can ‘own’ and creating a study space within this space helped my son to concentrate and getting his work done better.

But first, the kids bedroom reveal… Two years ago we gifted manny with a bunk bed, it was an unpainted bunk bed that we opted to DIY ourselves, but ended up being way more work than initially anticipated. I painted 3 days straight and was completely exhausted afterwards. I am so glad that we were able to choose good mattresses for the beds as I think I needed it more than him after the project was done.

I looooooved this bedding the first time I laid eyes on it on a trip to Holland and it was really really inexpensive so I bought it. Friendy Liezel from Match Set Love made some vinyls that I added to the wall similar to the ones on the duvet covers that brought the whole look together. The bookshelf was a thrift find and we purchased a small desk a year ago when he started ‘big school’. I am so proud of my circular painting skills – who knew I had that in me, but I think that the room turned out great!

7 tips for creating a dedicated study space in a kids bedroom

1. Create an inviting space. It is so important to make you child feel part of the design process of the space. If they don’t like the space they will simply not want to use it. Keep their needs and tastes in mind.
2. Eliminate as much distraction as possible. Always try avoiding placing a desk in front of a window, kids (and even adults) are easily distracted and can loose track of what they are doing if something else catches their attention.
3. Make sure that you have adequate and good lighting – If you have a space with great natural lighting that is a big win, otherwise you can also add a beautiful study lamp to assist with creating more functional light.
4. Have a table that is big enough for a few items that you need to do homework with but small enough to keep it from growing clutter, it is important that they can spread out their work on the table without items dropping to the floor the whole time. It is also just as important that the table is free from things that can distract them, so choosing the optimal table size is important.
5. Keep tools needed for study close at hand, have a dedicated storage space for pens and other stationery and possible have a desk that has a space or drawer for storage of items like calculators or coloring pencils that are used less often.
6. Have a comfortable chair to sit on, it is also important that the chair is the right height for the desk, else your kid will slouch or have to stretch to complete their work. Add a cushion if needed, but make sure that they have the correct posture.
7. Add some positive imagery or motivational art. Art always inspires me and I just feel that it sets a mood for a space. Making use of inexpensive printables or free ones allows you to change the art more often. Even a pin board would be a great idea just above the desk.

If you have the studying part under control I found these sleep tips over on the Sealy website that are really worth a read!

Thank you to Melanie Wessels Photography for the beautiful images of the room.

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