Brighter days ahead in our newly painted schoolroom

When we were considering buying a new house last spring, one of my wish list items was a schoolroom. We had homeschooled for two years at the dining room table. We had one little corner to store our things and everything had to be put away so we could eat at the table. So we didn't eat at the table often.

The Lord answered my prayer in this house. We have a little schoolroom that serves us quite nicely. And it's right beside a bathroom, so when the kids have to take a bathroom break, they're not running all over the house.

The room was the right size - not too big, not too small. But it was the most boring shade of taupe you've ever seen. And worse, the paint on the walls was a flat paint, hard to clean but easy to peel off, especially when putting posters up with sticky tack.

Last week I mentioned to Charles that I'd like to paint the schoolroom before we started the second semester. Yellow was what I had in mind. I needed to head to Lowe's or Home Depot to check out some colors. Instead, Charles told me to take a look at some paint cans he had in the storage shed. This man does not get rid of paint, let me tell you. In case we need to match a color later on, he'll keep the can.

Lo and behold, there on the shelf was a can of yellow paint. It was the color I'd had in mind, too. Funny thing, we used that color in our old house to paint the top half of Mr. Lego's room (the bottom half was dark green with lighter green grass blades painted on to go with our jungle theme). The date on the can was 2001. That's when he was born. And the can was still 3/4 full! We took it to Lowe's and had them shake it up for us. Then Charles graciously took time out of his busy schedule to paint the room for me. He's a much better painter than I am.

The room looks great! It's so bright in there instead of drab and dull. That's especially important this time of year when it seems so cold and dreary. The posters can be stuck to the wall now and the paint won't peel off.

But the best part, the most exciting part....the paint was FREE! We saved ourselves at least $18 by reusing 9-yr-old paint. Now isn't it funny that I wanted yellow for that particular room? And I had no idea we had any of that old paint left?

Want to see some pictures? I don't have any before pics to compare, unfortunately.

Yes, I now the map is a little crooked. I'm a little short. I couldn't reach over the bookshelf and get it straight. We'll live.


This is my desk and the first thing you see as you come through the door. It will not stay this neat and clean for long, I assure you.


This is one of my favorite things about having a schoolroom - a dry erase board! This was free, too. The lady who lived in this house before us was an artist and used these boards for stability while she painted. She left several in the house when she moved, so we've put them to good use. It's simply white shower board that you'd find at a home improvement store. Charles took one that didn't have any paint on it and mounted it to the wall for me. I love it!


This is the view from Mr. Lego's corner of the room. My mother retired from teaching kindergarten a few years ago and gave me a lot of her bulletin board stash, including the dry erase calendar beside my desk. I just change the month banner at the top and fill in the correct days each month. The kids take turns marking off days so they know how many days are left in the month.


And what would a tour of the brightened up schoolroom be without the brightest part of all, the students? Goofy smiles and all, they are the reason homeschooling matters to me.


I'm so grateful to my dear husband who painted for me. He actually enjoys painting. And well, I do not. So thank you, love. Our lives (and schoolroom) would be so dull without you.