5 Tips to Create the Perfect Kid’s Desk Homework Station
Let us help you put together an organized kids’ desk homework station or arts & crafts area. If you make it fun…they will come!
Complete your space using our IKEA kid’s desk hack and print some colorful inspirational wall decor and also find creative ways to organize kids’ school and artwork.
Hi Friends! This is Kristin from Postbox Designs Interior E-Design, I’m an Interior Designer but I’m also a mama to three. I believe kid’s spaces need to be both functional and FUN: functional so it will work for its intended use and fun so the kiddos will actually use it!
1. Keep it Simple
Unless you want to be constantly tidying up your kid’s study space, make your kid’s desk homework station super simple and user-friendly! This simple desk with a painted pegboard allows for easy decor changes. It can be used to display kids’ artwork or tack up their sports schedule. Add in the painted Ikea spice racks to store notebooks and papers or to organize craft supplies.
image source: Steph Bond
2. Vertical Space is your BFF.
Often, kids’ work areas must fit in a small space. Use the vertical space to double or even triple the function. Below, the low shelf keeps craft supplies organized and the patterned cork board displays kids’ artwork. Additionally, the vertical cabinet with it’s combination of open and closed storage allows kids easy access to the open shelves while the closed drawers keep the look clean and tidy.
image source: Lorena Siminovich
3. Personalize the Space
If you have the room, create a different “station” for each child. Here in the homework center of my house, each child has their own station. If your homework space is limited, assign a drawer, special tray or cubby to each child or create a caddy for each child that can be stored away when not in use.
4. Use Budget-Friendly Accessories
When designing for kids’ spaces, use a mix of durable pieces that will withstand use and inexpensive pieces that won’t break the bank if ruined. This kid’s study space and activity center is composed of Ikea parts! The desk cabinets, top, and shelf are all Ikea budget-friendly yet are durable and easy-to-clean. Add in some fun pops of color like the yellow lights and turquoise door and the kids will be naturally drawn to the space.
image source: Saarkeloves via Instagram
5. Keep it FUN
Practical and organized kids’ spaces are good, but fun and bright colors, patterns, and themes automatically make a space more attractive to kids. While the desk above showed bright pops of color, the double homework desk below creates a fun atmosphere with neutral colors. The soft colors of the vintage schoolhouse light fixture, wall decor and desks are offset by the bright colored items.
image source: IKEA
How to Create a “Wild & Free” Kid’s Desk Homework Station
I created an exclusive Mood Board today just for you Remodelaholic Readers! Click the links to items in this “Wild & Free” animal-themed kids’ area. It would work well for boys or girls of all ages. As a homework desk or kids’ activity center, the desk is small enough to fit into a nook of a bedroom or put a couple side-by-side for multiple children to work at the same time.
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Bonus: Homework Station PLUS Playroom Idea & 5 more homework stations
Recently I created this Homework Station + Playroom for a pair of school-aged siblings. My clients have a boy and a girl, so the space needed to work well for both genders. They also wanted the space to do multiple duty as a homework area, play space, craft table, and reading nook. Click the image to check out more of this room, and see below for FIVE more kid’s desk ideas:
Thank you so much to the whole Remodelaholic gang for letting me hang with you all today! If you want to know more about how Online Interior Design works, you can check it all out How E-Design Works or send me an email at kristin@postboxdesigns.com. Also, I have a Free Resource Library chock full of free Guides, Mood Boards, Shopping Lists and more!
-Kristin
Click any link for more homework station ideas:
Colorful loft homework station
Shared home office + homework station
Inspiring homework station ideas
Originally published 01.24.2018 // Updated 06.25.2019
Kristin is an interior designer, wife, and mom to three cuties. She started Postbox Designs E-Design so she could be at home with her kids while still doing what she loves. She is obsessed with wingback chairs, gray walls, and anything herringbone. When she's not chasing around her kids or her Labradoodle pup Jasper she's sharing budget friendly designs at postboxdesigns.com (instagram.com/postboxdesigns, instagram.com/postboxdesigns).
Before I was a parent, homework stations seemed so useful and cool. Reality can be a cruel mistress!
Beware of solutions that don’t offer enough space to spread out books, binders, and paperwork. It ends up taking far more lateral surface than most imagine. Also, you’ve got to allow for a space that’s sized for a parent (or two) to be intimately involved in the homework process. You’re almost certainly going to need to be right next to the action to supervise, guide, and audit the work. Nothing like a week’s worth of dismal grades to prompt much closer involvement.
Frequently, I think nifty-looking homework stations end up unused as operations migrate to the dining table or breakfast nook. Often, kids don’t want to be and/or, for the sake of actually getting stuff finished before bedtime, should not be cordoned off or relegated to remote spaces for homework.
To me, homework stations are similar to the “bill paying” stations that were kind of a trending thing a few decades ago. Nobody wants to be jammed into a dark, isolated, and often too-small corner of the kitchen to try to organize and pay bills. In fact, now almost all of that activity takes place next to a computer, with paper shredder, document scanner, and other home office stuffs close at hand.
I love these stations, and thank you so much for sharing your outstanding workstation for kids.
What size top is in the picture right above#5?