When we moved into our home almost fifteen years ago, the downstairs area was finished space and all of the upstairs was unfinished and used as a storage area. We kept it that way for years, until we started to homeschool. The year we started to homeschool my husband finished one portion of the space to serve as a school room. Over the years, we later finished a space for an extra bedroom and a closet but we still had a room in the middle that was being used as storage.
*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *
Over the course of this summer, we took everything out of that room and my husband and son finished it into a library/music room!! I have always dreamed of having a home library but never thought it would actually happen. We have a rather large collection of books because we frequent yard sales and used book stores. This gives us a place to neatly store our book collection, a place for their instruments and music practice, a place I can go to sit and read quietly, and a place where they can have friends and hang out chatting or playing board games.
My husband and son did all the work from putting up wood slats for the ceiling, sheet rock on the walls, and carpet tiles on the floor. We were blessed to get a large selection of bookshelves back in the beginning of March from a bookstore that was going out of business. Those finished off three of the walls and gave us a place to store many of our books.
One of my favorite parts was a special touch that my husband put into the room. We are hug fans of C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia. So my husband turned one of the doors into the ‘wardrobe’ that leads to Narnia. This makes me smile every time I see it and reminds me both of my husband’s love and that this world is not my home.
We have one step left, we are going to get quotes from some of our favorite books printed onto vinyl and put up on the walls. We plan to use quotes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Hobbit, and The Green Ember series. I know that we are going to include: “It will not be so in the mended wood.” and “My place beside you, my blood for yours. Till the Green Ember rises or the end of the world!” from theGreen Ember. We also know that we will use “Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” and “Oh Children” from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We are still choosing a couple more from those books and a couple from the Hobbit.
I think our new library might just be my new favorite room! Do you have a favorite room in your house or dreams of a library or special room that you might be able to complete one day?
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
Deals and Freebies
Final 2 Days to get the Ultimate Homeschool Bundle for less than $30! Includes a variety of curriculum from pre-k through high school. What courses are you excited about? I’m going to do the Jane Austen course with my daughter!
So many folks looking for homeschool options at a reasonable price during this unusual time. SchoolhouseTeachers.com is having an amazing sale. For less than $200 you get 2 years access to over 400 courses that you can use with as many students as you have in your home! We use this for several courses and I am always happy to answer questions. Just click on this link and use code: SHARK20
If you are looking for a fun way to encourage reading this summer, check out the FREE summer reading materials from Your Morning Basket with Pam Barnhill. The passport and reading bucket list are a great way to encourage reading!
Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG
Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.
IEW is offering some great free resources right now.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 