Plan A Kid-Friendly Home Office

Plan A Kid-Friendly Home Office. Anyone who works from home knows it’s hectic. I am fortunate enough to be one of these moms. I’m raising my son while balancing a full-time job. When I moved to Georgia, my family agreed to let me try working remotely, from my home office. I’m a graphic designer for my family’s newspaper/printing company, I work mainly in the printing department. The main office is located in Canada and the company is run by my dad, his sister and his brother. It’s been a part of our family for over a century. I had been living in Georgia and working from home for about a year, when my husband and I found out we were pregnant. When our son arrived, I took four months of maternity leave and then started back working full time. It was easy at first, my son was content in his swing, laying on the ground or sleeping while I worked. He’s almost two now, and figuring out a work/life balance has gotten increasingly harder. So when we moved into our new home, I knew, I would need a shared office space for me to work and my son to play.

Here’s how to Plan A Kid-Friendly Home Office

Plan a joint space

When we bought our home we made sure there was a room that we could use as an office space. I wanted a space where I could work and my son could play. I needed to be able to keep an eye on him, but a safe area where he had some independence as well. That was the goal: a fun, functional space for the two of us. I started by designing a corner, in the office, that was strictly mine. I placed my desk where I had the best line of sight to watch my son. Added shelving and a bulletin board and a few photos that made that corner feel like it was all mine. The rest was kid friendly.

Keep the space organized

I can’t work in chaos, it drives me nuts. If everything is out of place, I can’t concentrate. Seriously, I need a space that’s organized. Granted with a toddler, it’s not always organized, but everything does have a home and that gives me peace of mind. We’ll work on my son’s cleaning and organizational skills next. I wanted a low bookcase with baskets that my son could access easily, but that, you know, was organized. We purchased this bookshelf from Ikea and turned it on it’s side. It’s the perfect height for little ones and very sturdy, not to mention there’s tons of space in the baskets (Ikea has some great options). We organized each basket into groups: music and noise makers, blocks, baby toys (Our second son is due in a month) and a miscellaneous basket for the toys of the week.

Include a quiet area

I knew there would be times when I’d have to answer calls or would need some peace and quiet. A reading nook in the office corner was the best solution for this. I grabbed these picture ledges at Ikea and spaced out three rows to use as book shelves. We seem to have an ever growing selection of books, which is never a bad thing. My little guy “reads”’to himself and it buys me some quiet time to get things done. We used an old chair we already had and added a good pillow and reading light. The lamp (found here) has a foot switch, which my son thinks is amazing. He’ll turn the light on and climb up and grab a book. I count that as a win!

A place for art is a must

My son is just getting into coloring. A couple months ago, I added a little table and a set of chairs to our shared office, so that he could sit and colour or paint, or as it turns out stack the play dough containers. Some days, he’s more interested in flipping the table and chairs upside down and pretending the chairs are slides. Go figure, all the toys he could ever want and he’s happier to inspect how exactly he could tear that little table apart. Anything that gives me extra time to answer the email, that’s been lingering a little too long in my inbox, is fine by me. I wanted to incorporate a magnetic board and a chalkboard into the office, as well. I had seen a few variations on Pinterest and I loved the idea. The chalkboard still doesn’t happen without mom or dad’s supervision, for whatever reason my son thinks chalk tastes good, so he doesn’t get to play with that on his own, yet. The magnet board, however, is a hit. He pulls the magnets off, moves them around and puts them back up. It was a super easy project. I bought two of these drip pans, spray painted one with chalkboard paint and just screwed them both to the wall. We also had a couple of these kitchen rails from our old apartment and added two of these containers, one for extra magnets and one for chalk. I needed my husbands help to keep everything level while installing it, but that was it, super easy! This little room is perfect for my son and I. There are days that it’s hectic and it doesn’t matter that the room has all these great spaces for my son, he wants mom. And that’s totally okay.

A reminder to myself and other work-from-home moms

It’s taken me three years to grasp that no one expects me to be chained to my desk. My bosses trust that I can get my work done, otherwise they wouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement. I struggle with making sure I’m available when someone calls or needs something done. I work quickly to get designs finalized, so I’m ready to go when the next email comes in. A few months back it hit me—if I was in the office, I’d have a lot more distractions. I’d have customers coming in to discuss projects. I’d have coworkers visiting. It’s a never ending parade of distractions when you’re working in that environment. So with that knowledge, I’ve tried to cut myself some slack. It’s okay to take 20 minutes and get on the floor and play with my son. Not only is it okay, it’s a must. I need to step away from my computer from time to time and my son deserves my undivided attention. Motherhood is my favorite job, by far and at the end of the day, it’s the most important. To all the moms working from home, you’re doing a great job, high-five to you, for even taking it on. Working a job and raising your children at the same time is incredibly hard work. There’s never a break, but there are also some pretty gigantic perks! What’s your best advice for other mom’s in our situation? Will you Plan A Kid-Friendly Home Office using some of these ideas? If so, check out these other family friendly ideas, crafts and DIY projects, I’m sure they’ll be a hit:

• Bean Bin for Toddlers
• Make Your Own Guest Book Gallery Wall
• Balloon Dart Art Painting

---

If you get a chance to put this together or use any other ideas on the blog to make like a little easier and want to share a photo of your experience. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see your spin on this! Want more? Subscribe to Candy Jar Chronicles to be amongst the first to know about new content, delivered right into your inbox! To subscribe please enter your email in the subscription box located on the right hand side of this page and press subscribe.