Wish the fireplace was a built in book case instead. We have another fireplace at another part of the house. Not sure if we can take out fireplace/chimney as it holds up the house.
Window pic shows window to the room looking out the view of house, one sliding door. Kitchen view you see when looking out of the room, look past the kitchen and see the room.

Suggestions?

Anyone wants to stab at this one?

fill it up with furniture?

What kind of advice are you looking for? Do you have a budget and no furniture that will be moved in?

I guess in our homeschool room right now we have this large conference table which I don't think will fit in that room comfortably because of the fireplace.
I am debating moving the homeschooling room to a larger room. See pic below but it is the first room you see when you walk into the house and kind of unsightly to see a big homeschool room when first walking in. I was trying to avoid that look and just have one front room for guests that make it look nice. Sigh!
So we have a long desk that has file cabinets as the base and that desk has three computers (PC) on it with monitor screens holders and pullout keyboard thingies.

Budget for the whole house : $30,000. Help me spend it.

Hire a local designer.

How many kids? How old? What kind of activities need to take place in the room?

I home schooled my three sons (in college now) and I would not have put a TV in any room that I wanted creative work to take place in.

Unless they are very young, separate and private desks for their computers & school work would be better for being productive, tucked away from one another as much as possible. Even small ones, like the carousels they have in college libraries would be good. Then a large work-table in the center (or wherever it fits) for group work or art projects etc.

The fireplace is a nice focal point...could be cool with floor cushions or beanbag chairs around it for flopping & reading (or listening to mom reading). If you don't want to use it for fires, some candles or other inside safe flames in front of it to make it appealing at night.

Lots of storage along the walls (preferably with doors to hide the chaos!) and some free floor-space to do things (lego, disemboweled electronics, crafts etc).

Looks like a nice room, and more space than we ever had (I would have loved to have my living room and dining area for their intended uses!)...I'm sure you will make it something beautiful and useful.

Merry Christmas!

Currently being homeschooled are two soon to be 13yrs olds, 11yrs, 5yrs. So four right now. Plus the 2yrs old who just hangs out for now. I may have additional child homeschooling next year. She is 17yrs. Plus a newborn granddaughter. My older 20yrs old may be back in college next year too. Trying to convince him. 16yrs old is still in school. My older three wanted to go to school once they were older. So just homeschooling four right now.

Yes you are right separate spaces are important. When I find them talking and getting distracted with each others work or computer screens, I end up sending them in different rooms now. So good idea about separate work spaces using carousels. Where to find these?

I do want an office desk/teacher desk for me while I work on grading and on my nonprofit organization. We are starting a makerspace for kids and families.

Now my 5yrs old and 2yrs old both have autism. I really need to find a good space to homeschool him. He prefers the floor as he "falls" off chairs somehow. He is a really antsy kid. Crash pad needed big time. I might have to get him a weighted vest.

Our family has a lot of computer work. They do a lot of work on the computer. Online programs. Writing Class with Attuneup, Code Academy, Dreambox, Jiji Math through the MIND Institute, Study Island, Reading Eggs, ABC mouse. Art classes-taught by TV videos. HomeArtStudio, Atelier. They watch a video and then gather supplies and go for it. Same with Spanish Excelerate Spanish since their Spanish is no longer a vendor with our charter school. Then Chinese also video based. Rosetta Stone perhaps for ASL although currently we are working with a deaf tutor to quickly be immersed in order to communicate with youngest son.

. We have different tutors that come in and work with the kids. So that is when the big large table in the middle would come into play and is a great idea. We are using Moving Beyond the Page and that requires literature discussions so we will use the big table for those.

Our family is into robotics, gardening, sewing, crafting, engineering stuff, programming, soldering, enameling etc.

I need space to keep all the school supplies too. Books, books, books and more books. Pens, papers, poster boards, art supplies, markers, colored pencils, laminator, paper cutter, hole puncher, stapler. I am ready to attach the stapler to a table or shelf because it is always missing as well as the tape dispenser.

Right now the two yrs old and 5yrs old has 20 hours of ABA therapy from 9-12 pm everyday. Then we rush and go to speech therapy for both of them in the afternoons about three times of week. Rest of week is spent taking kids to dance or gymnastics or HackerScouts.

We also raise chickens, ducks, chinchillas, snakes and fish and a dog.

Forget setting up the home school room...first you need a Mom Cave to hide out in for some quiet time! LOL

Do you have outdoor space you can use? (I'm assuming you aren't super-urban with the critters) With such a big and active crew, I personally would consider using some of that budget to put up a yurt to house a generous portion of the activities. ( http://www.yurts.com/ for some examples) Between the in-house space and an out-of-house space you could designate one or the other as a quiet(er) spot so that when some kids get overwhelmed they have a calm place away from the chaos to get centered and work quietly. My three nephews are on the Spectrum, so I have been watching what my brother and his wife have been doing over the past 12 + years. With a big busy household, space and the ability to physically compartmentalize can be more of a blessing than anything that can be done with decor.

Mom Cave....well I didn't consider that when I purchased the house. There is space downstairs under the stairs where the furnace is. Not very pretty down there but maybe can be converted. It is all dirt and stuff now.

Oh we are urban. We live right next to Oakland, CA. In fact it borders us. So along with my four chickens clucking and 3 ducks quacking, I get to hear gun shootings. My new house is higher in the hills. So with my view I can see the gun shootings along with hearing it.

We have some city rule that we cannot build something separate from the house bigger than a certain size. Trust me, if I could I would build a hobbit hole separate from my house.

Yes my oldest son who is 20yrs is also on the spectrum. I cried and fell into depression when my 2nd son was diagnosed with autism too. I went through hell to get my 20yrs old to where he is now--he broke my wrist, had bruises all over my back when he would shove me against the bookshelf in a rage, he tried to hang himself twice, tried to run into moving traffic, he kicked the door with his foot during a time out and made his toes bleed as he lost his toenails at age 3yrs, headbanging, 20 seizures a day, he spent his early years scripting all Disney movies and lining toys up etc

Now with my 3rd son diagnosed with nonverbal autism and possibly apraxia as well, I have no more tears to shed. I am a lot more vocal now with what I want and will not stop short to get legal aid to make sure I am a strong advocate for the boys.

I wished I had gotten a special ed lawyer with my older one. Things would not have been so bad for him if I had gotten a lawyer to represent us at his schools and with Regional Center. Live and Learn! My Mom Cave is going to be my bedroom. My husband and I want a Star Wars room. We both love Star Wars. In fact we had a Star Wars wedding with the theme playing on church organs during our recessional. I would love a Millennium Falcon bed with LED lights. In fact my youngest son is named Falcon Jet. My 5yrs old is named Talon Orion. So I definitely want a constellation in one of my bathrooms and a room decorated with raptors too.

Oh another hobby of ours: we reenact Vikings. We belong to a guide that does Viking reenactments and do events to the community. I would love to build a Viking encampment. Maybe we can have a Nordic Motif in a room or two. Ikea here we come.

Hey maybe I can turn the fireplace into a hidey hole for my sons.;) They like to hide in small spaces.

Just send them to a regular school and use your rooms how they should be! It's an admirable thing to do and I respect you for it, but I never could!

The outside space sounds great but then I remember I have a nonverbal eloper attracted to water and cars. UGH! We have no fence right now. We need to build a fence before we move in. I hate to imprison our family but it is the only way to keep the youngest one safe. The police dept is getting some tracker device through this grant money to place on my son because he is extremely stealth. We were at the park with a whole group of moms and kids and he managed to freak us out and leave and walk away far away. He was literally right next to us and then boom "Gone" not a sound, not a word. He stays away from people but again where ever there are cars and water that is where he will be.

Sorry John Cuck I did send three of them to regular schools. One barely finished because I didn;t fight enough for special ed for him and was bullied so bad nearly hung himself twice, , the other got pregnant at 17yrs and the other had a death threat on her and the police found the weapon in this boys house and she was only in 6th grade at the time. This is all in a nice school district too. San Ramon. I am not making the same mistake. This is a different world/time. Society/schools are different than it use to be. My middle school girls are on a great track right now. They just took the PSATs and scored 70% higher than average sophomores. Not on drugs, no attitudes and no one making death threats. After 3rd grade in Castro Valley, they begged me to homeschool them. I am homeschooling to keep my life sane. I had six kids going to two different school districts in four different schools. Forget that!

Ok I need to make sure Santa is ready to place the presents soon so I need to get the kids to bed. This year, i didnt have time to get a tree. So my daughter drew a picture of a tree on butcher paper and we will all decorate tomorrow with friends coming over. Oh that reminds me I need to bring out the crafts for tree decorations.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I search on houzz with 'double-sided room divider' - a way to 'hide' computers from guests at the front door?

4 foot tall room divider to post art and projects if it's possible

Do you have seven desktops, or laptops, or a combo? If laptops, I'm going to recommend lap desks and comfy places to sit, instead of a bunch of tables/desks. Beanbag chairs for everyone, or at least for your son who falls off chairs. (I know almost nothing about autism, so this might not be a good idea, just AN idea.)

Put the (beanbag?) chairs in a large circle, so that nobody is looking over anyone else's shoulder while they're working. Then when it's time for stories, group discussions, etc, you're all in a circle for that. You can get a large round rug to delineate the space (not necessarily a "school" rug, which seem too juvenile unless you're running a pre-school.)

Have 2-3 workspace tables, since the kids are at different ages and probably not working on the same projects at the same time. You can get tables with adjustable height legs at school supply stores, so your little ones will be comfortable as they grow. I'd put in a few easels, too. Protect the floor from messy spills.

Have lots of adjustable height shelves, so you can change them as needs change. Store all kinds of supplies and projects. Look for "craft room" on houzz for lots of great ideas.

Remember to have gooooood lighting! Are there lights in the ceiling? You'll also need some lamps in reading areas, and some specific task lighting. With all those kids, you'll want to be mindful of lamp cords.

Inspiration.

I love all these ideas. Beanbags. Yes!!! Room dividers...love the star wars stuff. Yep those pictures are in my ideabook! So you think I should put the school room in the bigger room which is in front of the front door with a room divider and then move the family room into the family room-TV, couch etc? Not a bad idea. Although what grabs you when you first walk into the front door is the view through the windows. A room divider would block that.

In the beginning my idea was make that basement room to be the homeschool room but then my five younger kids always want to stay together so I figured keep those those downstairs then the bedrooms upstairs will be for the teenagers and grandbaby.

So the first pic is the picture of room looking from the front door. tHe other is the dining room to the right of it.

I have a cold from possibly too much everything - anyway can't read all - asking if you might want to post the pros and cons list of each possible space....

Happy ... What you need is the equivalent of "cubes" so they can work wothout hearing or seeing the other kids.

Here's one idea, and you could make it a 4-way work station.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yhqQQZGQf0/SoAzi_g6FXI/AAAAAAAAAMg/NbElezATP9g/s400/2623050769_dc86fc2d52.jpg

More pictures of proposed homeschool/computer room but might just be the family room/craft room now with couch and TV.

All the pictures put together in one spot

Pros of putting school room in back of house:

1)it is in the back and people first walking in the house won't see the school mess-papers, books, shelves with books, computers, projects, posters,

2)it is right next to the kitchen-my kids munch throughout the day. They need to eat regularly.

3)Easy access to backyard for recess or breaks

Cons of putting school room in back of house:

1) smaller space, cramped

Pros of putting schoolroom in front of the house:

1)bigger space, more room

Cons of putting schoolroom in front of the house:

1) first thing people see is the mess, chaos,

2) no place for guests to come and visit peacefully without the clutter

3) kids would have to walk past dining room to get to kitchen for snacks, Although I may ban food in the schoolroom and they would have to eat in the kitchen nook perhaps. Currently the kids snack while doing school work/computer work because our kitchen is cramped.

So here are more pictures of the front living room.

I showed the girls the little work stations. They loved it. Thank Tsud. Let's see what hubby says.

We three laptops and three desktops is what we have. desktops are dinosaurs that we keep rebuilding. slow as anything.