It’s official- I’m addicted to classroom design. I love creating my own space, but I also love looking at the amazing designs of others. The Classroom Design Challenge from Building Book Love (aka Ashley Bible) was a great inspiration for me. You should check it out. It takes you through the process of really considering your space and mindfully placing things in it to create the atmosphere you want. For the last four years, I have been collecting furniture and other pieces, and for the last three I’ve worked to make my room into the Ravenclaw Common Room from Harry Potter. That means anything navy blue, gold, and stars because those are the house colors and the common room is in the Astronomy Tower. In my room, the main color is navy blue, but every color is present in furniture, rugs, and decorations.
What I started with- Here are pictures of what the room looked like when I walked in on my first day to work in my room (just four days before we were due to report back):
I worked really hard at the end of last year to create a floor plan of my room and furniture using graph paper, and it really helped me to see what would work and what wouldn’t without moving a lot of furniture. The trick is that you have to measure everything, but it’s totally worth it when you actually have a scale model to work with. Here it is:
After that, I went home for the summer, and I knew that this summer I wouldn’t be looking for furniture pieces because I already had everything my room could hold and more. When we got back this year, I farmed out a big coffee table and a folding table, and that has made it much more maneuverable in here! I was really looking for things that would make it feel more like the common room I was modeling it after. Plus, my goal was to add at least 50 titles to my classroom library, and that meant getting creative since I couldn’t just go purchase 50 books (unfortunately).
I went to IKEA with a friend, and I actually did pick up 6 chairs, but not traditional desk chairs. These are the shell that sits on metal legs, but I didn’t buy the legs because I wanted them for kids that want to sit on the floor. They are normally $29 a piece, which is waaaaay out of my price range, but they were on sale for $4.99 each! So I got all 6 for the normal price of one. Pretty good deal! You can find those online here, IKEA Blue Chairs, but they aren’t on sale currently.
Okay, okay, I said I didn’t buy any furniture over the summer, and I didn’t, but I did buy something the last week of school so that my husband could put it together during our final workdays. I needed more shelving for my classroom library, and I knew I needed to go more vertical with it, so I found the Kallax shelving at IKEA. I got a 4×4 piece for $109 and a 2×4 piece for $69. I then put baskets in the top row for students to turn in papers by class. You can find that shelving here: IKEA Kallax shelving . It comes in two or three different colors, and I really liked the dark, dark brown. Here is a picture of it all put together in my room.
In my room, I have two windows. I made curtains for them myself, but I wanted to change it up to match the Ravenclaw color scheme. I also wanted the illusion of bigger, brighter windows, so I wanted to hang the curtains on the outside edges. I found these great blue velvet curtains here: Navy curtains Lush Decor ordered from Zulily.
And now, here is the reveal in all its glory!
My desk area 
My Kallax shelves again 
Seating area and books 
View from the back corner to the door 
View from the door 
Another view from the door 
My coffee bar- For teachers on Fridays 
Another view of my desk area
So there you have it- my reveal for this school year. I’m pretty pleased with it, though I’m sure it will need some tweaking once kids actually use it. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment, I’d love to answer any that you have. If you just have a comment or critique, leave that in the comments as well!
