Homeschool Organization Ideas for Small Spaces – How to Work With What You Have

Homeschool Organization Ideas for Small Spaces

Need some homeschool organization ideas for small spaces? You came to the right place, I get it!

With a new year (or new school year) usually comes the urge to organize or reorganize and try to make spaces in your home work better for you and your family. If extra space is an issue in your home too, that can add to the challenge.

I know in our home as soon as Christmas decorations are all put away I am ready for a refresh, and that is especially true for our homeschool setup! The same is true for an approaching new school year.

While working on getting reorganized I got to thinking on all the ways we have homeschooled in our home and worked with what spaces we had.

I thought it would be great to share some things I have found helpful with homeschool organization ideas for small spaces over the years to hopefully inspire you to do the same!

Don’t Focus On What You Don’t Have

First, DON’T FOCUS ON WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE!

This is soooo easy to fall into these days with picture perfect rooms popping up when you google anything related to homeschool organizing!

Between Pinterest and Instagram we are bombarded with what things “should” look like and homeschooling is no exception to this.

While some families may have an entire room to dedicate to homeschool, this is not the norm.

Learning how to be realistic & make what you have work but also appreciate it, is key to a smooth homeschool experience for you and your kids.

Here are a few of my best homeschool organization ideas for small spaces:

Take a Look Around & See What You Do Have

If you are just getting started homeschooling, you can and will most likely “school” all over your house ha!

Realizing this early on will help take some of that pressure off of you when trying to set up the perfect space.

Most families end up doing the majority of their book work at the dining room or kitchen table. With this in mind, consider setting up your homeschool storage area near the table where you’ll most likely be working.

Closets, Cabinets & Unused Vertical Spaces

A nearby closet (I know closet space, especially in small spaces, is a hot commodity!) that’s not being fully utilized, is a great storage spot for your books & materials.

Using shelves that are in the closet, or adding some shelving or even sticking a bookcase in the closet will maximize this space allowing not only curriculum storage but will also hold extras like art supplies.

A couple of years ago we converted a closet near our entryway into a school closet and it has been a game changer for us! For the first time in all the years we’ve been homeschooling (over 9 years now!) all of our school books/supplies & art supplies & science experiment “things” are in one space!

Everything has a place, each child has their own section of bins and knows where to get what they need and where to put it back when finished. For us this works and luckily we had a closet I was able to clean out to use for this purpose.

If you can’t spare a closet, a cabinet with bins for each child will help keep you organized, and help keep school supplies and books from taking over your dining space.

Using the inside of cabinets to hang plastic sleeves (so you can use dry eraser markers) with daily calendar/work assignments is a great use of space that is never really used.  

Dual Purpose Furniture

Storage bins under a couch, storage ottomans you may have in a family or living room, or cubbies in a bookcase are also great homeschool organization ideas in a small space.

Get creative and see what you have that you can use, space-wise and furniture-wise too.

Another idea that I know a lot of families love is having a “mobile” setup.

A rolling set of baskets that can be moved from room to room and then stashed away in a laundry room or garage, or even tucked into a corner of a room, when the school day is done can be a wonderful small space option.

This idea also really helps keep you from building up too much “stuff” since you have it visible and can’t close a door on it!

Whatever you choose, the idea of having a place to keep everything school related will be so helpful at the start & end of each school day.

Bonus: It will also help keep clutter at bay which as we know with kids is an especially hard battle!

Using Vertical Space – A Genius Hack for Homeschool Organization Ideas for Small Spaces

Another widely under-utilized space in homes is using the walls & doors as storage & display options.

This is true for everyday home life, but especially true for homeschool organizing in a small space. The back of a door can be a wonderful space for large display items like a monthly calendar, math charts like a multiplication chart, unit study topic related items,  and also great for displaying spelling/vocab words.

The idea is that it’s a great place to hang things up and have out of the way when you’re not using the items. Using a hanging shoe organizer or holder is another great storage idea for behind a door. Storing school supplies or flashcards in these can be super handy.

Using wall space is another option for keeping things organized. Vertical file holders that can be attached to the wall can provide a great option for keeping paper corralled: printer, construction, notebook/lined, etc. you get the idea.

If you are homeschooling multiple children this is also an easy way to give each child a set of files or a section, to keep their daily assignments.

A wall can also be a great spot for a white board or for a chalkboard (painted on or hung up) for group learning & activities.

This eliminates the need to store a bulky white board on wheels. You would have to be ok dedicating some wall space that would be visible when not doing school.

A fun perk of a visible white board is it’s a perfect spot for playing games like Pictionary!

Advantages to Homeschooling in a Small Space

While those beautiful, colorful homeschool rooms I mentioned earlier can be drool-worthy, realizing that those WHOLE rooms have to be constantly organized and cleaned makes the idea of not having one a little better haha.

Working with smaller spaces forces you to put things away when you’re finished with them.

It also can help with not impulse buying alllllll the fun & cute school supplies and homeschooling things you may see & love.

When you really stop and think about what you actually will use as your homeschool essentials, you will not only save money not buying all of the things.

You’ll also save yourself the stress of trying to find a home for all of those extras.

One Last Thing – What to do With Books!

Books are probably one of the biggest obstacles when it comes to homeschool organizing in a small space or actually in any size space.

There are just so many books when it comes to kids! Add in school books and you can be quickly overwhelmed!

 We have a true book addiction in our household, and I’m ok with it!

I grew up in a book loving household (my Mom is a writer!). I love, love, love books and our children love books just as much. Needless to say we have a lot of books!

As my oldest started getting into chapter book series though I realized how the books were going to multiply. So I have gotten better at realizing not every book needs to be kept.

We discovered a sweet bookstore in our area that buys books and then gives you credit towards purchasing “new to you” used books.

This has been a really great system for us and my kids love it! I would highly recommend looking for something similar to help keep books that aren’t “forever” books from piling up.

Also, I have mentioned in previous posts my love for the library! It’s free and just the best resource we have as homeschooling families.

Designate a basket or shelf in your home to keep all the library books to keep track of them all. Maybe even set up a little comfy reading area near there with pillows or cushions to encourage your kids to keep the books from ending up under beds or in toy bins!

Happy Organizing!

I hope these tips are helpful and maybe inspire you to get creative with the space you have for homeschooling your sweet kiddos! Homeschool organization in small spaces can be tricky but also super rewarding. Remember your kids feed off your energy and if you feel organized and prepared for each day, that will only help you all have a beautiful day 🙂