Since we don't have a spare room to function as a study and considering how the kids' 8sqm bedrooms are rather cramped (take a tour around the Pink room and the Blue room), we had to come up with a dedicated area just for the kids to revise, do homework, read or even draw and paint. Thankfully, there is this area right outside of their bedrooms which is perfect for building a storeroom or turning into a study area. Phew. Yes, I am so glad we chose to do the latter.
In today's A Happy Home tour, I'll show you more of the study and our self-designed, truly unique library tree!
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Here is how our study area looks like. Unlike the Scandinavian themed living room and dining room which both use mainly wood and earthy tones, the study was a huge contrast with its bright, striking colours, kiddy appeal and personalised feel. I love it, do you? While the rest of the house makes me feel calm and relaxed, this colourful part of the house excites and attracts me.
Now, the area is actually not big, occupying approximately 3metres by 1.8metres. It was just nice to fit two study tables and chairs (yesh, they have to be shared amongst the three kids in future), a library with plenty of shelves and since we have nowhere else near the main door to store the prams, their designated parking lots are here too.
As you can tell, we have two prams, or rather, a pram and a stroller. The big Emmaljunga pram was with us even before Angel was born and we brought it over all the way from Sweden. It has survived with us through uneven terrains and snowy mountains in Europe and for some reason, I just can't let it go even though it is considered bulky here in Singapore. The good thing about having a big pram is that if I want to, I can actually fit the two younger ones in the seat and let the eldest stand on the kiddy board and pull her along. It definitely makes for a good workout! The other stroller is the one that I use daily - our trusted Maclaren stroller which has also lasted us for eight long years and is still going strong. Yes, it's in pink and the baby boy is now using it! Well, doesn't make sense to get a new one when this can still last, right?
Seeing that the girls are such art lovers and have been enjoying their lessons at heART Studio all these years, I wanted to create a mini art gallery for them. So, on one side of the study, we display some of their recent artworks which instantly made the wall so much more personalised and appealing. In this picture, three paintings are by Angel and the other three by Ariel, can you guess which is whose? Which painting is your favourite?
For the lights, we make use of black MEGAMAN LED track lights (read our review of Lights&Co here) and installed a total of six lights along a 2-metre track. I decided on Daylight (6500K) for the color temperature, which is the brightest we could get. I eventually added a task light on each of the study tables in a bid for the kids to stay away from myopia for as long as possible.
Coming to the highlight of the study and also my favorite piece of furniture in the entire house, here's presenting our one-of-a-kind Tree of Knowledge! You know, initially I drew a T-shaped library which came naturally since we had to build it in the middle and up, leaving space for a study table on each side. The hubby commented that it looked like a tree and so, our idea and inspiration just went on from there. We started searching for tree shaped shelves online but weren't impressed by any; we went to hunt for ready made cupboards but didn't like what we saw. Eventually, I came up with this draft design and I knew we had our hearts set.
What made it better was that we managed to get the girls' art teachers to help us in the painting of the backdrop and let's just say it made a world of a difference and added so much meaning to this tree. Check out how Ariel and Teacher Syafiq painted it as a team here. I love everything about this wall painting, especially the personalised birds which represent our humble family of five (one for each of us in a color of our choice), and I particularly like how the tree has a magical power to calm me down and make the hard days a little easier to bear.
Our carpenter said this was a huge challenge to him and never in his career had him been tasked to do anything even remotely similar to this. So, he took quite a long time to plan and prepare for it but I must say the wait was all worthwhile because the end result was simply impressive.I was initially very stressed about the dimensions I gave and was afraid they might not fit the tree nicely (every piece of wooden board you see in there had its dimensions dictated by me). Yup, I was pretty sure that gave me a handful of white hair but look, everything turned out even better than I could have asked for.
I was impressed and amazed by how the carpenters managed to fix up the shelves and how their professional workmanship ensured that the shelves were sturdy and every single screw was concealed. I was impressed by how Angel's choice of wooden laminate fitted the color of the tree trunk perfectly and it looked more real than I imagined. I was impressed by how all of our books could fit into the library and thankful that everything we need for our bedtime storytelling is now easily within reach.To help us keep track of time, we also hung up a wall clock (this was an old one that we bought from IKEA previously) and I like how it is clearly visible from not just the study, but from both my wet and dry kitchen too (check out my kitchen tour and how it is full of green here). Works great for me when I need to cook or when I give the kids a time to finish up their work so we can serve dinner.
While I used to keep away my own books in plastic storage containers so as to make space for the kids', my books can now see the sunlight and are finally displayed in the open. I used to love reading, you know, especially chinese novels. Having this library certainly gives me more motivation to pick up a book to read in my free time (although that is extremely rare for a stay-at-home mom who has at least one kid to attend to 24/7).
See the kids hard at work under the tree? This is a sight that I totally welcome and am relieved to see nowadays. We are very lucky to have gotten fully sponsored ErgoStudy table and chair sets for each of them, and the model you see here is the T100 which I will be doing an in-depth review on very soon. These ergonomic study tables are working great for the kids and I can't wait to tell you more about their amazing functions. Plus, I've also managed to secure a giveaway for you so keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming post in the A Happy Home series, yeah? And oh yes, to help fill up your library at home, I have also got some awesome books to give away soon too!
This marks the end of our study tour and in my next and finale tour (awwww, really?) in the series, I'll be showing you our balcony - which I'm still currently making adjustments to so as to better suit our needs. Stay tuned!
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This post is part of the "A Happy Home" series where I share all about our new Scandinavian-themed house, the renovation process and some tips and thoughts. Moving is never easy but it comes with an indescribable sense of joy in building up the house of your dreams. Remember, home is where the heart is and nothing is more important than being able to build memories with the people you love.
