How To Design Your Workspace Mindfully for Your Family
One of the greatest learnings I’ve had from Jasmine’s (@3mm.montessori) ig account is the fact that we don’t change the child, but we change their environment to set them up for success. And as a work-from-home mom, to design our workspace to be mindful of where our family members tend to gather was a must to not only protect my workflow but other members as well.
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing some of the parenting tips I’ve received from a bevy of parenting resources, as well as my own observation of what works best for our family. Take heed that you do what works best for you and your own family, and take what you can from this post. So without further ado, let’s dive in.
1. Focus on functionality and minimal.
For our home, it doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing. What’s important is that it is livable (meaning functional and minimal, if possible). Hence, repurpose what you can. Small drawer boxes to hide the wires, sometimes use tall drawer boxes as standing tables. Reuse old, big cardboard boxes as slides in the living room.
Declutter the stuff/furniture/toys that you don’t want your child to play with. This can mean pricey couch covers, toss pillows, or even toys that make too much of a mess for you to deal with. This also means avoiding the all too-white table cloths or sofas. Try to choose the battles that you’re willing to deal with in your home while balancing the line of functional and aesthetics.
2. Observe first your workspace, before applying any design changes.
When you know your focus, you can now observe which area in your home needs the changes to apply functionality for both you and your child. Observation allows you to make beneficial incremental changes over time, making the experience better for you and your family in due time. This also saves you money by not just wilfully copying your Pinterest inspiration instantly.
For our family, the living room/dining room is where the family spends the most time. So, for my child at least, we make sure that whatever he needs is accessible to him without constantly asking for our help. This could mean his snacks, toys, water bottle are ALL at his height. Prior to this, he would be asking for our help all the time, which disrupts my workflow. A few tweaks, and voila, he can now independently meet his own needs.
3. Consider secondhand refurnishing with your (and your child’s) workspace.
Not only does this do wonders for our environment, but it also helps you save a ton with your wallet. Try taking a look through Carousell, Facebook marketplace, or a local thrift store for your next purchase of the furniture or even design pieces for your home. They’d have a few marks here and there but are otherwise in good condition.
Joining local parenting groups can also benefit you with some willing to bless their children’s old stuff that they’ve already outgrown. Some are even in pristine condition, as some new parents tend to receive an overabundance of baby stuff from their hospitals or friends. Furthermore, with second-hand stuff, you’d feel only a slight burn when your child accidentally draws all over them.
4. Determine what works best to protect your child’s workflow.
Carefully designing your child’s play area with the hopes that they stay there for long when they prefer to be beside you may be disappointing for you as a parent. But this is normal for young children. They concentrate better with the parent/caregiver beside them. But the good news is that you can build their independent play through time. Read here about my tips for independent play.
But in essence, when designing your workspace, make sure to identify what works best to protect your child’s workflow as well. Do they work (read: play) better near you, the caregiver? Is being slightly away from them still amenable to them? If yes, you can then restructure your area to identify where would you best be situated as you and your child do your corresponding work.
5. Hide excess toys.
Sometimes your child’s workplace is uninteresting to them because of too many choices. Hence, a good trick is to store away toys that they haven’t really played with for quite some time. This helps keeps the novelty of their toys, and also keeps the toy clutter to at least a minimum for us busy parents.
Avoid bringing out (or better yet don’t buy) toys that you don’t have the patience to deal with (in my case, it’s the markers). Life with young kids equals an almost unending mess, and I’ve learned to accept it rather than fight it (within reason). This means that the floor may always have that occasional crumbs, or small toys can be found in weird places, and that is okay. These times will soon pass.
And that is it, my dear parents! Five tips for us to mindfully curate our (and your child’s) workplace. Comment below which tip have you found helpful and share with a fellow parent who might be struggling with redesigning their work areas.
If you need more Montessori or Mindful parenting tips, you might find the following posts helpful:
Learnings From a Montessori Beginner Parent
How I Prepared My Child’s Play Area as a Montessori Beginner Parent
Cheering for you in this parenting journey!
Kristine 🤍
