How to "hide" your home-based daycare within your home

How to "hide" your home-based daycare within your home

You love having a home-based daycare, but you would love to not feel as if you are living in your work environment 24 hours a day and 7 days a week? Many early childhood educators who work in a home-based daycare are lucky enough to have a specific area within their home (basement, room, etc.) to welcome the children they care for on a daily basis. However, this sometimes isn't possible. Those who welcome children into the same space that is occupied simultaneously by other family members face a great challenge: setting up their home to fulfill many different needs. These early childhood educators can feel trapped within their work environment and have trouble separating their workday from their personal time. Here are a few tricks that might help:

Colors and decorating

• Let's talk colors... It really isn't necessary to paint your walls with bold and vibrant colors. Keep in mind that you provide your services in a home-based setting. It is therefore perfectly natural that your home doesn't look like a large daycare centre.
• Instead, use accessories to add a touch of color to your décor. For example, you may use colourful toy boxes and bins.
• From time to time, laminate your various educational posters and use adhesive putty to display them on walls during the week. On weekends, you can easily remove them to keep them out of sight. Simply store them in a closet.

Furniture and equipment

• Choose storage furniture with closed doors and use them to hide your toy boxes and bins. Once the doors are closed, they are gone...just like magic!
• Use benches and footstools that offer storage possibilities.
• Stackable tables and chairs require less space, making them easier to tuck away on weekends.
• Adding wheels under furniture items makes them easier to move around.
• Slipcovers can help keep your furniture items clean (couches, armchairs, chair cushions, etc.). Even if slipcovers are machine washable, select darker colors. They represent a great way to add color to your décor. If you wish, they can easily be removed on weekends and left out of sight until Monday morning.
• Reserve one large closet that can be used for storing your toy boxes and daycare accessories. Having them all in one place will help you avoid the feeling that there are bits and pieces of your daycare throughout your home.

Annick Dufresne
Interior designer (Créations Addap)

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