BACK TO SCHOOL!

How did you decorate your classroom this year?

I used to go for themes.  In fact, if I were in the classroom this year I would have contemplated a "Frozen" theme.  However, when I carry out my classroom themes, I focus on color when it comes to decor.  I think the colors used in a classroom is what sets that classroom apart from others (in terms of the way they look).  When a classroom is color coordinated, it makes everything seem cleaner and less cluttered.  Colors and patterns don't seem to fight with one another becoming distracting for the eye.

Above you can see I used purple, green, orange, and black.  It seems like no matter what colors I choose, black is always in the mix.  Black is a color that makes all the other colors POP!  I also use black on my bulletin boards as I mentioned in my previous post! If you notice in the picture above I stayed within the same color scheme but was able to use multiple patterns without it seeming too crazy.  I used those fabric swatches for the crates around the room.  When it came to areas that used a lot of fabric, I stuck with simpler or plain designs.

An example of this is the pattern on the curtains.  I stuck with the smaller polka dot pattern instead of a bold pattern.

Something so simple that I have learned too is to keep your the same color book boxes or baskets together instead of mixing them up.  By putting the green in one row, purple in another, and orange on the bottom, it keeps it looking cleaner and more organized to the eye.  (I even went as far as to remove the baskets in the curtain picture after first week of school papers were all collected.)

Something else that helps soooo much and is soooo easy is to cover up some of your shelves.  In my classroom, those shelves below my window ran across my whole classroom.  Some of the shelves held math supplies, recess games, scissors, listening center books.  It just looked so busy and so messy!  As an easy way to cover up that mess, I always kept black curtains in front of the shelves.  It gave a clean look to the classroom.  I chose solid black instead of a pattern because I did not want it to be too busy to the eye because it ran the whole length of my classroom.

Here I just used the remaining fabric from my crates to create these banners.  They added just another touch of color and fun to the classroom!  To make these, there was no sewing involved.  I simply use iron on adhesive tape!  If I can find a whole room picture I will post!