New Podcast!

I’m so excited to announce that I am launching a new podcast along with my husband, Aaron Schiller, called Muse and The Catalyst. It’s a podcast all about inspiration and taking action to create the life of your dreams. We’ll be covering topics such as lifestyle, business, family, parenting, design, minimalism, mindfulness, art, creativity, education, travel and so much more.

Read More

Our Airstream Art Space

When we first headed out on the road for this 3-month #EndlessCaravan adventure, I knew I would need to figure out a way to set up an art space for the girls in our 23 ft. Airstream trailer.

After moving into the Airstream and organizing all of our clothes, food, and other home items, there wasn’t much space left for art supplies.  I was determined to set up an inviting and accessible art space for my kids, so I turned to my go-to design solution… empty wall space.

Read More

Less Is More!

Have you joined the pre-holiday toy decluttering challenge? If so, I’d love to hear how it’s going for you. For a little more inspiration during this challenge, I have asked my friend, Alana Chernecki of Brillante Design, to give her two cents on decluttering. Alana is the only other Reggio-inspired preschool teacher turned designer of children’s spaces I’ve ever come across and I’m so excited to introduce you to her today. Read on for her guest post and see her beautiful spaces.

Read More

My Home Tour

It’s been a while since I have shared photos of our entire house. I was recently interviewed by Glitter Guide about our home and how to encourage creativity and playfulness, while still keeping things organized and stylish. The amazing photographer, Vivian Johnson, shot the photos and has beautifully captured the spirit of our home and play. Thanks for taking a peek into our family home. I’d love to hear from you and learn how you bring creativity and playfulness into your home!

Home Tour01

Read More

Big Kid Desk And Art Nook

Do you remember the feeling you had when you finally felt like you were a “big kid”? One thing that always evokes that sense of growing up is having your own work desk. Swapping out an old play table for a big kid desk and some new “grown-up” supplies is a simple way to celebrate a child’s development or a milestone birthday.

I love to help families with this transition, so when a friend hired me to design a big kid work space for her daughter’s 8th birthday, I couldn’t wait to get started. The first time I worked on a big kid makeover project was 6 years ago and it also happened to be for an 8-year-old’s birthday (you can see it here).

Read More

Soothing Playroom With Learning Centers

I’m so excited to share this recent project with you! It was a little hard to narrow down all of the photos, so this post is a little longer than usual. Hopefully it will give you some inspiration and guidance on on how to set up a soothing playroom with learning centers for school aged kids. Although many of us don’t have a full room to dedicate entirely to this type of space, it has got me thinking about setting up small areas in our home to encourage the exploration of different subjects and interests. I hope you are as inspired as I have been throughout this project!

Read More

Summer Reading Recommendations: Learning At Home

A reader recently asked about my recommendations for books on setting up creative learning spaces. She specifically wanted to know about books inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. It got me thinking that I should put together a list of my all-time favorite resources- not only for setting up learning spaces, but also for expanding creative learning opportunities at home.

Read More

Art Supply Organization: What’s in the baskets?

Art Supply Organziation 2

Whenever I share a photo of our art space, I often get asked, “What do you keep in the large baskets at the bottom?” As an art teacher, I became accustomed to keeping large bins easily accessible for over-sized art materials like paper towel rolls, egg cartons, scraps of cardboard, fabric pieces, or bits and bobs of broken toys. Now in our home art studio (as well as my client’s art spaces) I always include these types of items without even thinking. But, of course, these materials don’t always come to mind for most people when thinking of art supply organization or setting up an art space for kids. So thank you for reminding me of this! I’m excited to give you a peek today into our large art bins and what we do with the materials.

Read More