How to Do a Teacher’s Lounge Makeover

I’ve always loved being so involved with my son’s school. I previously was the Activities Director for our PTO and after taking off a year, I’m now the Vice President of Communications. Being so involved in his school has given me the chance to build great relationships with the teachers and administration at his school which I’m so thankful for! So when the principal asked me back in May if I might know of a company that could donate a refrigerator for the teacher’s lounge, I decided to take it a step further with a teacher’s lounge makeover.

See, due to massive overcrowding at my son’s school, the teachers had gone without a teacher’s lounge for a few years. Every available space was turned into a teaching space. With the opening of a new elementary school, the teachers were finally going to have a teacher’s lounge again. That’s when I enlisted Tara over at Seeing Dandy to help me completely makeover a classroom into a lounge for these deserving teachers.

We started with a blank classroom and the ability to pretty much do whatever we wanted with it. The principal gave us a wish list and some ideas and we got to work! But there is NO way we could have done this transformation without the huge help of some generous companies.

Paint from Sherwin-Williams

The classroom walls weren’t bad but there was one wall that was really….red. We knew we wanted to paint over that wall to make the classroom turned lounge more inviting and our principal picked the perfect shade from Sherwin-Williams called Argos. They generously donated 2 gallons of pain and I successfully painted my first…and last wall!

It turned out to be a subtle gray that complimented the floor tile and rest of the room perfectly. I love it!

Fridge from Appliance Discounters

Remember, this all started with a fridge! At the end of the school year, the fridge the teachers used broke and they were left without one. We are so grateful to Appliance Discounters (whose owners actually attended my son’s elementary school!) for donating this super sleek black fridge!

Rustic Grain Furniture

Of course, we needed furniture for our teachers to be able to lounge on! It was a big space and we knew we wanted to have plenty of seating for them to choose from. Our principal loved the idea of pub tables and Rustic Grain generously hand crafted these tables for us.

What I love about Rustic Grain is how much thought they put into their pieces and the pride they have. All of the lumber they use has been salvaged from barns built across the Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century and with each piece you get from Rustic Grain, you’ll know exactly where it was from. For example, the wood to make our pub tables were from a barn in Carlinville, IL and the marker on the tables show you exactly where that barn stood. I love that piece of history that is included on their furniture.

From tables and desks to shelves and benches, Rustic Grain can create a unique piece for you – because no two items they create are the same!

Then, thanks to generous monetary donations from Sunset Ford, Neighbors Credit Union, Charmette Academy of Dance and our Parent Teacher Group, we were able to purchase additional furniture from Ikea and Amazon. I love the white tables and brightly colored green and orange seating!

We are also so thankful to parents who donated a couch, a coffee table and an end table to make the lounge even comfier! Precision Office Furniture Installation also donated us this amazing credenza that we placed next to the fridge – it holds the Keurig Coffee Machine (a must for teachers!), a microwave and other miscellaneous stuff in the drawers.

Homedics and Ellia Oil Diffuser

We truly wanted this lounge to be a place for the teachers to relax while away from their classrooms. Homedics donated 2 massagers for the teachers to use during this downtime!

We were also given an Ellia Essential Oil Diffuser which is not only gorgeous but transformed the lounge into a more calming space with the scents- I want one for my house!

Check out some other pictures of the completed lounge!

How amazing is this Teacher’s Lounge sign that a parent made?!

I’m so excited and pleased with how our Teacher’s Lounge Makeover turned out. The teachers are amazing and they deserved a space of their own! A huge thanks again to the following companies and people who helped create this space:

• Sherwin Williams
• Appliance Discounters
• Rustic Grain
• Sunset Ford
• Neighbors Credit Union
• Charmette Academy of Dance
• Homedics
• Precision Office Furniture Installation
• Parent Teacher Group and Parents

Make sure to check out Tara’s post about the makeover too!