3rd March 2025
Creating the Ultimate Study Space: A Parent's Guide to Back-to-School Success
As our kids return to school, we as parents want to provide them with an optimal study environment. We do, after all, want them to do their best and lay a sound foundation for the rest of their lives. But where do we even start?
The easy answer is to provide them with a study space that offers peace and tranquillity while aiding focus. In simpler terms, let’s explore how to create the ultimate study space to ensure the sprouts' back-to-school success.
A Clean Space for a Focused Mind
A great starting point for a productive study space is decluttering. A cluttered workspace makes for a cluttered mind and can make studying harder than it has to be.
When selecting or creating a room designed specifically for studies, we recommend avoiding noisy wallpapers, curtains, or decor. The same goes for carpet or flooring - the cleaner, the better. A simplistic, well-designed space will often help our young ones stay focused.
Keeping an area clean and free of clutter isn’t always easy, but we can encourage our kids to clean up after themselves and set a cleaning schedule to make life a little easier.
Lighting and Comfort Makes the Difference
The next step is to pick out furniture and lighting, if applicable. Where possible, natural lighting is best for creating a warm, clean space to study. If your kids study best during the daytime, a spot near a window can offer sunlight and fresh air.
For evening studies, lighting that is too harsh or too dim can sometimes cause discomfort. A balanced approach, like using a mix of overhead and task lighting, can help reduce eye strain.
Choosing comfortable furniture is important, but it doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate—just something that supports good posture and focus. A clean, simple desk such as the Hamptons Desk can provide a perfect base for the room, while adding a healthy dose of elegance, as well. Next, pick a sturdy office chair with good padding and adjustable height to maximise comfort.
Make the Most of the Space Available
Size is rather important when selecting a study space, as a small room can feel cramped and affect focus, while a large room can feel too empty and also have a negative effect.
Whatever the size of your kids’ study spot, you should make the most of it. If you have a large room that serves multiple purposes, consider adding dividers to create a small, personal space to study. If you have a small room, make use of sound storage solutions or multifunctional furniture to declutter and keep the space as tidy and open as possible.
For example, a great storage solution for a study space is the cube storage unit along with something like the Kata Cube, offering plenty of packing space in a small area.
This can also minimise the need to leave the room to collect additional study materials, as you’ll provide the kids with all the space they need for their things in one spot.
Another best practice is to use low-profile furniture to help create the illusion of more space. An example of this would be repurposing a bedside table as a storage container, offering some storage space without adding big furniture - such as a bookshelf - to the room.
Wall shelves are another possible solution to add some packing space without adding excessively to the clutter of a room.
Create an Inspiring and Personalised Space
Once your chosen study space is complete, it’s time to cater it to the individual. If only one of your kids intends on using the space, get them involved in adding the finishing touches. Make it a fun time and encourage them to pick out decor that they find inspiring.
If it’s a shared study space, look to reach a consensus on the motivational decor that you’ll add to the room. This could be as simple as a motivational poster, to eye-catching table decor that holds special meaning for the individual.
The main goal for the decor in your kids' study space is that it doesn’t distract them, which leads us to our next point.
Minimise Distractions as far as is Reasonable
Noise, flashing lights, people walking by, or even pets can all prove potential distractions within a study spot. We as parents can help by reducing unnecessary distractions, though some kids may work better with a little background noise.
In this case, a white noise machine or instrumental music can help. Otherwise, you could invest in soundproof headphones to help eliminate audible distractions.
Also try to avoid setting up the study spot near busy areas, such as the living room or kitchen. The noise from a television, radio, or even cooking or washing up can become a point of distraction.
Privacy & Seclusion
Another factor we should consider is that kids often thrive on privacy and seclusion while studying. Naturally, we’ll have to check in on the younger kids every so often, but if yours are older, creating a private study space can go a long way to eliminating interruptions.
If you already have a dedicated study, that’s often an ideal solution. Separating study a study area from entertainment or relaxation areas (such as the living room or bedroom) is a great idea and allows the kids to associate one space in the home with study, and others for relaxation. However, if there’s no space for that, a dedicated space in a child’s room could work and also offer that feeling of seclusion.
Top Tips for Effective Study
In the end, we want to give our kids every chance at success as they go back to school in 2025, and there are more measures we can implement beyond just setting up the perfect study space. One idea is to offer various study methods that can help lessen the workload on our kids.
Different students learn best with different methods, so some testing is always a good idea. Here are a few of our favourite study methods to help kids get the best grades of their lives.
Spaced Practice
This technique is the easiest to implement and doesn’t take much effort, plus it helps to boost long-term retention of information, minimising the need for “cram sessions.”
The concept is simple and can be broken into an easy flow.
- Learn the material in class.
- Review the material after school.
- Review again after one day.
- Review again after one week.
- Review again after one month.
This timeline of the cycle above can be adapted to fit your kids’ workload, and repetition helps to commit the work to long-term memory. This reduces the study load before an exam, helping our kids focus on revision instead of “re-learning.”
The Feynman Technique
This is a great technique that works well when combined with others on this list. It goes like this: the student writes the title of the topic at hand on top of a page and then jots down everything they know about the topic.
On the next page, in their own words, their task is to “explain” the topic to someone with no knowledge at all of the topic. This then helps them to form a deeper understanding of the topic and, by matching their explanation to the textbook, helps them to identify gaps in their own understanding.
This offers our children a far more focused way to fill the gaps and can drastically increase grades.
Mind Mapping
Good old mind mapping remains a great study technique for visual learners. Most should be familiar with the concept, but it goes like this.
Write the main topic in the centre of a page and circle it. Around this key topic, write down the main keywords and ideas around the topic. Circle these, and connect them to the main circle by drawing lines between them. Next, write down the more obscure ideas and keywords related to each of the main ideas, and so on.
Creating mind maps offers students an easy visual reference to their work, making studying far easier for visual learners.
A simple example could be “Plant Lifecycle” for biology students. The next key ideas could be “seed, germination, growth, reproduction, pollination, and seed spreading.” This can be followed by a brief summary of each phase and what happens to the plant.
And that’s one mindmap down!
Exercise-Boosted Study
Light exercise before studies can help to improve memory and concentration. Exercise gets our blood flowing, effectively waking us up and boosting brain function while fighting fatigue - and it’s no different for the little ones.
Strenuous exercise should be avoided just before studying though, as this can leave the sprouts feeling quite lazy. A quick 20-minute routine or a walk around the block is more than enough to get them ready for an optimal study session.
Remembering the Kids in all of this
As parents, we naturally want the best for our kids and we’d all love to create the “perfect” study space. This can lead to unnecessary stress on our part and make the task even harder than it should be.
We can make our lives a lot easier by engaging with our children on the subject and allowing them to have a hand in planning and creating their spot. After all, it’s them who’ll be using the space.
If the kids are happy studying in their new spot, they’ll have a much easier time getting to work. So we don’t have to take all the responsibility for ourselves. Involve the kids, and make sure they’re happy with where they’ll be spending a large chunk of their time.
FAQ on Student Study Spaces
How do I keep my child’s study space clean and organised over time?
It’s best to establish a daily and/or weekly cleaning routine. Encourage your child to stow away study materials when done, and make use of shelves or cube furniture to offer plenty of storage space. Promote the value that there is a place for everything and everything in its place. Once a week, give the room a thorough cleaning and vacuuming.
What if my child prefers background noise while studying?
Some students are able to focus better on their studies with some form of noise in the background - this is perfectly normal. Consider a white noise machine or some instrumental music in the background to help create the optimal study environment.
How can I make a shared study space work for multiple children?
Use dividers or separate study zones to create personal spaces. Set ground rules for noise levels and distractions, and allow each child to personalise their area with small, motivating decor. In a pinch, you might even consider a study space in a covered area outdoors.
Are standing desks or alternative seating options a good idea for a study space?
They can be, as long as the “alternative seating options” don’t mean recliners or bean bag chairs. The body doesn’t do well at retaining information in an overly relaxed position. A standing desk is a great idea if your children have trouble sitting for too long.
What can I do if my home doesn’t have enough space for a dedicated study area?
Get creative with available space—set up a portable study station using a rolling cart, use foldable desks, or designate a quiet corner in a bedroom or living room. The key is to create consistency in where and how studying happens.
