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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Home Daycare Providers, How Do You Keep Your House Feeling Like A Home Not Just Work?
Keysam 12:26 PM 10-20-2015
Im wanting to open a home daycare within the next year and have many questions. I have an ok sized home that has one spare room that Ive currently been using as my craft room. For the daycare I will be turning that into a play room, and using my dining room for meals and messy daycare art projects.
Can I use my current dining room table or do I need to get a child sized table and chairs?
Also I don't want to feel like I am living at work, what can I do in the evenings and weekends to hide or diminish the amount of childcare things I see?
I was also wondering how many of you have a home daycare without excessive colorful wall hangings, rugs and etc? Will it be hard to get business if my playroom looks less like a center and more like someone's actual home?
Can I use my current dining room table or do I need to get a child sized table and chairs?
Also I don't want to feel like I am living at work, what can I do in the evenings and weekends to hide or diminish the amount of childcare things I see?
I was also wondering how many of you have a home daycare without excessive colorful wall hangings, rugs and etc? Will it be hard to get business if my playroom looks less like a center and more like someone's actual home?
KidGrind 05:43 PM 10-20-2015
Originally Posted by Keysam:
Im wanting to open a home daycare within the next year and have many questions. I have an ok sized home that has one spare room that Ive currently been using as my craft room. For the daycare I will be turning that into a play room, and using my dining room for meals and messy daycare art projects.
Can I use my current dining room table or do I need to get a child sized table and chairs?
Also I don't want to feel like I am living at work, what can I do in the evenings and weekends to hide or diminish the amount of childcare things I see?
I was also wondering how many of you have a home daycare without excessive colorful wall hangings, rugs and etc? Will it be hard to get business if my playroom looks less like a center and more like someone's actual home?
I have my whole dining room dedicated as the kids room. I am licensed to have my living room as a sleeping room. It is free of childcare items, unless an infant is sleeping in a playpen.Im wanting to open a home daycare within the next year and have many questions. I have an ok sized home that has one spare room that Ive currently been using as my craft room. For the daycare I will be turning that into a play room, and using my dining room for meals and messy daycare art projects.
Can I use my current dining room table or do I need to get a child sized table and chairs?
Also I don't want to feel like I am living at work, what can I do in the evenings and weekends to hide or diminish the amount of childcare things I see?
I was also wondering how many of you have a home daycare without excessive colorful wall hangings, rugs and etc? Will it be hard to get business if my playroom looks less like a center and more like someone's actual home?
My clients love my set up. They do not want their child in an in-home daycare that does not have a defined area. Some parents my prefer a home that does not look like a daycare.
Controlled Chaos 09:06 PM 10-20-2015
My down stairs is my daycare and upstairs is home. Though, I have a 1, 3 and 5 yo so everything sort of feels like a daycare lol but the upstairs space will shift as my children get older. Look into storage that hides daycare items but goes well with your grown up decor. It's all about storage 
hope 03:37 AM 10-21-2015
My home does not look like a daycare. I make use of my whole house during the day. My playroom has two tall shelves that hold toys in baskets and bins. I have an extra bedroom that also has shelves filled with baskets and bins of toys. The baskets and bins are all decorative. The pack n plays are in this room. We eat in my kitchen and do arts and crafts in my dining room. Parents like the at home feel of my daycare. I have a cork board to hang artwork as would any home.
Crazy8 08:26 AM 10-21-2015
I have one designated room for daycare - it is what would be the formal living room in the front of the house. It is gated off on both ends (into hall & into dining room) and I just shut the lights and ignore it during non-daycare hours, LOL!!! 
The rest of my home feels like my home, we have a family room for us and we are in the process of finishing the basement for us. Everyone says move the daycare down there but I would hate being stuck down there all day (kids are all 3 and under, going up and down would be a pain!!) and my own older kids will make better use of that space for hanging out with friends, sleepovers, etc. more than they would if we had that formal living room space back.
Overall I do not feel like my home is taken over by daycare - I just look at it as giving up that one room pays for the mortgage on the rest of the house!
The rest of my home feels like my home, we have a family room for us and we are in the process of finishing the basement for us. Everyone says move the daycare down there but I would hate being stuck down there all day (kids are all 3 and under, going up and down would be a pain!!) and my own older kids will make better use of that space for hanging out with friends, sleepovers, etc. more than they would if we had that formal living room space back.
Overall I do not feel like my home is taken over by daycare - I just look at it as giving up that one room pays for the mortgage on the rest of the house!
Blackcat31 09:19 AM 10-21-2015
I keep my home looking like a home by keeping my daycare in another home. 
(edited to add... for clarification purposes.... I operate my family child care out of a separate house used solely for child care)
(edited to add... for clarification purposes.... I operate my family child care out of a separate house used solely for child care)