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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Do You Have A Separate Space For You Daycare?
Soccermom 10:41 AM 04-28-2014
I ask because I am considering having an addition added to my home, upstairs off my kitchen in order to have a seperate space for daycare.

I am not a fan of parents walking through my home to pick up their children anymore. The other day I had two DCMs upstairs in my kitchen, sitting at my table chatting about a playdate for the weekend!!

It also drives my kids bananas when they are trying to get ready for the bus and their stuff is everywhere in the entrance or there are daycare kids coming in. I would put a seperate entrance for daycare in the addition.

Also there are days when I stress more about tidying the house then I do on childcare because I know DCPs will be trampling through my house in an hour to pick up their kids.

Right now I use the downstairs family room for the play are and the kitchen is upstairs. I can't see what the kids are doing downstairs when I am upstairs preparing meals or cleaning.

I am on the edge about it though because I am not sure if I love this job enough to merit building an addition onto my house for the purpose of it. I wonder daily if a seperate space would make me love it more...but I can't say for sure that it would help.

What is your set up like and what do you love or hate about it?
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Annalee 10:47 AM 04-28-2014
Originally Posted by Soccermom:
I ask because I am considering having an addition added to my home, upstairs off my kitchen in order to have a seperate space for daycare.

I am not a fan of parents walking through my home to pick up their children anymore. The other day I had two DCMs upstairs in my kitchen, sitting at my table chatting about a playdate for the weekend!!

It also drives my kids bananas when they are trying to get ready for the bus and their stuff is everywhere in the entrance or there are daycare kids coming in. I would put a seperate entrance for daycare in the addition.

Also there are days when I stress more about tidying the house then I do on childcare because I know DCPs will be trampling through my house in an hour to pick up their kids.

Right now I use the downstairs family room for the play are and the kitchen is upstairs. I can't see what the kids are doing downstairs when I am upstairs preparing meals or cleaning.

I am on the edge about it though because I am not sure if I love this job enough to merit building an addition onto my house for the purpose of it. I wonder daily if a seperate space would make me love it more...but I can't say for sure that it would help.

What is your set up like and what do you love or hate about it?
I have a 24 x 32 room with bath/kitchen so NO parent has to enter my house. Been there too many years. This room has been a dream come true. At least with a separate room, you can SHUT the door and leave it.
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Maria2013 10:48 AM 04-28-2014
My daycare is completely separate from the rest of the house, it has it's own entrance and own bathroom...I do cook in my kitchen but kids and parents don't need to be there

I don't think I would have a Daycare if I didn't have a separate area
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Maria2013 10:49 AM 04-28-2014
Originally Posted by Annalee:
. At least with a separate room, you can SHUT the door and leave it.

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MCC 10:51 AM 04-28-2014
I have a classic 70's style split foyer home. You walk in the front door and there are stairs leading up, and stairs leading down. The daycare is down, and my house is up. I know that, for me, I could not run a daycare in my living space. I know a lot of providers do it, but I can not.

Having it separate does several things for me:

1) allows me to come upstairs with my DD various times during the day. ( I have staff that can run the downstairs)

2) Means my kitchen doesn't have to be spotless at all times, I don't have to worry about parents snooping etc.

3) The mess stays down stairs. My house is always in the same condition I left it in the morning.

4) I leave the daycare at 5pm, and don't see it again until 8am. I love that I can come upstairs at the end of the day and not look at the daycare area, toys, etc. My DD's toys are mostly in her room, or blend with my decor, so when I'm relaxing, I feel like an adult, in an adult space.

The only thing I don't like about my set up is that I don't have a walk-out to the back yard for outside play. I am seriously considering having one put in, so we don't have to drag the kids up the steps and deal with the awkward entryway that my house has.

I know for me, that having it separate makes it, rather than breaks it. YKWIM?
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blandino 10:53 AM 04-28-2014
We have a 700 square foot sunroom on the back of the house, and it had it's own entrance. We use that combined with the old master bedroom, attached to the sunroom by French doors, for the daycare space. So it is essentially a big "L" shape. So we have our own entrance, and they can get to the bathroom through the master.

We used to not use the old master, and had a lot of problems with bathroom trips. So it's a lot nicer this way.

If at all possible I would definitely suggest having a bathroom located where the parents/children won't have to go through your personal living space. And having the entrance is perfect too. I think as long as it's all separate, you won't have issues. We have even put up gates at the end of the daycare space, just in case a wandering parent or child makes their way in there.
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Cradle2crayons 10:54 AM 04-28-2014
Currently we have a 5 bedroom house... One large room on the kids side is daycare... And they have a bathroom.... And my bonus room off the master is just a nap room they don't have other access. I share the kitchen and living room with the daycare.

But... We are about halfway done with a huge new master suite on the back of the house... And we are giving up our current entire master side of the house to the daycare. They will have their own bathroom also. The bonus room will be their eating and craft area... And the master suite will be the dedicated daycare space. Then the current daycare room will be my new huge sewing room!!

So I'll get my living room back and kitchen/dining. I will still prepare meals in my kitchen but they will be served in the new eating and craft area.

We are going to make their own entrance also.

Hopefully well be done In a few more months.
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cheerfuldom 11:08 AM 04-28-2014
honestly, sharing a daycare space was SOOOO stressful on my family. we finally moved to a bigger house with a dedicated playspace, bathroom and napping room in the basement. there is no way I would go back to sharing a living room with the daycare toys. sounds like a recipe for a divorce. have you thought about moving the playroom upstairs and moving the family living room downstairs? it really doesnt sound safe to be out of sight (and sound?) when preparing meals and such plus the parents constantly walking through the house, ugh, sounds like a nightmare. that wont fix the entrance issue but at least you can be right there for pickups and dropoffs and parents dont need to come in at all plus you can cook within site of the kids.
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melilley 11:54 AM 04-28-2014
I wish!
We do have a family room and a living room and I my living room is the main dc area and is set up just for dc, but I also have to use the rest of my house. Parents rarely go past the family room, but if we are outside, they have to walk through the whole house to get to the outside door.

I would love to have a separate dc area with everything in it so parents don't have to step foot into my living spaces!
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Heidi 12:07 PM 04-28-2014
I do not currently, but it was way better when I did!

The best scenario, for me, was when I had a separate room right next to the kitchen. It was huge (21x40) and had a half-glass door.

So, I could see what was going on in there, make lunch, bring the kiddos into the kitchen to wash up and eat (bathroom was right there, too), and then put them down for nap. During nap, I could clean up the kitchen. I didn't have 2 kitchens to keep clean, which was nice because at the time, I had toddlers of my own.

A peek into the door during nap time let me know if everyone was where they were supposed to be, but I didn't have to open the door and risk waking them. Of course, now-a-days one could just get a camera, but back then those were pricey.

Oh, and they entered through my garage, which was really big, so I sectioned off part as a cubby area, put a rug down, a bench, and the parent bulletin board. Parent dealt with transition behaviors (yeah), and I didn't have to see it. They could also read the bulletin board before walking in and having kids bombard them, so it got read more.
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Little Buttons 12:12 PM 04-28-2014
I am still in the process of becoming licensed, but when i am my daycare space will be seperate. We have a classic cape cod style home so the rooms are rather tiny. However, our walk out basement is huge! We just finished it ourselves. It is an L shaped area with a small eat in/arts and crafts area, large 25'x15' playroom. It has its own entrance and windows so it doesnt feel so much like a basement! The first thing i will be saving my pennies for once i open is to put a half bath down there! I know myself enough to know that there is no way i could share my living space with daycare space. I just need a mental break otherwise i get overwhelmed and burnt out! Plus i like that my children and husband can have their home be theirs and not daycare space.
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Christina72684 12:19 PM 04-28-2014
We built our home in 2012 specifically for the daycare. The bottom floor has a 24x32 room, a cubby room, bathroom (double sinks and toilet), and its own entrance for daycare. Off to the side of it is the kitchen that I use for daycare and personally. Then on the other side of the kitchen is a door that leads to a separate part that has a staircase upstairs, a large storage room, and a door to the outside that is my personal door. Altogether there is 1,500 square feet on each level. I live upstairs and have a laundry room, living room, 3 bedrooms, office, and bathroom.
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TwinKristi 01:23 PM 04-28-2014
I don't, I have a toddler myself so it's not a lot different than if I didn't have a daycare. I have a couple extra booster seats that we remove on the weekend and the nap mats & PNP get folded away on the weekends.
I definitely have to keep our house tidy and that does stress me out sometimes but I would have to clean the daycare space as well. I don't know... Ideally we would love a bigger house with a dedicated daycare area, but housing prices are NUTS where we live and we're lucky to be where we are at the price we are.
Having a custom built house is awesome, but just not possible in my area. Haha.
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spinnymarie 01:35 PM 04-28-2014
I'm currently waiting for our separate area to be finished, can't WAIT. We're finishing the basement to have a small kitchen, full bath, nap room and large play room. Can't wait until I can hold interviews down there instead of cleaning up my entire house just to have someone sit on the couch and we decide we don't like each other (not that that has happened often) We did most of the work ourselves so the cost has been minimal, I don't know if I'd be ready to purchase a whole addition!
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midaycare 02:22 PM 04-28-2014
We use the basement, which is on ground level. It has a separate entrance and those rooms are entirely daycare only. The only bad thing is the bathroom and kitchen are upstairs. But at least parents never have to go through my house.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 03:43 PM 04-28-2014
I use almost the entire downstairs. Entryway leads into room 1, which leads into room 2, which leads into room 3 which as a door outside. The kitchen it right off of that. I do wish I had another little bathroom in the back area. Hmmmm...I wonder how much that would cost.
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Meeko 03:51 PM 04-28-2014
I have a walk-out basement with it's own entrance under my carport. Nobody goes upstairs. They don't use my front door either. I have 1500 sq feet on each floor.
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kitykids3 04:23 PM 04-28-2014
I used to have my home and daycare together in a 950 sq. foot lower duplex. It was cramped.
I bought my house 4 years ago and I love it and can now have separate spaces. It's a polish flat so it's kind of like a duplex but it is single family. Downstairs is daycare and upstairs is my living space. Both levels have 2 doors, one to the front and one to the back yard. It's great because daycare has it's own 2 entrances and no one has to see my living space. I have a dining room and play room and two nap rooms for daycare and a separate room that has a toilet. I had a sink installed and have a fridge down there and kind of turned the utility room into a small kitchen with a counter and cupboards. I prepare meals upstairs where the stove is and freeze ahead of time and then I just pop it in the microwave downstairs at lunch time. I was lucky to find this house when I was looking and that it was only a mile from the old place and something I could afford. Love love love having separate space. It's about 670 sq. ft of space just for daycare.
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LoraJenkins 11:51 AM 05-01-2014
My daycare space use to be in my livingroom. Since my daughters moved out I have 2 separate rooms and a bathroom just for daycare space. It is SO nice not to have toys snd stuff in my livingroom! At the end of the day, I close the bedroom doors and can relax. It makes a world of difference!
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Unregistered 02:40 AM 05-02-2014
We added a large two story addition off the back of our home. Second floor is a bedroom. It was the best decision ever. Parents come to the back door and do not walk through the house.

I have two rooms. One large room for playing and napping - one smaller room for eating, table toys, puzzles and sensory table with oatmeal. Kitchen is off the smaller room. I can see the kids while I cook. Also, the larger room has a bathroom.

I clean up at the end of the day and the day care doesn't exist till the next day!
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Josiegirl 03:03 AM 05-02-2014
Maybe in my next life. But then in my life life I'd like to come back as an heir to the Gates family.
I have a small home, you enter the front door into the living room, go straight into the kitchen, then through into the playroom. Bedrooms and bathroom are off the living room and bedrooms. I do NOT like the set-up but it is what it is. Dcps aren't too bad about it. In all my years I've only had one that was nosy and intrusive.
However, the dcks are the sneaky ones who get into stuff and I do NOT like that!!!
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childcaremom 04:43 AM 05-02-2014
Originally Posted by MCC:
I have a classic 70's style split foyer home. You walk in the front door and there are stairs leading up, and stairs leading down. The daycare is down, and my house is up. I know that, for me, I could not run a daycare in my living space. I know a lot of providers do it, but I can not.

Having it separate does several things for me:

1) allows me to come upstairs with my DD various times during the day. ( I have staff that can run the downstairs)

2) Means my kitchen doesn't have to be spotless at all times, I don't have to worry about parents snooping etc.

3) The mess stays down stairs. My house is always in the same condition I left it in the morning.

4) I leave the daycare at 5pm, and don't see it again until 8am. I love that I can come upstairs at the end of the day and not look at the daycare area, toys, etc. My DD's toys are mostly in her room, or blend with my decor, so when I'm relaxing, I feel like an adult, in an adult space.

The only thing I don't like about my set up is that I don't have a walk-out to the back yard for outside play. I am seriously considering having one put in, so we don't have to drag the kids up the steps and deal with the awkward entryway that my house has.

I know for me, that having it separate makes it, rather than breaks it. YKWIM?

This is our house. I love that it is out of the way. No way would I be able to do daycare without a separate area. We do use the upstairs (family) area for meals and snacks and art, and use the bathroom b/c we don't have one in the basement (on my wishlist!).

We go outside from our patio doors upstairs and if we are out when parents come they walk around the house to pick up there. I keep the front door locked so they can't get in. Parents see the house during the interview and then don't come back in once their child starts. I always meet and greet at the door and bring child to door if we are inside during pick ups. Normally we are outside, though.

I understand the front door busy-ness. I make sure that I don't have drop offs during the time my kids are trying to get out the door. I haven't had a problem with parents making small adjustments to their drop off times and this way my kids can get out the door without all the traffic from dcfs.
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countrymom 05:59 AM 05-02-2014
I have a 2 storey house. So all the bedrooms are upstairs and then we have the main living area. I've posted pics of my set up, and that use to be our living room and spare front room. I'm changing the entrance way from the back to the front so everyone will have to go to the daycare room and no one will see the rest of the house. I'm deciding if I want to add a pocket door to close the area off. We also have a family room on the main floor and thats what we use. I will be closing off the back and making it into a true sun room so we will have more personal space.

a question for the op, but can you add a door to the downstairs, I think they call it a great entrance. This way everyone would only enter thru that door, and I think it would be cheaper than building an addition.
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Blackcat31 08:31 AM 05-02-2014
I have a completely separate space for my child care too.

It's 7.5 miles from my house.

BEST thing I ever did.

I have MAJOR respect for those of you who run the show from your homes.

NOT something I could ever do.
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SilverSabre25 08:46 AM 05-02-2014
I wish I had separate space. It's something I desperately wish for but with my home, doubt will ever happen. Even just *some* space that was truly separate would be nice.
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countrymom 10:41 AM 05-02-2014
I would love to have a seperate house, this would be great.
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