lgatlin's Profile

I taught high school for 15 years, and the classroom environment was always really important to me. Some of my favorite things: open shelves that ran the length of the walls with lots of things for students to explore (I had boxes with interesting objects in them, books, sculptures) - all not "too precious" so they could touch and explore them - framed art posters that I picked up at garage sales - either propped on the shelves or hung on the walls - frames make them look so much better! I had a lot of large plants - full sized 6' trees - lots of houseplants can live just fine in the classroom as long as they're fed and watered - here are some pics of my classroom --
https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.digication.com/Maf50516e749214395f0984e3a306b81b.JPG

https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.digication.com/M3a51efb02f399c78bda72323e3cab614.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8696728@N03/6354138911/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8696728@N03/6354138827/

I know I had a really big classroom, but a lot of this stuff doesn't take much space! Those are two different classrooms, but the same decorating ideas are in both. My classroom was always a spot on the principal's tours with visitors because it was such a fun environment.

Personally, I think the brilliant orange is ok, if a little intense. How about taking some of that gorgeous golden yellow from the dining room and painting wide stripes on the orange? Or a large-format stencil? Do the upholstery in a neutral -- that way you can always change the walls to make the room take on a different persona.