Zoning Your Home: A Simple Solution to Beat Cabin Fever and Stay Sane During Lockdown

Whether it is a lockdown, extended school break, or the kids keep passing around that never-ending upchuck-a-thon stomach bug, zoning your home will save your sanity when you are stuck at home.

Do you ever feel like there is zero order in your home? Like there are people and things all over your house all the time? It’s so common when you have kids. And it’s heightened when you homeschool because you use your house as a school and living space.

Toys migrate from the playroom to the living room to the bedroom and bathtub. Rinse. Repeat I’d had enough of this mess, literally and figuratively.

This post contains affiliate links that I may earn a commission off of at no extra cost to you.

What Does Zoning Your Home Mean?

Honestly, I forget where I first heard of turning your space into zones, but I was reminded of the idea by Erin from Cotton Stem. Because I felt like I was climbing the walls during lockdown, I harnessed that ADHD hyperfocus.

Zoning your home means transforming areas to provide a change of scenery, spark creativity, or alter space to be more intentional and serve a specific purpose.

For example, that random corner in your kitchen – let’s create an art corner! Now that’s not wasted space, and you don’t have to fuss at the kids to clean up their crafts daily. Read on to see what type of zones I created in my home. Hopefully, it will inspire you to make changes in your own home.

Book Nook Zone

The first thing I created was a Book Nook Zone. I shopped my house and grabbed my son’s cushioned chair, a cozy weighted blanket, an extra end table we randomly had, and the basket of books that were not getting read in our playroom. Viola! We now have a reading corner in the upstairs loft. The kids love it, and they are reading the formerly forgotten books.

Bonus School Space Zone

With the success of the Book Nook, I looked for other ways to implement zones around the house. We have a large loft area upstairs, which wasn’t utilized well. The book nook was in one corner of the room, but I saw the opportunity to make the loft even more purposeful.

I moved a desk in my daughter’s room (it only stores doll clothes) into the loft. Then, I added a lamp and a globe to the desk. BOOM! Now we have extra space for school work other than our homeschool room. We use this zone when someone needs a quiet area.

TV and Video Game Zone

Next, I positioned the TV and Nugget couch on the opposite side of the loft to create a “lounging zone.” The TV cabinet also now stores our LEGOs. Finally, the LEGOs are out of the kid’s bedrooms!

This little TV zone gets a lot of use on the weekends when my kids watch more shows and play the Wii (yes, we still have a Wii, ha!). It’s a small area that’s the Nugget and the TV, but the unique thing about zoning your home is you don’t have to have a lot of space to make something special.

Gross Motor Zone

The last zone I created in our loft is the “gross motor” zone (I told you this loft was big!). I scored a free toddler trampoline in a corner and bought a sensory swing to hang from the ceiling. The Nugget Couch can easily be pulled over to create an obstacle course, slide, or whatever the kids want.

Lastly, I added the toddler slide from the backyard. I wanted an area where kids could play rough and get their wiggles out. We live in the Midwest, and playing outside in the winter is often too cold. This play space is essential; the kids are already taking full advantage of it.

Don’t Forget a Mom Zone

You need a Mom Zone. Trust me. Having a space to keep your calendar, file mail, and meal plan will keep life much more organized. I dedicated one corner of my kitchen counter to my Mom Zone. It is incredibly lovely to have all my things in one place.

Now It’s Your Turn

I know not everyone has a large unused loft in their home. However, the idea behind zoning your home is to use your little corners and nooks. Maybe it’s taking the kid’s table that isn’t getting used anymore and turning it into a board game table. You can even utilize one end of your kitchen table!

Take a look around and see what’s not working. Take a space that isn’t being used efficiently, then let your imagination flourish. Tell me all about what you come up with. I can’t wait to hear!