I think I may be crazy but.....I had a home daycare for the past 5 years up until my husband lost his job and we had to move. My last home was 2500 sq ft and I had the entire downstairs for my daycare. We are now in a 1600 sq ft home with nothing but a kitchen, living area, and guest room for daycare space on the main level which is where I would operate the daycare. I only plan to have 2-3 children, but worry that parents will think it’s too confining. Should I even bother trying to set something up? Are any of you operating out of a limited space and how has it worked for you?
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I'm in approx. 1600 sf and it's fine. (Listing says 1800 but it's totally not.) We have one child, two bedrooms, a family bathroom, and the kitchen and large living room to ourselves. The dining room and large playroom (converted carport) are daycare space. I'm not going to have a square footage issue when I go from 4 to 6. (I can keep 7 once licensed but will leave a space available for my own kid.)
It's all about where the boundaries of your space are. The locations of your walls will determine whether or not it's a good space for a daycare. The layout of this house is great. I have a half bath inside the playroom, access to the back yard from the playroom, and direct view of the dining room from the kitchen. I can set up a crib in the living room and nap other kids on mats in the playroom. The playroom is quite large but we cycle from the playroom to the dining room for art and outside multiple times a day. I've put a lot of thought into the yard and both Montessori and free-range style parents like the layout. I stage the indoor spaces with activities before an interview, putting some away so it looks more spacious.
There is not a major separation of space here. I know a lot of folks have two-story houses and keep the daycare in the finished basement. Since nobody else in my family is home while I'm open, it makes no difference to me how much of a barrier there is between my personal and public spaces. You'll need to plan for how your family lives.
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I have a small home, somewhere around 960 sf. I've always used the living room, kitchen, playroom for dc. Since no one else lives here now, I also use an 11x11 spare bedroom they can play in. I've had 6 dcks for the most part and it's worked fine. I have a larger room upstairs but I only use it for storage. Nobody has ever mentioned the size of my home except to say they appreciate that I'm able to supervise no matter what room we're in.
The space issue shouldn't deter dcfs from enrolling but the hardest part is having a dc in your own space. There are ways to incorporate both so everybody's happy.
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My playroom is 576 sq ft (24' x 24') and has worked well for 6 kids for many, many years. (kids are not in the main house except to eat, bathe and for minor ill care)
What is the backyard like? That is where most space is made up, IMHO.- Unless otherwise stated, all my posts are personal opinion and worth what you paid for them.
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I would think that you will be fine, even if you went to a few more kids. If you use both the living room and the bedroom for play, you can have different items in each room and the kids will feel like they have tons of space.
We use our living room (12 x 12), family room (20 x 15) and part of our informal dining room for the free play area. I am licensed for eight, with 4-7 here most days (plus my own child). The thing is that they all tend to move as a pack, so even though technically we have space for more kids, it's good that I don't have more than would fit together in one room.
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Originally posted by Justjoy View PostI think I may be crazy but.....I had a home daycare for the past 5 years up until my husband lost his job and we had to move. My last home was 2500 sq ft and I had the entire downstairs for my daycare. We are now in a 1600 sq ft home with nothing but a kitchen, living area, and guest room for daycare space on the main level which is where I would operate the daycare. I only plan to have 2-3 children, but worry that parents will think it’s too confining. Should I even bother trying to set something up? Are any of you operating out of a limited space and how has it worked for you?
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Originally posted by Justjoy View PostI think I may be crazy but.....I had a home daycare for the past 5 years up until my husband lost his job and we had to move. My last home was 2500 sq ft and I had the entire downstairs for my daycare. We are now in a 1600 sq ft home with nothing but a kitchen, living area, and guest room for daycare space on the main level which is where I would operate the daycare. I only plan to have 2-3 children, but worry that parents will think it’s too confining. Should I even bother trying to set something up? Are any of you operating out of a limited space and how has it worked for you?
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My child care space is just above the minimum 35sq feet for 8 children. The dining room is 117 and the play room is 167. It's not huge, but there's still plenty of space for 8 kiddos.
Just out of curiosity I figured out the entire square footage of our main floor (including counters, appliances, etc) and it's 728. I thought it would be bigger...
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