While I was pregnant, I did some research on how to make a Montessori environment for an infant. I will be honest, I was a little intimidated because it sounded like a lot of work to take my already cluttered and messy living room and somehow also accommodate an infant who was supposed to have freedom of movement. We live in a 1,550 sq. ft. townhouse. I literally don’t have another room that I could revamp into a playroom. Mac even roomed in with us for almost a year, partly due to the fact that we had to go through the guest room and totally clean it out so she could sleep there. So the idea of dong Montessori at home in our living room was a little daunting.

Three Months Later: I made a few updates on things we have already changed. 

But I decided to start with the basics and slowly add things as she grew. At first, all Mac needed was a blanket on the floor with a wooden frame that had shapes for her to watch and eventually grab at. Simple. I used the boppy pillow to prop her up underneath and she was good.

As she got a little older, I had a basket to hold her toys. As we did tummy time and as she started scooting around, I would prop up a book and put a few toys around for her to move to and use. Mac was a really early mover, so we had to baby proof a lot sooner then we thought.

These are the things I kept in mind as I slowly made the living room into Mac’s room too.

1. Safety- Obviously my number one concern is keeping her safe. After I took care of the usual stuff (like covers for the electrical sockets), I have mostly waited to see what she tried to get into. As she could reach items, I moved them. When she discovered how to break through the barriers, I revamped them. (Read about how we baby proofed her floor bed room.)
2. Freedom of Movement-I wrote an entire post on freedom of movement. I don’t believe in containerizing Mac, meaning I didn’t want to put her in a pack and play or in some kind of immobilizing activity center. But I needed to make limits. The faster she started moving, the more impenetrable I had to make the barriers. Currently, she has the entire living room and the hallway to explore and play in. For now,  that is sufficient. This summer, I hope to redo the deck that is just off of the living room so we can add that to her environment.
3. Accessibility-Once she wasn’t such a baby, I wanted Mac to be able to see her toys and choose what she wanted to use. That meant I needed to get the toys out of the basket and onto some shelves.
4. Beauty-I wanted to keep things beautiful. I obviously have some art and knick-knacks that were already decorating my living room, so I achieve beauty on Mac’s level by making sure her toys are beautiful. I try to pick toys that are simple but nice to look at. Most of her toys are made of wood and use pretty colors without being too over-powering.
5. Seasonality-I love to celebrate holidays. I want to pass on that love and excitement to Mac, so I try to include seasonal things on her shelf. For example, right now I have an Easter basket with some plastic Easter eggs. Before that, I had a box with some heart shaped bracelets in it.

Here is what our Montessori at home living room looks like currently.

This is the barricade that keeps Mac in the living room. With how crowded our main level is, I couldn’t rearrange the furniture in any other way to put in an actual baby gate. So we started by just propping a gate here and have made it stronger as she got stronger. We are up to a bin full of clothes, but she is starting to try to climb it.

Mac gets our entire living room to run around in, but there are too many things currently in our dining area and kitchen that she can’t have. Plus our townhouse is three levels so there are two staircases on the other side of the barrier. In the next few months as she grows more and is more comfortable with stairs and things, I imagine we will not have this barrier.

Three Months Later: We have removed the barrier. Mac now has the full run of the main floor. She is incredibly competent with stairs (as you can see in this post), but we do put up gates simply to keep her on one level. 

Here is the toy shelf. This used to hold our DVDs and a few other knick knack type things. Once Mac was mobile, I cleared off the bottom shelf for her toys and as she got bigger, I cleared off the other shelves too. This is a sample of the toys I have out for her. I have written about what toys she plays with as a Montessori toddler. I do rotate them on a weekly basis. I always keep a basket of books on the bottom shelf. I try to fit everything so it looks nice on the shelf. For example, I try to keep a stacking toy in the top left cubby because it fits really well.

Mac hasn’t started to get her sense of order yet, so it doesn’t matter to her if all of her toys are all over the floor, but as she gets older, I will start prompting her to only use one thing at a time and to put it away when she is finished.

Three Months Later: The toy shelf still looks relatively the same. Her sense of order is developing, but things still end up all over the floor as of now. 

I lucked out and got this couch, the footstool, and a chair for free. At first, I had the couch turned around and that acted as a barrier. The big gate used to be around Mac’s sleeping area in our bedroom, but once we moved her into her own room we were able to bring it downstairs. It protects the fireplace, our movie collection, and anything else we don’t want her to get at, like her potty. During the holiday season, our Christmas tree sat back there too.

The colorful green thing on the left side of the picture is a tunnel. That was one of Mac’s Christmas presents last year. Tunnels are good because they force kids to crawl. When a child is an early walker, they might not have sufficient core muscles. One way to help build up the core is to have them crawl more.

The ride on toy is a grandma toy. Mac spends her mornings with Grandma and Grandpa and they bring fun, special toys for her to use.

You can’t quite tell in this picture, but the recliner is shoved completely up against the bookshelf. Mac got to a point where all she wanted to do was pull all of my books off of the shelf. Instead of moving all of the heavy books and the bookshelf, we shoved the chair and a few other things up against it to stop her. Then when I have people over, we can pull the chair out and still have the nice looking bookshelf there.

Three Months Later: The bookshelf has been moved behind the big barrier. It was too exhausting to keep her from constantly pulling out books!

Here is the table and chair set we purchased for Mac at Ikea. It was a very reasonable price and, while it is a little too big right now, she is quickly growing into it. Having a child-sized table and chairs is important. A child needs to feel like part of the home. Imagine if all of the furniture around you was huge. Wouldn’t you feel out of place? Having furniture of their own makes a child feel welcome.

Mac uses this table mostly for snack right now. In the afternoons, we sit here with a glass of water and a snack. I have given Mac some opportunities to try creative things like coloring with crayons, but she doesn’t have much interest yet. Eventually, those activities will be done at the table too.

Three Months Later: Mac has started coloring with her crayons at this table. 

That thing on the right covered with the blue blanket is the matching child chair. Ralph has claimed it for his own, but Mac has just recently discovered she can climb into it. I’m not really sure what to do with it right now. I need to move it, but it is also acting as somewhat as a barrier so Mac can’t get behind the couch. The living room is never totally set as I always have something in mind to change.

So there you have it. For now, this is my Montessori at home living room. Has anyone else meshed their Montessori room with another room in their house?