It’s a problem many families face. You bring home your second (or third, or eighth) little newcomer and suddenly realize–you have more family than house! Moving is rarely the logical solution, especially for young families. Instead, it’s time to turn siblings into roommates. Here’s how to maximize space and minimize conflict.
Of course, if your children are young, sharing rooms will probably seem like an adventure, and will seem perfectly natural as they grow up together. However, for older children, giving up personal space can be a sacrifice. Allow them to have some separate areas. Divide the closet, and allow each to have his or her own bureau drawers (rather than, for example, dividing the drawers by clothing type). And while it might not be feasible, space-wise, to have two or more toy boxes in one room, you can help your children separate special toys from the general pile by using stackable bins or a toy shelf, rather than a large box or tub. In choosing room décor, try to accommodate each child’s tastes, but when this is not always possible, use the opportunity to teach a lesson in compromise. One child can choose the wall color, and another the curtains, for example, and they can each choose their own bedding. Large, removable wall stickers let children celebrate their interests, and then change them as they grow–without damaging your walls! One wall can be devoted to Thomas, and the other to dinosaurs, or princesses and horses, and the case may be.
And speaking of beds…. Older children may prefer to have separate beds and divide the space with a screen or curtain. Younger children, however, gain floor, sitting, and sleeping space with a daybed trundle bed. Hillsdale furniture has a number of quality-built, affordable models to choose from, from delicate, wrought-iron models to match any daughter’s daydream, to sturdy, wooden sets built to stand up to years of rough-housing boys.
Sharing a room can be difficult at times. When your favorite sweater disappears, for example, or one wants to race cars while the other wants to work a floor puzzle. But sharing rooms also leads to sharing chores, toys, stories, and secrets–the kind of sharing that makes siblings (eventually) the best of friends.