I keep thinking about putting my boys in the same room for sleep..just sleep..a simple room..one crib, one twin bed. Simple. Near mama. Toys elsewhere. There are so many factors to consider (age, sleep patterns, noise). But I keep thinking about this photo above (from Cookie,..i love this room)Not what I would do for boys exactly but it is so so sweet, it actually belongs to this room belongs to none other than the talented John Derian’s son and daughter. Maybe I just like to daydream about how to rearrange my house and maximize function.
I love this image with the books! so clever!
This photo of the boys in the toile room just cracks me up!
Just because the wallpaper is toile doesn’t mean they can’t be boys in here…the wood and brown tone in the paper just make it work. Yep my husband would never go for this…although Henry does have trellis drapes right now…
And I gasped when I saw this next image…it’s what I’ve had in mind for a big boy room since I first found out I was having a boy over six years ago..I wasn’t surprised to find out the mama lives in Fredericksburg, Texas! This look is too cluttered for my little men right now but one day..ONE DAY!
In the meantime, I will probably stick to something like this feel below… from Charleston, SC, simple and fresh…
But the decor is the easy and fun part..it’s the function that gives me pause..WHAT WILL WORK FOR US. Because if I have learned anything, SLEEP matters more than even fabric. IT. MUST. WORK.
So what do you think?? Did you share a room growing up? Do your children share a bedroom? What has been your experience..would love to hear!
{All images from Cookie}
I shared a room growing up and moved my younger son (almost 3) in to share with his older brother (5) a couple of months ago. The transition was a little touch and go for a while, but I’m pleased with the overall result. It’s helped them to develop a kinder relationship. I see a more consideration, willingness to share, willingness to play together, etc. I know from my own childhood sharing a room encourages kids to learn the art of negotiation and compromise early!
Be prepared for the transition — it can be rocky. We held out sleeping in the “big boy room” as a privilege subject to being revoked if they didn’t stay in bed, settle down, etc. Also be warned: naptime is automatically shortened. (Darn it.) I think in the long run it’s worth it, though. Best of luck!
Abigail @ Raising Camelot
I’ve thought about this, too. I’m eager to see what you decide and what feedback you get. My little guys are 14 months and almost four. They both sleep through the night (thank you, Lord!) and go to bed at the same time. Sleep patterns would be my main concern if I were to make the move. There are numerous benefits you would gain—more space! After considering the pros and cons, I’m interested to see what you decide.
I have 3 in one room! It’s pretty tight, but the youngest goes down first and never even hears the older two she’s so used to it now. I am glad they share, sometimes they have these little conversations. We have a dresser in the closet. I hope it can help them to be close… Plus, I don’t get my own room now, why should they ? 😉
I just put my 8 year old and 4 year old in bunk beds tonight. My little guy has been sleeping on brother’s floor on his toddler mattress all summer anyway.
My 3 children (ages 5, 3, 14 mo.) share a room and it actually works really well. Which even I am a bit surprised at! They all have different sleep personalities and they have all seemed to adapt quite nicely. My 3 year old is a night owl and will often lay awake quietly in her bed until 10 pm but doesn’t disturb her brother and sister. My son is an early bird but somehow manages to slip out of his room around 6 am whilst his sisters sleep in until 7:30 or so. I think it helped that we had them all on similar sleep/eat schedules as babies. We also don’t really have any other feasible option right now so we couldn’t give up on it – then it had to work. It was also a fun challenge to decorate.
Our two daughters ages 4 and 3 (20 months apart) have been sharing a room for the last 6 months. My biggest concerns were falling asleep and staying asleep, but with the sleep we have lost, we have gained the cutest moments of hearing them talk to each other from their beds. I know they are making memories together. The initial transition was tough and at times we still have to work on it, but all in all it has been positive for our family.
I will say this…..it does not work for us at naptime. I put our younger daughter in the bedroom and the oldest goes to the playroom for nap. Other than that, it has been great for us!
I just moved my 4 yr old daughter and 3 yr old son into the same room. They have transitioned well although the first week was a little rough. I have struggled with how to decorate a boy/girl shared room
First off, I think those are the cutest boy rooms I’ve ever seen. Each will be saved in my favorites folder. Second, we just had this discussion last night at dinner. I would love to have Andrew & Charlie share a room, but with a 6 year age difference I don’t think it will work for some time. We tried on vacation. Bad idea. Andrew talks to himself, actually makes action figure noises, acts out battles before he falls asleep. Charlie’s bedtime is a whole 2 hours before Andrew’s and the noise would wake him up. Also I love snuggling with Andrew & reading before he goes to sleep and I couldn’t do that in his room with a sleeping toddler. So…My point to this long and rambling comment is that when you figure it out please let me know so I can follow suit! Have a great weekend!
XO, Tessa
exactly our situation Tessa…daddy reads and puts Drew to bed in the evening in drew’s full size bed..that is good time for them and they could do it in our room but frankly i enjoy unwinding a bit and having a quiet master bedroom while they are on the other side of the house doing their thing at night.
i think the key to decorating a room for boy and girl or different ages is to stay away from themes and decorate with kid objects but not age or gender specific…more of a playroom look…i am really attracted to kids spaces that arent overdone too..even Drew’s current room i want to simplify..and the jungle and over the top rooms on bhg.com just dont attract me..they are theme parks not restful sleep and play spaces..just my preference..i am sure kids love them and many parents have created some amazing ones, just not my thing..
My boys started sharing a room when they were 4 years old and 2 1/2 years old – baby sister was on the way and we needed the nursery for her. For 3 months they got out of bed every night and would stand outside our bedroom door giggling. Then one of us would take them back to bed (with a swat on their bottoms). Every night for 3 months! Every night we would lay them down in bed, read a story, say our prayers and we would ask them, “It’s bedtime now. If you get out of bed you will get a spankin’. Do you want a spanking?” “No” they would reply. Every night. BUT! then they finally got the hang of it. Now, 6 years later, they asked to have their own rooms but they are just getting used to it and the younger of the two has a tough time getting to sleep on his own so every Friday they have a “sleepover” together.
Good luck! Mine learned that it was a shared space and there was very little of “this is MINE and that is YOURS!” while they shared rooms and I think that was the biggest benefit to sharing a room.
Love the boy’s room pics. My sons, 18 and 20, shared a room. We had a map up too at one time. Best thing we did was build a shelf all the way around the the room about a foot down from the ceiling. My youngest was a train freak and he mounted his train tracks on the shelf so the train would go all the way around the room. This was very popular with the younger kids who would come visit us. The shelf also gave us a great way to display the boy’s treasures without taking up floor space.
I know nothing about this from the parenting side – but will say I shared a room growing up and was not a fan! I shared a room out of necessity. If you have the space I would let each kid have their own room – but just have two twin beds (or one full bed) in one of the rooms so if they want to sleep with each other they can – but they know they still have their own space. That way it is a treat to have a “slumber party” with brother (even if it ends up being everynight) and they don’t have the feeling of being forced to share a space.
Living in an old farmhouse, we don’t have air conditioning in our upper level so we moved all three boys (ages 2, 5, 8) in a room together with window air for the summer. I liked it so well it is going to stay that way. I just bought a new bunk bed with the twin on top and full on bottom. The 8 yr old sleeps on top and the two little guys sleep together on the bottom…. that’s how I leave them but when we go check on them, we never know who will be sleeping where.:) They have done a great job sneaking out and leaving the others to sleep in the morning. It works well for us and the boys like it too because they think our upstairs is creepy with an attic door. I just turned the one boys room into a toy room so there is very little mess in our family room now and they don’t have toys in their bedroom so all we have to do is make beds. Love it! We also have a guest room up there and a nursery for baby #4 when it arrives. The master is downstairs. When they are older I’m sure they will want their own rooms and since we have the space, that will be fine.
I can’t wait to read the responses, my 3 yo has been asking to share a room with my 1 year old. Toys are elsewhere, so think it could possibly, once B is out of his crib, before that….I’m not really that willing…
I shared a room with my sister from age 5 to age 12. It was easier when we were little, but things got tense and cramped as we grew. When my family moved, we got our own rooms. I do think that it was good for us to share a room. I think it helped a lot when I got to college and had to share with someone I didn’t know at all.
My girls currently have their own rooms, but that will all change soon. 😉 My youngest has a much larger room, so the plan is to move them both in there together. We have some cute white bunk beds picked out (we need to save space, even with the larger room), and are just waiting to see if the younger one is going to start climbing out of her crib any time soon.
I’m looking forward to having a guest room again, and only a little bit worried about how late they might stay up chatting. :s
I shared a room with my little brother (we were 23 mo apart) for many years as a child.
My oldest son and daughter shared a room from about 3yr/18 mo (respectively) to when they were 6yr/4yr. My son in a twin and my daughter in her crib (and later a twin). They never had a problem staying up talking.
When my second son was 1 I moved my daughter into her own room and my 1 year old into the 6 year olds room. I waited until the baby was reliably sleeping through the night and my oldest is a very sound sleeper. It went great. Their bedtimes were about an hour apart so the baby would be asleep when I would put the older one to bed. We have a noise machine in the room that helps mask their little night noises. Of course there were times the baby would wake up and getting him back to sleep was hard, and a couple times the oldest ended up sleeping on the couch in the office (which he actually loves) when the baby was having a really hard night. But on the whole it has been a great experience and they are used to each other. They love sharing a room and actually my daughter is jealous and asked me to have another baby girl because “Michael has Damien and I don’t have anybody.” and “I am lonely in my room without Michael.”
Good luck and I LOVE seeing examples of room decorated for 2 (or more) siblings!
My two children – 5 yr. boy and 3 yr. girl – share a room. Always have. We live in a loft apt. and I am stuck when it comes to decorating their room. I want something cozy and pulled together, but right now have stark and empty. We live close to you, so I am thinking about asking for some help!
We’re military, so housing changes and we can’t always be very particular. My girls are 5 years apart and have shared a room from the time we kicked the baby out of our room. 🙂 We are now overseas and all three- 2 girls and one boy- are in a [large] room together. The third room (which does not have sufficient window coverings- we live in a round building) is the playroom. They all go to bed about the same time and wake up about the same time. The only issue we have right now is training the 2 yr old to stay in bed…but that’s something we’ve had to do with each child.
How ironic! I actually found your website while researching board & batten for my kids shared bedroom redo 🙂
I love all your inspiration pics, much more subdued than the ones I wrote about recently:
https://kidsstuffworld.com/2010/08/shared-spaces-boy-girl-rooms/
Ours is a mixed gender room (or at least for the next year or so) so we can have tons of fun with it.
I was planning something like this:
https://pinterest.com/stacyofksw/planning-a-room-for-two/
But my kids are determined for something covered in cars. I’m trying to make everyone happy so it is evolving into something a little more like this:
https://pinterest.com/stacyofksw/but-the-kids-want-cars/
Hopefully we can follow each other along and maybe even pick up some inspiration from each other :0 So happy I found your site today, I have already added it to my reader!
My girls have shared rooms (or had their own) for sleeping and had a separate room for toys. I much preferred that arrangement of a room to sleep and a room to play so that their bedrooms could be peaceful! When too much had to happen in one room, it was pretty chaotic. But, we didn’t always have a choice. Sometimes it was all smooshed into one space 🙂
The “think” picture and the Angie. H room were inspiration for my son’s room. Love them–and your blog! Julie
Our girls have shared a room since M was born. We have room for each to have their own room, but prefer that they share-and they do too. I shared a room with my sister until I was in junior high and she was in high school. We have made a point to make their bedroom only about beds, books, and sleep. All toys are downstairs. Things may change next year since they will both be in school and we’ll have to decide where to put their desks. I love the kids sharing a room, they talk, they giggle, they share stuffed animals, the other day I found Em asleep on M’s bed. It’s super cute.
Sharing a room is kind of a right of pasage at our house. Once you get kicked out of moms room;). You share with someone else!! Our two big girls(13&11) share. Then my oldes son (10) and youngest son(4) share. Then my middle boys share(8&6). Now the question is what to do with the 15 month old girl? We are thinking of a bunkroom for all the boys and letting the baby have her own room. 4 boys in one room, 2 girls in another and the baby princess in her own. Sounds about right!!!
We never have had aproblem with kids sharing rooms. It works itself out rather quickly.
our boys have had their own rooms until a few months ago when they asked to share a room. They’re so different in personality that I never would have imagined letting them until they asked.
We are SO glad that we did. They are 10 and 8, and it has made their relationship so much sweeter. 🙂
I probably wouldn’t have ever thought about when my boys were your kids ages…For sleep purposes…but you know your boys better than any of us, so you’ll know when it’s time!
I shared a room with my brother (we were 10 months apart) for the first few years and then we graduated to our own rooms when we were 7 or 8. Being the 2nd of 6 kids, we all shared rooms over time. I think it helps build a sense of comraderie amongst siblings. However, none of our rooms ever looked this nice!
The picture of the little boy playing with his pirate ship caught my eye immediately because we sell the zebra on his bed in our store, Fragile Earth Stuffed Animals. I’ve linked to you from our store’s blog today.
Our boys, ages 9 and 15, share a room. Always have and always will. It works for both of them, since the 9 year old is ALWAYS out and about and the 15 year old loves to hole up in his room and play guitar.
Also, it is proven that kids who share a room do better in a roommate situation when they go off to college : )
love this. all of our kids have shared a room at one time or another. at the moment, the 3 of them are in separate rooms; however, i’ve been contemplating putting the littles {boy + girl} in a room together {my husband will kill me. there are only so many time you want to take apart and put together an ikea bed!}, but i also want matilda to have a sweet little girl room… so not sure how to pull it off or if it’s possible. any ideas??? xoxoxo ps – love room sharing, but it has some challenges.