Shared Space: Kids’ Bedroom Redesign (Before)

We reached a fork in the road a few months ago:  our little boy figured out how to climb out of the crib! Ah!

This was way earlier than our oldest son – who slept in the crib until about two-and-a-half! But the baby, no, he’s a busy boy and at just twenty months figured how to get up and out! So redesigning the kids’ bedroom got pushed to the top of the list. 

To help us reinvent the boys’ shared space, we’re teaming up with Raymour & Flanigan again for another “before and after” series of posts!

Currently, in the boys’ room…

The boys have an interesting bedroom. At ten-by-eighteen feet, it’s spacious, yet narrow. Since the doorway is set into the middle of the wider side, it gives the sense of a “shallow” room.

There’s also two windows, a large closet, heating vent, over-stair cut out/nook, and crawl space doors to contend with when placing furniture. Sigh! It ends up making for a lot of space internally, but NOT a lot of usable wall space!

For furniture, we had a twin bed, crib, two dressers, two bookcases, and the rocking chair + ottoman. That’s a lot even for this larger space. 

Yes, our kids share a room!

We want our boys to share a room. Both my husband and I shared rooms growing up, so we’re not ignorant of the challenges of such an arrangement. But I also think there’s a lot of benefit.

I love hearing and watching the boys bond when they wake up in the morning. Those loudly-whispered conversations “Be quiet, Mommy’s still sleeping!” Well. That just would be a tragedy to miss out on, wouldn’t it?

In their room, our boys spend time together, help each other, and learn to accommodate – room sharing gives so many opportunities to develop these important life skills.

What’s the plan?

Simplify! Two of everything was just too much for me. I’m looking for bedroom storage options that save space!

Upgrade! I’m so thankful for the donated and handed-down furniture we’ve enjoyed for the past four years. But now, the boys are getting older, and it would be nice to have a matching bedroom set they can use well into their college years.

Learn to live together. As I mentioned… shared spaces. After all… what with living with siblings, then college roommates, and someday marriage… aren’t we as humans almost always in a position of having to share our space with others? Better to learn now!

Plan for the future. Bunk beds came to mind immediately when we started shopping the Raymour & Flanigan website (and using their very cool virtual room planner!). (Let’s not talk about how I always wanted bunk beds growing up!). With bunk beds, we gain a lot of space now, but have options for the future if we do give the boys their own room, or when they go to college.

I’m so excited to share our boys’ bedroom reveal post with you next week! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, do your kids share a room? Did you? What were the pros and cons, and how did you manage storage, squabbles, naptimes, etc?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Raymour & Flanigan. The opinions and text are all mine.