To Share or Not to Share…

…THAT is the question.

Our girls (ages 7 and almost 6) have been bringing up the subject of sharing a bedroom lately. They’re 18 months apart, very close, and for the most part, get along extremely well. The younger sister has a teeny tiny room. I know people with bigger closets than her room. Our oldest, on the other hand, has a great size room. Not enormous, but certainly large enough for two kids to share. I’ve always thought it was nice that  each of our three children have their own space, but part of me is thinking it would be kinda great. Especially when I walked into deliver laundry the other day and thought of the possibility that only TWO bedrooms would be disasters instead of three;). That thought was verrrry appealing, I have to say.

But then again, one’s a nightowl and stays up forever after we tuck her in, the other LOVES her sleep.

They always want sleepovers on the weekends in each other’s room, and they stay up WAY too late. Course, the novelty of all that will wear off after a while, I’m sure.

And do they get along so well BECAUSE they have their own space. Hmmm…

We’d have to do some rearranging, and our son would get the full size bed that our oldest has right now (which is the one and only drawback in her opinion), and the two twin beds would be moved into the big room. It would just make sense (and look prettier, let’s get down the the real reason;)), to have the two twin beds together in one room, and have the largest bed in the room that belongs to their brother.

But THEN – coincidence or not?? – I just happen to get the latest Pottery Barn kids catalog in the mail while all this discussion is going on and it was like shared girls’ rooms were slapping me in the face. I mean, look. at. this:

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Oh my word, right??

Oh, and here’s some more ugliness for you…(insert sarcasm)

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I know. Go ahead, wipe your drool, I’ll wait.

Ok. Then I turn the page, and yet ANOTHER…

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I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a room I haven’t liked in Pottery Barn. Like, EVER.

So then I started thinking about how cute this room could be…how nice it is that I have two daughters that love each other so much they want to share a room together…and maybe I should take advantage of that while I can. I mean, the teenage years are comin’ and I have sisters…I remember those days well. Wasn’t always pretty, you know?

So what would YOU do? Share or not share? I should add, both rooms need a lot of help right now anyway, decor-wise, so it’s not like that’s an issue.

Oh, and yes, the thought of what to do with the spare room if this does go down has entered my brain.

Two words:

Craft Room.

I think we may have just made a decision.

🙂

Comments

  1. Erin L. K. says:

    We made the decision a year or so ago to have our two oldest boys share a room. (They are
    11 and 8.) It was the best decision we have made. While they do have their moments, I think sharing a room has caused them to grow closer. Also, it is MUCH easier on me to have all the Legos contained in one room. 🙂 And a craft room for you?!?!?!?! How fun would that be?!?!?!

  2. My boys shared a room until they both voiced that they wanted their own room. I say, let them share!! The question is, will you be able to give up the “Craft Room” when it is time to let them have their own space again??? I wouldn’t!! It would involve moving for me, if I had your situation. LOL!!!

  3. Share! My kids have always loved to share and I think it teaches them important lessons. The night owl can stay up reading by a lamp if the other can fall asleep that way.

  4. Pam Lerczak says:

    Share:)

  5. I was thinking the tiny bedroom could become a Play Room (with all of their toys in the playroom where you can just close the door) and then keep their bedroom nice and tidy. HOWEVER, I do like the sound of “Liz’s Craft Room”! Either way, sounds like your daughters may be sharing 🙂 Yeah, another room to makeover :-)!!

  6. Carli Heringer says:

    My kids share (4yr old girl and 2 yr old boy) share a room or of necessity, but honestly they love it. They get sad when they have to go to bed without each other, and every once in awhile I can hear them giggling together when they wake up in the morning. At some point separate rooms will be necessary due to the gender difference, but for now, I find it precious that they are so close and love each other so much. I think they will be a bit sad when they, someday, get their own rooms. 🙂

  7. Definitely let them share! My girls are 2.5 years apart and they have shared a room for a couple of years now. They have bunk beds and they love them! It will be fun for them and fun for you, too!

  8. My sister and I shared a room all thru our growing up years. It wasn’t so bad. So give it a go and see how well it would work. Talk to them though about how long they would have to share before declaring it “not working out”.

  9. My two oldest are also 18 mths apart and shared a room for 4 years. They loved it! We recently moved into a larger place and while they now have their own space, they tend to still spend all their time in the one’s room. They grew closer because of the experience, I am convinced!

  10. My two (5 yr old girl and 4 yr old boy) share out of necessity and it does not work well for us. The “sleep over” mentality has still not gone away and we often have trouble getting them to sleep (They have been sharing for 8 months now). They want to talk and play very late and will gladly do this with the lights off. If you have a solution for this let me know. 🙂 I hope it works for you!

  11. My 3 all share one room because they want to! I have a boy 6.5, a girl 4.5, and a boy almost 3. My oldest two started sharing out of necessity when #3 came along bc we only have 3 bedrooms. When #3 got big enough to notice he was all alone he started crying because he was all alone so we moves his toddler bed in their room with their bunk beds. He loves it now. They get along great in there. We made our extra room into the kids’ library. 🙂

  12. My two older girls (5 & almost 3) share a room out of necessity (we have a 3 bedroom house and the 7 month old has her own room). For the most part they love it. They are super close but the differences in them do slap ya in the face … like yours one likes her sleep while the 2 year old was talking til 10 last night! And the one is neat and organized and the other not so much. But they deal. They even sometimes will sleep in the same bed!

  13. Go for it! Our two daughters share a room (6 and 3), and it is definitely a bonus only having 1 room to keep tidy. There are, of course, the distractions at night (they talk, giggle, climb in bed with eachother, etc.) but am thankful for the memories they are making. We will continue to let them share until they request their own rooms, space. We have 2 white twin sleigh beds with matching pottery barn teen comforters and a dusty purple accent wall behind their beds. I love it!

  14. My boys share a room. There are struggles, but there are joys… Isn’t that the way with kids?

    Check out my recent post on a little girl’s nursery. You might like the circle wall for your girls!
    http://teachlovecraft.com/2014/02/n-nursery/

  15. Hi, Liz. I’m pretty sure we live in the same neighborhood. My daughters share a room (they are both 10) and I do use the smallest spare room as a sewing room (my 9-year-old son has the other bedroom). If you ever want to see a shared bedroom in action, you’re welcome to come check it out.

  16. I shared a room with at least one sibling for 90% of my childhood. I would not change it for a thing!

  17. Share! Especially while they still want to be with each other. Unfortunately the day will come when they want their own space – enjoy the closeness while it lasts 🙂

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