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Hi everyone. I have a question for you. I have a ds 3 1/2 and a dd 4 1/2. They each have their own rooms right now and the mess and clutter is about to drive me crazy. I want to put them together and make a playroom out of the other room. Some people have said not to do it, but I think that is silly. They are adopted and we have had them for 19 months, they are brother and sister biologically. They play well together and my son always goes into his big sis's room first thing in the morning if I don't catch him first to wake her up! I would love to only have one room to worry about being clean. The bedrooms are different sizes. one is 12x12 the other is 10x11. Should I make the bigger room a playroom? or vice versa? How did you decorate for boy/girl? We've thought about bunk beds, are they too young? I know eventually we will move them back to seperate rooms when they are older, but for now I think this is the right solution for us. Thanks for any ideas and suggestions
Answer:
JMO-
Bunk beds- NO! I think they are too dangerous- I had bought one and then when I told family/friends and they all said no. I did research and found them not to be safe. I know you will also hear that people have them and they have not have any problems- though to me not worth the worry
Since they are in seperate rooms now and they also are opposite sexes and you do not need the room I would not move them. Your dd will be old enough soon to not want to share. Then you have to havae them get used to sleeping in their own rooms when you do move them back.
Sounds like maybe we have too much stuff- you would still have to clean two rooms even if you do move them. I also think making a playroom will just add to the mess I would maybe thing of ways to organize. Maybe toss out toys that are broken or toys that have missing pieces. Maybe get rid of toys that are too young for them.
I think that kids get overwhelmed with too much stuff and they will play beter with less to choose from. Maybe get a big plastic box and put toys in and then rotate them out.
Good luck
Answer:
Just to add to what I originally wrote. Our house is for sale and when it sells, we will move into an apartment or house, so I'm sure the kids will share than anyway. and we plan on adopting one or two more in the next few years, so somebody has to share a room at some point and I wanted to start now. They don't have too many toys, I am constantly decluttering, yard sales, goodwill, etc. I just thought they might like to share a room while they are little and I always wanted them to have a playroom and this is the only solution for that. thanks.
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My two boys share a room and they love it. I don't allow any toys in their bedrooms and they have their own hampers, so there really is no mess in there at all.
As far as decorations, I think it would be easy to keep it neutral by doing a nature/out door theme and letting them have some figurines of their favorite things on their own dresser.
BTW: I'm a little leary of bunk beds too. I have my boys beds separated with a dresser.
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My 2 boys 2 1/2 and 6 share a room, just recently moved them. the used to have rooms to themselves, but all they did was sleep in them. You don't need a room to yourself to sleep. We decided not to do bunkbeds, even though the room they are in is only 10 x 10. Hondestly, the deciding factor on that was sheet changing. PAIN!
Anyway....Each kid has a twin bed on either side of the room and a small vertical shest of drawers for clothes. they only have a small 3 foot wide closet, so I hug a double rod and only shirts do in there...one kid on the top rod and the other on the bottom rod. Each boy gets an under-the-bed plastic storage bin under their own bed for "treasures" such as sports trophies, piggy banks, pictures...we keep the dresser tops clear and do not have shelves in order to keep the room simplified. Another bin holds their sheets onder a bed too. We DO have a hanging organizer thing on the inside of the closet door for DS3's diapers, wipes, shoes,...extra stuff like that. ALL toys are in the toy room.
The new routine around here (yeah!) is each boy makes his bed in the morning and takes his dirty clothes to laundry area. Then the door is shut for the day. It is great to not have to worry about that room getting trashed. all 5 members of our family have that morning routine, so that 's 3 bedrooms that stay in order.
As far as them being a different sex....so what. It's all in what they get used to. DH shared a room with his sister (18 months younger than him) until he was 14......he turned out fine and says it never bothered him. It was just the way it was.
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I would say they are too young for bunk beds. I just got them for my 7 & 8 yr olds and was a little leary about it (but I had no choice since there are 3 boys in the room and not room for 3 beds. I see nothing wrong with them sharing a room. My oldest son shared with his sister for quite a while (actually his whole life since he died at age 6) My dd was in third grade when we moved to a bigger house and she did not have to share a room with her 3 younger brothers! So far no one has been scared by the experience! (she is in 8th grade now!).
Answer:
I think sharing a room and making the other a playroom is a good idea for you. We did that before we bought our current house. I had NO toys in the bedroom, just two beds and a dresser in the middle. Now they have seperate rooms, but my baby will be going into my dd's room when she's out of her crib. I would stay away from bunkbeds, use the smaller room for the bedroom b/c you should only need a small space for two beds and a dresser or so. For the bedroom you could use a neutral decor or have them pick out a theme they both like. Good luck!