With six kids in tow, you can imagine space is difficult to come by sometimes! There are close living quarters here and when it comes to sharing space, tensions can arise. With any brothers and sisters, you can expect the typical teasing and name-calling every now and then, but it is simple to create the perfect bedroom to suit boys and girls and same sex groups.
Lighting Segregation
Not usually one to encourage segregation – it isn’t necessarily healthy to section off areas of the bedroom using drapes or similar and can encourage anti-social behaviour, often emphasise issues and make any possible sibling rivalries that much stronger – this can work very well with lighting. It is essential to create areas where each of your children can have some all-important alone time. This can be through creating different lighting in different sections to indicate quiet time or lighting for the overall room to specify times of the day that need to be reserved for alone time and tasks such as reading and homework. Take some of these coloured lighting options from http://lampcommerce.com/en/catalogue/brands/zero-lighting. A variety of different coloured lamps or light bulbs could be designated for different moods…
A switch in design
You are never going to have siblings that will agree on everything and this will be the same when considering bedroom design, regardless of whether they’re two boys, two girls or a boy and a girl. Allow them to have their own space and express their creativity without being in competition with each other. This will require sectioning off equal amounts of the wall for the colour wallpaper or paint they choose. Let them decorate their section in their own way from this wall colour to the furniture. But make sure there is a neutral section as well so as not to create a war zone when tempers flare! What about a shared bunk bed to unite siblings but their own halves so they don’t drive themselves (and you!) too crazy…
Optimise the space
Of course, you’re going to have to think of nifty space solutions to truly optimise the room you have. As mentioned above, a bunk bed is the easiest way to free up extra floor room but there are other things you can consider as well. Drawing tables that collapse to rest along the wall, built-in storage and opting for wall-hanging lamps rather than floor lamps all make a huge impact when considering how to make extra room. Also think about getting a bed with space underneath to keep toys out of the way and handy plastic boxes to organise wardrobe clutter and keep belongings off the floor.
I remember sharing a bedroom when I was younger and having a whale of a time. From building dens to quietly crafting, these are the years when siblings become the closest of friends. Whilst it can be a necessary part of growing up, it needn’t be crowded and stressful for your children. Just remember to allocate their own personal space as well time to bond and you should have a harmonious household….most of the time anyway!