Growing up, Dave and I both shared a bedroom with siblings at some point — I shared with one of my sisters until 5th grade and Dave shared with his brother until he left for college!
When we started our own family, Dave and I were both in favor of our kids sharing bedrooms… but we figured it wouldn’t happen until we had more children than we had bedrooms.
However, this summer, after rearranging the furniture in Nora’s and Simon’s bedrooms, the two of them unanimously decided they wanted to share a bedroom. At the time, Simon was still sleeping in his crib and refusing to move to a big-boy bed, so we used the shared bedroom as an incentive to move him into a big-boy bed.
It worked like a charm!
He immediately decided he was ready to move into a big-boy bed and never once went back to his crib.
After 3 weeks of them successfully sleeping in the same room, Dave and I decided to take down the crib in Simon’s old bedroom, get rid of Nora’s double bed, rearrange the furniture once more, and officially create a boy-girl shared bedroom with both of their beds, clothes, toys, stuffed animals, etc.
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Here’s what we came up with, using only things we already had in the house.
We already had 2 twin beds… and we realized they fit perfectly against the wall behind the door. Simon’s white dresser (formerly my dresser) also fit PERFECTLY between the ends of the beds. The kids each have their own “side” of the room and their heads aren’t too close together that they hear each other’s sleeping noises.
One of the reasons I feel this room came together so well is because it is very neutral — white walls, white trim, light carpeting, etc.
Plus, I already had a mixture of navy and red in both of their bedrooms — Nora’s was mixed with light pink and Simon’s was mixed with light grey — so while nothing actually “matches” I do feel like it coordinates pretty well.
Simon keeps all his clothes in the white dresser, Nora keeps her clothes in the red hutch, and they each have a few things hanging in the closet.
We will eventually re-work this closet to allow for more storage, but right now, they both like playing in the bottom of the closet (it goes back really far into the corner of the room!)
The other side of the room (and the huge amount of floor space) is all for playing.
We don’t keep a ton of toys in their bedroom — but enough to have lots of fun and make a huge mess 🙂
Basically, the only toys in the playroom now play food and other kitchen-related toys. It’s nice to have this small space feel a bit more open.
We use Simon’s old (now empty) bedroom as our “truck, doll, and dress up clothes headquarters”.
I made roads on the carpet with masking tape and Nora has a hidden area for all her dolls and doll things. We also turned the walking closet into a cute dress up area!
I am thrilled with how the room turned out, with all the extra space we seem to have to play, and with the fact that we did it all without spending dime!
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I did have some reservations about letting them share a bedroom… but as you’ll read below, nothing has bothered Nora or Simon.
They are different genders — this doesn’t really seem to matter since they are so young.
Nora is almost 5 (next week), Simon is only 2.5 — now that Simon is talking more, they can do so much more together and have SO much fun with each other!
Nora is in school 2 days a week — they both wake up fairly early so we’ve never had to wake Simon up in order to get Nora ready. We also usually pick out both of their clothes before they go to bed and have them ready in the living room so they can get dressed even if the other person is sleeping.
Simon still sometimes takes an afternoon nap — This hasn’t been an issue at all. We just make sure Nora grabs any toys or blankets or animals she wants to play with before Simon goes down for his nap.
Nora often gets up in the middle of the night — we purposely put her bed closest to the door because she will often come downstairs in the middle of the night and she is almost always awake before Simon. So far, she has only woken him up once — on the very first night they slept together 🙂
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Nora and Simon absolutely LOVE sharing a room together!
In fact, one night when Simon was being very difficult, I told him he would need to sleep in a pack n’ play in the other bedroom if he didn’t go to bed “right now”. Nora immediately burst into tears and said she wouldn’t go to sleep if Simon slept in another room.
They are very protective of each other, and they both want James to move up to their bedroom next summer after he turns 2. Thankfully, it’s a HUGE room so we could actually make that work pretty easily — we’ll see if James can handle it!
Pat says
When my sister was a baby all three of us shared a room and again when we moved into my grandmother’s basement apartment. It was only 3 rooms and Mom squeezed all three of us in a tiny bedroom. My sister and I had bunk beds and Clay had a day bed. There was one dresser we all shared and the closet was in the living room. Mom and Dad slept in the living room and we had a kitchen. The shower was just a stall in the hall and was the same size as the hall, tiny. To use the toilet you went into the basement outside of the apartment and there was a tiny room with a toilet and sink. We brushed our teeth in the kitchen sink. Sometimes my sister and I would take a bath in the concrete double wash tubs. Our upstairs neighbor let me babysit for her on Saturday nights and I got to take a bath in their tub! A real tub! I don’t know how Mother stood this for 2 years but she did. I am so blessed!
laura says
My son and daughter, 3 1/2 years apart decided they wanted to sleep in the same room and did so for about 2 years at one point. Room was small but plenty of room for two twin beds. Everything else went in the other bedroom, and was sort of a playroom/dressing room area during that time. My son, who was older, never liked to sleep by himself. He would often lay on our bedroom floor or by his sister’s crib when she was little. I think it was a good solution and they both slept better. When we added on to the house they voluntarily decided to separate back to their own rooms and all is well.
Kristen says
There’s two years between me and my younger brother, and 5 more years until our youngest brother. When we were in elementary school and my youngest brother was still a baby, my brother and I shared a room! (It was only a 3 bedroom house.) Technically my youngest brother slept in “my” room, as I kept my clothes and lots of my stuff in there but slept in the room with my brother. We usually went to bed and got up at the same time, while our youngest brother was on a different schedule. I just got dressed in the bathroom in the morning and it was never an issue. We must have shared a room for at least a year or two and actually loved it – we would always talk and giggle at night before going to sleep 🙂
Michel says
I also live in a two bedroom terrace and whilst we also wanted to move there were no buyers! My two will have to share as well. The guidelines say age 10 for different sexes and 16 for same sex. Nothing wrong in sharing IMO. Me and my sister had to share and it didn’t harm us!
Debbie says
So much room to play! I like what you did with the masking tape in Simon’s old bedroom. If you didn’t say it was a masking tape, I would have thought it was a rug you bought that had that design for playing. I lived in the Philippines the first 12 years of my life, and our family of 5 slept in one bedroom. It’s not uncommon there for a whole family to share one bedroom and so it is doable. My parents shared the queen size bed, and us 3 girls slept on sleeping mats on the floor.
Barb says
Andrea,
We had two boys first and then two girls, so mine never had a boy-girl shared room, but the two boys and the two girls have shared with each other. I think it’s been a great experience for them and creates closeness.
I enjoyed hearing how close Nora and Simon are now, and that they’re excited for James to join them. I also liked the cool roadway you made for Simon! What a great inexpensive idea!!
janet says
Such a fun arrangement! Love what you’ve done.
I grew up sharing a room with my sister, and my brothers shared a room till the older was in High School.
Our three, 2 girls and a boy, shared a pretty small room with a twin and an bunk bed for several years. They loved it and so did I. It was so fun to read to them every night all together, with them in their beds and me in the little chair we kept in their room.
I’ve always felt it’s good for kids to share a room for as long as it’s appropriate. Keeps the selfishness levels down. (haha!)
Charissa says
The room looks great!! My oldest daughter and son shared a room for about 6 years. This summer we moved my youngest daughter in with my oldest daughter, and my son moved into his own room. I think he’s still a little sad that he isn’t with his big sister, but it was time. They did so enjoy being together and their shared room experience will always be a special childhood memory!
Janet says
My brother and I shared not just a room but a twin bed the year our youngest brother was born. This was 65+ years ago. We have always been good friends and I think sharing helps that. We still laugh about it and can remember trying to fool our Mom. Saying I “fell” out of bed. I would put my robe down on the floor first then lay down on it and yell for Mom. We Never could figure out how she knew I didn’t “fall”! Thanks for fun memories for me and I am sure your children will have fun memories down the road.
Christine McKinney says
Hi Andrea! As always I love your posts! Where did you get the circles with Simon and Nora’s names?
Tara says
Yep. Our 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son share a bedroom right now. We live in a 1475 sq ft single story home that we love. I wanted to have a playroom that could also second as a guest room with a nice air bed. So we moved the kids in together. We keep the kids clothes in a dresser in our room so putting away everyone’s laundry is easy and quick and my daughter changes her clothes in our walk in closet for privacy. My son still couldn’t care less about privacy. They love sharing a room and have bunk beds that are frequently turned into a fort. They are best friends and worst enemies but most often the former. 🙂
Andrea says
Love this — also, I think it’s smart that you keep their clothes in your room. I’ve often thought about having a “family closet” to make putting clothes away so much easier — but I’m not sure where I would put it. I might have to think about this some more!
Nina says
Yes, we had a really small apartment for a while and shared a bedroom. When we moved again I was too old to share with my brother and got my own space. My cousin also shared with her twin, when pre-teen years started she got her own space as well.
Jamie Wright says
I love your house. It seems like it is a perfect family house no matter what stage you are in. I love the extra play room for the trucks and dolls. We were a family of 6 living in a 2 bedroom house for several years. My 3 boys shared a room and then we had a girl in July 2015 so we set her crib up in our room. We finally purchased our new home this past September and now have 4 bedrooms. My middle two boys still share a room. The oldest boy and Rebecca both have their own room now, but the boys miss being all together. My oldest is 11 and does occasionally enjoy his own space but he very often asks to sleep on the floor in the other room with his brothers.
Andrea says
Thanks Jamie — we have rearranged rooms and furniture and things A LOT these past 6 years, and it does always seem to “work” for us! From hosting international students to raising our own babies, we keep finding new ways to help our home function best for us!
Also, congrats on your new home — I bet it’s amazing having that extra space!
Leigh says
I love the truck room. What a great use of space right now.
We moved and put my son, who is almost eight into his own room this summer, after sharing with his sister since he was two. he loves having his own space, but still prefers sleeping in the girls room (5 &3), either on the floor, or in with the three year old (they are a pair of special buddies)
Andrea says
awww, that’s so sweet! my cousin’s little boy regularly sneaks into his big sister’s room at night too 🙂
Lorrie says
I LOVE how it all turned out! And your “truck and doll headquarters” is such a fun space! We have two boys (5-1/2 years apart) and although our house had three bedrooms, we still thought it would be good for them to share a room, & we wanted a guest room anyway. Their room was small, but we got bunk beds and it was fine. When my oldest got to be about 15 or 16 he was ready for privacy so moved into the bonus room over the garage.
I’m glad they were able to share for as long as they did. One of my sweetest memories is overhearing one night as they were falling asleep, the older saying to the younger, “How can I pray for you?” and them exchanging prayer requests. Being brothers they argued some, of course, but they learned some life lessons by sharing a room. 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks! That room is the only room we haven’t renovated yet so I’m not worried about the tape ruining the carpet. Eventually, we’ll need to pull it up, but for now, it’s Simon’s favorite room in the house!
Brenda says
I was just about to mention the tape on the carpet. We have permanent race tracks on our (old, junky) living room carpet because we left the (very cheep masking) tape on too long and it left sticky reside. Then all the dust/dirt stuck to the residue….the kids still use the tracks without the tape and probably will until we decide to get new carpet.
Andrea says
yeah, I kind of figured it would leave stickiness on the carpet. We’ll hopefully be replacing this carpet in the next year — so they can have their fun until then!
Mara says
Love the room, and how sweet they are to take such good care of each other! That’s impressive for being so young. Your home looks like it will be a blast for this winter for the kiddos!
Andrea says
Thanks Mara — I feel like our home is such a great fit for our stage of life. I’ll be interested to see how the rooms continue to “morph” as our children grow up.
sue says
I would not have an issue with it.. my girls still share a room.. 13 and 11..our house is not that big.. and they have said more recently they would like their own rooms.. we will get around to it one of these days.. cause it is tight in there.. But when they were smaller.. getting out of crib. they shared a bed… we had a Day bed that opened with a pop up.. when we got a new mattress for our king bed.. we put the old mattress on the pop up and daybed and they had a king bed to them selves.. and they loved it..
so whatever works for you and yours.. go for it.
Sue in NJ
Andrea says
wow — sounds like a creative and fun time sharing the king bed 🙂
Christine from The (mostly) Simple Life says
What a fun, cute room! I love how spacious it still is. I just have one sibling and we never shared a room. I’m very introverted, so I would be worried about kids sharing because I think it’s good for everyone to have their own space, but there’s obviously plenty of space in the rest of your house if they need some alone time when they’re older.
Andrea says
right now, I don’t think either Nora or Simon exhibit any introverted tendencies — but I personally am always in favor of everyone having their own spaces 🙂
Francie says
I absolutely love this, Andrea! I shared a bedroom with my sibling and it was memorable. http://www.supersimpleways.com
Lou says
What a great plan for everyone! Fosters their needs and gives them that secure feeling all kids want, while teaching them to share and compromise.
Andrea says
So far, so good! We’ll see how long it lasts!
Megan says
Yes! My daughter (6) and son (3.5) are sharing a room right now and have been since we moved to our new house 18 months ago. They are such good company for each other, and they comfort each other if they get scared (just by being in the same room). They never bother each other in the night and usually don’t wake each other up. It works out just beautifully! A few months ago when we took the side off my son’s crib, we worried he would get out of his “new” bed and bother his sister but not at all. On the other hand, we had our daughters sharing a room in our old house and it was a disaster (fighting, keeping each other awake, etc.). So funny how some kids work together in a room and some don’t.
Katherine says
I have a friend from a large family (maybe ten kids total?) and her parents would regularly move two or three bickering siblings into a room together. Their perspective was that then the siblings were forced to work out their differences.
As a mother of *only* four kids, I cannot really imagine putting my bickering kids together. I am more drawn to the quicker effects of just more peace and quiet- maybe like what you describe. But I thought that approach was interesting.
Andrea says
haha — so many kids you can’t even keep track 🙂
We actually had friend with 4 kids who did something similar, but it always sounded like a horrible idea to me too!
Andrea says
Good to know! I wonder how the dynamics will change if/when we put James in that room too!
ShellyL says
I glanced and thought Nora’s pic was a pic of my oldest. They don’t even look that similar! It was just the angle I guess. Love this article.
Andrea says
Thanks Shelly — your daughter must be cute then 🙂
Organize 365 says
We only had 2 children and never had then share a room. However, they both have anxiouty and I think if we had put them together they both would have felt more secure and spent better.
They are boy girl teenagers now and that window had passed, but I wish I would have tried it!
🙂
Lisa
Paulette says
Such sweet kiddos! What’s really great…those long, cold winters and all that play space when they can’t get outdoors. You and Dave did a great job arranging everything.
Andrea says
I know — we made the switch just in time to have lots of extra indoor playing space. Even still, my fingers are crossed, hoping for a mild winter!