Shared bedrooms – making the most of the space

With a large family, it’s not always possible for everyone to have their own bedroom. My girls have their own rooms now – which as teenagers, they are very pleased about! IT’s fantastic for them to have their own space as they are growing and studying.

For many years, the younger two girls shared a bedroom, and now I have two boys sharing a room. No matter the size of the room, it can be a challenge to have to people sharing one space. Two lots of belongings as well as two different personalities can be tricky to manage.

We’ve always looked for options to make the most of the space that are temporary. While I know some families choose to put a partition wall in to separate a room in two, for me, I prefer to work with what we have as I know that needs change as the years go by.

Divide the room in two

One option is to create an imaginary line down the middle of the room and give each child their own half. They can decorate to suit their own tastes and give them a little space of their own. You could use wardrobes or bookshelves to create a temporary wall in the room. Give them their own bed frame – perhaps choosing one with under-bed storage, and let them choose their own colour scheme.

Another option is to use voile curtains to create a temporary divider down the middle of the room, or to separate areas of the room – such as around the beds.

Consider the furniture

The size of the room you are working with will determine your furniture options. If you have the space, then separate beds can give them their own space. In a smaller room, however, two beds may just take up to much floor space.

Bunk beds can be a great option for a small room – you can decorate each bed area to suit each child, you could even add curtains around the beds to give them their own little hide away. You can even get bunk beds that come down into two separate beds – these can be great if you are change sleeping arrangements at some point in the future.

If you have a little more space, then high sleeper beds are a great option. A bed above a desk/drawers/wardrobe mean you need little other furniture in the room, freeing up more floor space.

It’s all about storage!

No matter the size of the room, with two people sharing there will be a lot of things to fit in one room – toys, books, games, clothes….

Storage really is key to making a shared room work successfully – otherwise, you’ll be drowning in clutter and have a room that isn’t fulfilling it’s potential.

Ottoman beds are a perfect storage solution if you have the space to have two separate beds. Utilising the space under the bed for {hidden} storage means you have room to keep bed linens, toys, out of season clothes, etc in a space that is often wasted.

A cube storage unit can double as a room divider as well as creative storage. Accessible from both sides, you can get an array of boxes to fit in it and offer space to store books and toys.

Ottomans can be useful as a toy box that doubles up as seating in a room. Perhaps you could use a tallboy as toy storage in the room.

Utilise every nook

When you start planning out your room, take a gook look around. If the room isn’t a standard box shape, then you need to get creative to make the most of all the space that you have. You can add shelving to recessed corners, build in storage units under bay windows, add shelving over fireplaces or doors, and create bespoke bunk beds into L-shape rooms or alcoves.

Consider colour

It can be tricky to create a shared room that suits both occupants. If they have their own separate sides to the room then it is a little easier to accommodate individual tastes. Other options are to go for a more neutral colour scheme in the whole room, then you can create their own spaces on their beds with different bed linens. You could also opt to keep the walls plain and paint the furniture instead.

I’d love to hear your tips if you have children sharing rooms. It can be tricker when there is an age gap, so utilising some of these tips to give them their own spaces as well as giving enough storage can make a huge difference to the success of a shared bedroom.