nesting

It has recently occurred to me how relatively laid-back I am this time about getting everything ready for baby. By this stage in my pregnancy with Audrey, we'd already chosen paint colours and were well underway preparing her bedroom. This time around, all nesting to this point has been conducted purely in my head. Last week we decided that we are going to knock out another wall and change the function of every room in the front part of the house before Christmas (admittedly, only 4 rooms, but still, it's definitley not in my character not to have such things planned and executed months ago). I sure hope this unexpected, yet welcome, 'relaxed' approach continues after he's born!

Audrey is very keen to share a bedroom with her little brother - which is lucky, because it's really the only option we've got! In practice, of course the little fella will sleep with us until goodness only knows when (and if the sleeping record of his older sister is anything to go by it will be, ahem, years before they move in together). I was wondering, though, if anyone had any advice/cautionary tales about siblings sharing rooms? I realise it totally depends on the children involved, but what have you found to be a good age to initiate sharing?

So I've been obsessing about how to decorate a shared room: boy and girl, 4 years apart. These are some of my favourite images from a couple of the children's rooms books from Jeu de Paume: Stockholm and London, and the Judith Wilson book, Children's Spaces. We're thinking white walls with plenty of coloured textiles and pictures to brighten things up - primarly lots of pale blue and orange since it's a combination I like which is conveniently gender neutral. I love the blue wall in the first picture, and in the one below (both from Paumes' Stockholm). The white room above - a room shared by a little girl and boy- is from Paumes' London. I love those shelves.

Again from Paumes' London. Love all the knitted goods in this boy's room (apparently his mother owns Loop)

And this is just sweet (from Children's Spaces).

And then of course there's the children's rooms pools on Flickr here and here. (via Kiddley) There's so much inspiration to be had, all we need to do now is stop daydreaming and start painting.

Comments

[Mary]

Had to delurk to comment on the issue of kids sharing (I have every confidence you will decorate the room beautifully btw).

Because I was one of seven there was no issue about when to - we just had to. I asked mum a while ago whether the baby's crying ever woke us up? No she said. And I must say with my three kids (two of whom share) that they can sleep through anything. I always kept the baby with me until I could no longer stand the snuffling and noises they made (usually about four months) and then put them in their own room - when of course miraculously they would sleep through!.

So I imagine you could be quite relaxed about putting the baby in with your daughter when YOU are ready and not when you think the baby is ready!! As Audrey will love it and manage better than you possibly think you will.

[Mary]

Audrey will manage better than you think SHE will !

[Jo]

thank-you so much for sharing! we are about to move house, so each of my children (1 & 2) will have their own room - there are some beautiful decorating ideas here.

I can't give any advice on sharing a room - I shared with my sister until I was 13 and I don't remember that I ever actually liked it. I always wanted my own space - I have a friend who shared with her sister until they both moved out of home - unlike me, they loved it! Maybe it really does depend on the childrens personalities??

Good Luck, I can't wait to see what you come up with :)

[Kristine]

Our two boys have always shared a room. They are 16 months apart (now 7 and 5). They don't like to sleep alone now. When Tom was still a baby we would put him down in a portacot in our room, and then move him in with older brother Max when we went to bed. I still find the going to bed part the hardest to manage as they can often keep each other wound up and awake. So we still occasionally separate them by putting one in our bed if we want to cut down the time it takes for them to go to sleep. But other than the getting to sleep, they rarely wake each other during the night, even if one is crying. Audrey will probably sleep through any night feeding.

[Stacey]

My two boys (4 and 7) share a room and on the whole, they love it. It actually came about after they shared a room on holiday and asked if they could do so at home as well. I love it too as it gives us a spare / junk / washing waiting to be folded / sewing room.
The only downside is, they sometimes muck around a bit when they should be going to sleep!
One of my friends has three kids (boy and two girls) 5, 2 and 1 in the same room. No issues at all, even if the baby wakes during the night.
Good luck with it!
By the way, I love the name Audrey.

[stephanie]

is anyone else wondering how those children have not pulled EVERYTHING off those shelves in that picture???

[karen à toronto]

love those shelves...but not sure they would stay neat and clean with my daughter ;o)

my almost 5 year old and my almost 9 months share the same room (our previous master bedroom) and no problem at all, even when the baby wakes up at night...
one big bed in one corner and the crib in the opposite with changing table and small shelves to separate - they got their own space (different decoration too).

good luck.

[Faye]

I love the first room. The blue and red-orange and white is so fresh and fun. I think that is going to be darling.

[KT]

My boys (almost 7 & 4.5)share and they LOVE it. They began sharing at when the little one was about 14 months. We had tried earlier and it wasn't time yet. How I work around decor for two (and I think it could work with different genders) is this: Each kid has a color (one is red the other blue or green in our case) and if I make a pillow, quilt, etc. Use the same pattern for both just a different colorway. That way they get to be different and similar. Plus it is visually cohesive and doesnt drive me out of me tree.

[joy]

my girl and boy share a room, purely out of their desire to do so. Its decorated in birds and stripes and polka dots in fun bold colors. There is SO MUCH you could do with a girl boy combo that its a little overwhelming. My kids LOVE staying together!

[Amy]

I'm so happy to see all these positive comments about sharing a room. I'm 3 months pregnant and my daughter will be 4 when the baby is born. I've been debating the room sharing issue and am thinking now I might give it a try.
I'm also much more laid back about this one. And when I say laid back I mean I haven't done one single thing to get ready yet. Maybe when I know the sex it will seem more real.

[Tamara]

Gosh those are really nice examples in the photos aren't they?
My 5yr old boy and 2 yr old daughter share their room, out of necessity, and so far so good. It's a bit on the small side so i don't really have the luxury of dividing areas up for them, it's all just kind of lumped together! I can't help wonder though if it's made them a little bit closer than they would have been otherwise, being boy/girl, which is nice. The only real downside that i can think of it that one often tends to wake the other in the morning..grrr... ;0)

[Celeste]

Love those shelves! My kiddies would be climbing them though!

My kids share a room, (boy 5, girl 2) and they love being with each other. We're expecting baby #3, and this one will go in there too. Eventually:)

Good luck with everything!

[Lauren]

My boys (nearly 3 years and 17 months) have been enjoying a shared bedroom since the younger turned 13 months. The transition was surprisingly smooth. It was a similar situation to an above post about vacation accommodations. They began sharing a room at Gramma's house, and they just continued to do it when we returned home. The hardest thing for them to learn was to keep quiet at naptime because of the light, but at bedtime we never had a problem. When either of them cry at night, it has never made the other wake up.
Now the third baby is on her way. She may end up with the boys too. Who knows.

[punkychicken]

ohhhh,..we are in the same boat my friend. this is how it goes at my house, piper my youngest falls to sleep in our room cause shes still waking up, charlie starts out in his room cause he loves it there, lela starts and stays in her room although she loves the idea of someone falling asleep with her, then at about 10:00 when we go to bed we move charlie into the other bed in lelas room and piper into the other crib in charlies room so she doesnt wake anyone up.....the things we do for our kids!! its a charmed life!
christie

[leslie]

all of those rooms are so lovely, thanks for posting them : )

[Amelia]

we have our 3 kids in the one room and it works beautifully. The older two only woke a couple of times when the baby was crying for a night feed and since then any one of them can call out for us without waking the other two. I am sure it will work out beautifully and when they are old enough to want their own spaces you can worry about it then. We do try to keep the bedroom just for sleeping though and keep the toys elsewhere in the house so that naps can happen undisturbed. I look forward to watching your decorating unfold!

[AileenG.]

Just a story:
My neice was 2 when her brother was born and since they lived in a small house, the only option was for the kids to share a room. They eventually moved into a larger home with a bedroom for each child when the kids were almost 4 and almost 2. Ironically enough, the kids would not sleep in their own rooms and insisted on sleeping together. My sister-in-law said if she knew they were going to want to stay together, she would have decorated the other bedroom as a guest room instead of kid's room! Happy decorating!

[Jeni]

My children share a room. Actually my daughter has her own room, but sleeps in her brothers' room anyway. :) Since they have a separate playroom, they really don't spend tons of time in their rooms, but they love it. No problems at all at this point.

[Amy]

It is amazing how often home remodeling and pregnancy go hand in hand. During my ninth month our sole bathroom had no shower. In fact, for a week we had no toilet. That was fun!
The rooms are great, but the shelves look like a danger zone to me. Good luck putting it all together.
Fellow co-sleeping mom,
Amy
PS How long did your little one sleep with you? Ours is ten months now, and I often wonder...

[grace]

You look like your on the completely right track! This is all great insipirtion in my opinion.
We don't know if we are having a boy or girl but If its a girl I'll be needing to do some shared room renovations as well.

[Lori]

love these images.

have you seen judith wilson's other book, "babies rooms from zero to three"? here's the amazon link, i had to tinyurl it:

http://tinyurl.com/2u5624

[Nancy Cook]

What wonderful inspiration.
I'm totally feeling the nesting instinct but, I would say I'm a bit more laid back this pregnancy. We are however house hunting and that is something I'm not feeling relaxed about.

[fliss]

Its great reading all those comments ( especially Mary's) as thats what we did too, and Max was fine as was Ochre . Max never wakes if she crys ( which is rare) and vice verca. I like the fact that they share though sometimes its hard to get them to sleep if they rev each other up..SOMETIMES I let them go for it and i enjoy listening to them chat and giggle.( there is a time limit!)
Whatever you do with the decorating it will be great, just dont worry about it too much as it will all flow together.
I find keeping it simple has worked for us and they both dont mind whats up on the walls...YET!
Good luck!

[Amelia]

beautiful photos! We have 3 children sharing a room and it works well for us. Eventually we will try to give them each their own space when they are older but hopefully they aren't in a hurry for that to happen!