Big Kids' Room

Our three bedroom, 1200 sq. ft house is soon to have 5 people living under its roof and with that has come the need for some adjustments.  I feel no need to move to a bigger house...we love our house, it's super location, the Beaches community, the beach itself...and it's not like selling is a real option seeing as we bought near the height of the housing market.  Also, I feel like it's silly to say we NEED more space...most of the world lives with a lot more people in a lot less space!  (When I was in China, there were 8 girls in a room the size of a typical American dorm room.)  But, adding more people to a smallish house (by American standards) comes with some growing pains.  We can't save every sentimental thing we may want to, we can't store everything we think we might find a purpose for at a later date, the kids (and me too) are loud during the day making it impossible for Dan to sleep in after working a late shift (let alone an overnight shift!), the rooms have less "air" than I'd prefer and more piles...and most recently, bedrooms will need to be shared.

We have typically moved our newborns into their own room around 6 weeks old and feel like EVERYONE sleeps better that way.  My plan (which I've since learned may not work) was for Josh and Brielle to share a room for this next year, and then once Baby Girl is around a year old, to move the two girls into a room together.  Phase 1 of the plan started with purchasing a trundle bed and getting Josh adjusted to sleeping in a big boy bed.  Phase 2 was moving Brielle out of a crib and into the room with Josh, freeing up a room for the newborn.  I figured it was better to get Josh and Brielle adjusted to sleeping together before I was also dealing with intense sleep deprivation...so, this winter we started working on transitioning them to one room.  (We've since given up and moved Brielle back to her crib in the nursery, so time will tell what happens next once Baby Girl comes on the scene!)

Anyway, all this to say...I wanted to redo Josh's room to be somewhat gender neutral, but without spending a lot of money (or painting the blue walls!) since I intend to do something completely different in a year and didn't want to have invested money in certain colors/patterns...so, below is the result of my attempt at a thrifty room for a boy and girl to share...not quite what I had envisioned, but it will have to do (for now!)...I'll just be saving my ideas/energy/budget for when we decide on a more permanent arrangement and perhaps realize more of my vision for the kids' rooms then!

Thanks to mom for sewing some groovy curtains