We recently transitioned our daughter out of the nursery and into a shared room with her brother in preparation for our third child to be born. I will admit I was pretty anxious as our daughter was only newly two years old and we weren't sure how she would respond to the change. So we planned to give it plenty of time to transition before the baby was born (about a month and a half).
Surprisingly it only took a few days for her to get comfortable in the new shared room and then a few weeks for us to figure out a new rhythm.
Our son was very excited to be sharing a room with his sister. We had been talking about it for awhile and had the second twin bed for a few months before moving her in. But he is pretty responsible and has helped guide his sister as to stay in bed.
Though most days they are chatting and jumping on their beds well past bedtime and early in the morning! But they are both staying in their rooms until it is time to get up (we use an okay to wake clock) which ultimately was our main goal.
As for the room, I knew I wanted to get a matching bed for our daughter. We kept the room mostly the same but added a few elements that would be special for our daughter. The room is fairly neutral with a little pop of color.
We do "play time" in their room on most days where they can both play together or independently in their room (while I get a moment to myself!). This has helped me simplify what I keep out in their room as they usually end up tearing the room apart while they play!
The simple shelves and baskets make everything accessible and easy to clean up. I take all the baskets down for them before they start playing.
As for nap time, we tried a few different scenarios where they both napped (or at least some quiet time for our four year old son). But I found that they were just keeping each other up. So for now, we are having our son spend nap/quiet time in the nursery on the couch with his clock that tells him he can get up and play. For now it is working well but of course we will have to transition when we need the nursery. And with my husband still working from home, we don't have that as an extra room for naps. So we will remain flexible as things change!
For our daughter's side of the room, we got new linens from Ikea and I used one of the quilts I made her as a pop of color. We got this unicorn head from Target and added a photo of our daugther to the wall.
The taller shelf by her bed holds some of her special decorative items and her piggy bank.
Each kid also has their own basket that holds all their stuffed animals. They each can have some in their bed while they sleep but I try to only keep around what fits in the basket.
We have quite a collection of books. All the board books get placed in the wire baskets on the side. I love that the books are neutral from the side. But when you take the baskets out, you can see the spine which helps them find certain books.
Next to the door is a photo of our son as well as a small board for holding photos and art. I love the sweet photos of the two of them together.
And on the backside of the door holds bows, hats, and accessories. They are easy to grab here but are nicely hidden behind the door when it is open. And as I have mentioned before, one of these days we would like to switch out the door with a new white one.
I am so pleased with how their shared room came out. With a just a few new items the room came together to incorporate a mix of our kid's taste. It is just decorative enough to keep me happy while remaining simple and fun for the kids to use.
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