three kids, one (smallish) room?

[greenemami]

So, we are trying to find a solution for our small house! Currently, we have our bedroom in the biggest room (which is not big!), dsd (who lives with us ~35% of the time) in the next biggest room, an dd in the smallest room. Ds's stuff is in dd's room, his crib is in our room. We have a big front room that currently houses Dp's desk, the craft cabinet, and most of the bigger toys (play kitchen, easel, bookshelf, piano, etc.). Problem is, dp is..umm....not neat, we shall say and the first thing everyone sees when they walk in the house is a blocked off area with a desk covered in boxes, papers, and goodness knows what else. Oh and my desk is currently in my bedroom. We both work from home and need our own desks (sharing is not an option, lol).

So, long story, I am thinking about putting the three kids in the biggest room, us in the medium room, both desks in the smallest room for an office, and then using the front room purely as a "play room" with the rest of the books/craft stuff from the kids rooms.

Is it crazy to squish three kids (well, two kids, one part-time, but three kids' stuff) into one room just so we can have an office and have some organization back? IT would definitey involve purging a lot of stuff, but I think that can be done. What do you think?

I haven't even talked to dp about this yet, but just wanted to get an idea of what is possible/if others have done this and how it would work. The room would really only hold beds and dressers, not much else. We already have bunk beds. How does this work when one kid wants privacy, etc.? This would not be forever (hopefully!), we are hoping to either add on or build a bigger house, but that is many years down the road at this point unless something happens to turn us around financially. By the time that happens, dsd will probably be away at school.

I don't have a problem with two girls and a boy sharing right now, but at what point will that be an issue? Could just changing in the bathroom or taking turns in the room be okay?

Thanks for reading and for any input

[cedoreilly]

My three boys share a room. Other than fights some night at bedtime, it work well. It is only their beds and clothes in the room. I would set aside and area where if someone needs some space temp, they can have it. My oldest will hang out with me some nights reading in the computer room because the younger two are getting on his nerves.

[terrordactyl]

i think it depends on the ages of the children an what they think of it have you thought of maybe you and your husband switching desks? if you are neater and maybe still purging stuff

[SilverFish]

what about dsd and dp sharing dsd's room? does your partner do a lot of work at night? could he use part of dsd's room for storing his main work stuff, and use a laptop or whatever when dsd needs his room? that way dsd still gets space away from the littler ones. i'd say dsd needs privacy, but the least space since he is there the least. i don't think he'd be too thrilled with having to share a room with two younger kids.

obviously, what ever solution you come up with, what really needs to happen is that your dp needs to solve his organization problem. with 3 kids and limited space, it's really not fair for one family member to make a whole area of the house unusable or at least embarassing. do you have some money available to put towards a storage solution? spending a chunk of cash on seriously working on his organization would probably be the best solution.

[greenemami]

Thanks all!

Let's see...no, dp and I can't switch desks because I need to be able to close the door-I do transcription and I find it really hard (if not impossible) to focus and hear the docs with a lot of noise, so I definitely can't be out in the open like that. I used to have my desk out there and it really didn't work.

Silverfish, that is a good idea, but when I say messy, I mean that he takes over whatever space there is with clutter I wish I could change it, but we have neither the time nor the money to fix the problem, and I honestly don't know that he will ever be an organized person (not trying to criticize, I am just trying to come to terms with it!). I am actually not all that neat or organized myself, but this is a whole different level. So no, he couldn't share space with dsd. Also, she is really messy/cluttery herself and I can't even imagine that room between the two of them!! lol. I don't think he would agree to that anway since he does have to print and be in and out a lot at night.

Dsd is 9, dd is 3, and ds is 5 months. I don't think dsd would have a huge problem with sharing as long as we set up a system to ensure that she had her privacy when she needed it, and I think this would be important for the littles when they are older as well. Also, we would set up maybe a shelf or box for private stuff that needn't be shared. It would be an adjustment, for sure, but honestly she is not going to keep her own room for much longer either way, since I'm pretty sure we will move dd in there with her in the next couple of years since it doesn't seem fair for her to have the biggest room to herself when she is not here for a good part of the time and I'm sure dd won't want to share with her little brother when she gets older. This is probably a different post, I am still undecided about who will be sharing and where

Cedoreilly, thanks for letting me know it can be done!!!

Like I said, this is all theoretical at this point. I am actually hoping to convince dp to give up his desk altogether and just get some more bookshelves and a filing cabinet as he has a laptop and generally works at the table anyway He is resistant to this idea, probably because it involves hours of sifting through the existing desk!

I should probably go post about all this in the decluttering forum...

Thanks for all the input to think about

[cappuccinosmom]

My three boys always share a room. No problems.

I have to say, it might be tough if you do keep a lot of stuff in there. It could easily be a disaster area of you also use it as a playroom.

A personal shelf or box is a good idea for personal space/items. My younger two don't care, but my older son has a whole little "office" up in his top bunk. Two boxes, all his treasures, his latest drawings, and his current favorite books.

[SilverFish]

oh, haha, i'm also an idiot. i was thinking dsd was a boy? ds...d

anyway, i'm an idiot. i was thinking that you were going to get a 9 year old boy, a 3 yr old girl and a baby to share a room, and didn't think that would work too well. i think it would work much better to have the two girls sharing one room.

[greenemami]

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom

My three boys always share a room. No problems.

I have to say, it might be tough if you do keep a lot of stuff in there. It could easily be a disaster area of you also use it as a playroom.

A personal shelf or box is a good idea for personal space/items. My younger two don't care, but my older son has a whole little "office" up in his top bunk. Two boxes, all his treasures, his latest drawings, and his current favorite books.

That sounds just like dsd She is up on the top bunk now kind of like a loft bed and tends to collect things there, lol.

It would just be beds and dressers in there pretty much, the front room where the desk is now would be the playroom then.

Lol silverfish, dsd is dear stepdaughter Dsd was fine with it when we told her that her and dd would be sharing a room sometime soon, so I think that will work out fine-although i should probably do it before she hits the teen years and starts to resist the idea more, lol!

[lyterae]

My sister, brother and I all shared a room until my brother was about 10 (I was about 17, my sister was 13). It wasn't a very big room (single wide mobile home). We had one twin bed and one set of bunk beds in there.

[peaceful_mama]

Right now, I really want to move before winter seriously, because my 3 kids share a room and we have no playroom. I *could* live better with it if we had another playroom, and honestly, we probably will have that arrangement for awhile. (We have bunkbeds, full bottom, and a twin mattress on the floor for DD. New baby shares with mom and dad when he comes for a year or so like the others did.)

I don't have a problem with boy/girl room sharing at this point. I have a friend who shared a room with her brother till she was about 13 I think and they just changed clothes in the bathroom.

Privacy is another issue...that is where a playroom comes in, I think. If the bedroom is just beds and clothes storage, then a kid could go in there, lock the door to lock younger ones out if they want, and use a laptop, read, hand-held video game, phone whatever they might need privacy for. My littles are fine to let DS1 do this in my or my mom's room (grandma lives with us) I don't let him do it to his own room right now because of locking them away from their toys--not fair.

I'd totally do it with a playroom available. I think it could work out fine.

[Nitenites]

My three boys (10, 7, 4) share a room. We solved the space problem with triple bunks. Their "personal space" is their beds - if someone wants to be alone, he hangs out on his bed. It works for them. My DD is n her own (very small) room, and DH & I have the largest room. (Since we have the king-sized family bed, the computer, and all my study & sewing stuff, it just makes the most sense.)

I'd post a link to my blog (I have pictures of their room) but I'm not sure if we're allowed...

[Oliver'sMom]

my brother and I shared a room until I was 8 and he was 12. we both had bed tents like these for privacy. It worked out fine and I have a lot of fond memories of being with my big bro

[Red Pajama]

My three kids share a room (I'm guessing it's a 12X14, approx). We have two beds (trundle bunked on an "L"), a crib, a big dresser. The dresser for my daughter's clothes is in my room. The kids don't keep toys in their room, but there is some space that they could, if we wanted to change that.

The other room in the house is where the computer is, as well as a guest bed.

So I'm saying, yes, let them share, if that's what would work best for your family. I'm not even sure I'd give them the biggest room, unless you really felt that was the only way you could make the space work.