How to Design a Room for Boy & Girl Siblings

Bunk beds with privacy curtains are ideal for brothers and sister who share bedrooms.

Designing a bedroom for opposite sex siblings presents a few challenges, notably in providing privacy and creating personalized space for each child. It's more easily accomplished in a large room, but the basic principles apply to small rooms as well. It also applies to other shared spaces like family rooms or play spaces. You'll have a greater degree of success if you keep the children involved during the design process.

Things You'll Need

• Bookcases
• Curtains
• Cafe rings
• Decorative screens
• Furniture
• Paint
• Carpet
• Rugs
• Artwork

Instructions

1. Create privacy or the sense of separation by lining up bookcases between the two beds or hanging a curtain from the ceiling. Arrange the bookcases so one bookcase faces each bed. Hang a bulletin board on the back of each bookcase.

2. Set up decorative screens in two corners of the room and designate the areas behind them as the dressing rooms. Add coat trees or hooks on the wall behind the screens for hanging bathrobes or nightclothes.

3. Create separation in a shared closet by hanging a length of fabric or boy and girl shoe bags down the middle. Another option is setting two narrow dressers side by side.

4. Furnish the room with identical desks and dressers and a set of bunk beds with privacy curtains. Add a beanbag chair for each child and allow each child to choose the color.

5. Paint the walls a neutral color and lay carpet that is also a neutral color. Tell each child to pick out a scatter rug for next to the bed or under the desk.

6. Designate a neutral area of the room for a shared computer desk or game system. Put a shelving unit next to the desk for games and label one shelf for each child's use.

7. Personalize the room by using nightstands that are large enough to display favorite stuffed animals or photos. Hang pictures over the beds that are meaningful to each child. If you're using bunk beds, hang them on the wall next to each bed.

Resources

• Berkeley Parents Network: Children Sharing a Room
• Eastern North Carolina Digital Library: Trundle Bed