Some time ago I was telling you about my questioning the necessity of children sharing the same room. When I was growing up I shared a room with varied success with my slightly older sister.
As you know we are considering the possibility of having a second child. Right now we have a two bedroom, our son enjoys his room alone. He has his space, one that has been turned into little creative universe, his universe, which he has arranged in his own way, in a slightly post-apocalypse style when you look at his toys strung out throughout the room, but it is his room. And he does put it into order by himself which I find adorable.
We wanted to give him a room with cheerful colors and a practical layout where he would have access to his toys with room to enjoy them from an early age.
There was no question for us to stay away from overly bright colors that we would have to got rid of very quickly. We did a balanced mix of pastels which are very well suited for a toddler. We had also opted for a neutral room layout, one not too targeted to a boy. Though it is not gender neutral. Without knowing it has served us well over the last, could it really be nearly two years, wow, it served us well in that time!
When we decided that we were ready for a second child, the question didn't arise too much, since we knew that they would have to share the same room. We didn't really have a choice, actually, so plans for the transition to be smooth and happy for our son were made.
It was not without some additional stress on my already stressed nerves and too listen to the "other" opinions in the family would be to only stress some more. Actually sharing a room is not too well seen by some people, "what if you have a little girl?" Well everyone was always asking us when we were going to make our son a brother, now the same people are concerned that he might get a little sister and the situation would not be acceptable. Making a boy and a girl sleep together in the same room, even if they are brother and sister, is in their own words "wrong." Apparently it doesn't happen, ever, anywhere.
After an intense rounds of "everything will be fine", and a few flurries of the now redundant "we need to find another home, now," we managed to silence the doubts.
That left us with a chance to plan to make real plans.
We started re-painting the room, the basic colors being quite neutral (duck blue, anise green and light gray), we only painted one wall thus far. Now that we are in baby making mode we set out on the idea that everyone should have a small space of their own while maintaining a certain balance and harmony to create their space the way they see fit.
It was enough to paint one walls which leaves us to either compliment it or do it in powder pink if we have a daughter so she can have her little universe.
For decoration, it will be done gradually.
I appealed to the talent of cousin who painted 4 watercolors, just beautiful, though I'm not super objective, I concede. She totally understood the universe we were trying to create, though it must also be said that she knows us well, that we wanted, poetic, magical and they invite the spirit to travel on its own creative journey!
A nice knitted teddy by a designer we found on Etsy, whose crazy, I'm totally impressed with the quality, sits proudly on his bed. In the event that he has a little brother he will have his own little marker. It has really found its place in my son's like, the more I look at it, the more I love it, too!
For the rest of the room, it's a matter of what we need, it can be decorated with a mix wall stickers, photos where we put the members of our family plus some small and simple DIY projects, like the creation of a garland of cardboard pennants.
There was only one big purchase so far, a wardrobe, since we couldn't do it any other way. A dresser for two children whose mom is addicted to shopping was simply unmanageable. For this, we did not look far, we went to Ikea.
Well, see where the path leads.