I have a 20 yr old in college and a 22 year old who is working.
The 22 year old was living in an apartment nearby, but moved back in last year with a new dog that needed a yard (whole rescue saga there I won’t go into). We did a big decluttering of our basement and the kid repainted it and fixed up one of the rooms down there as a bedroom and we are repurposing the upstairs bedroom into a cat room/office for DH (and the cats).
Our 20 year old got herself a girlfriend in college and spent last summer fixing up her room (repainting, new bed) so it didn’t look like high school when her girlfriend came to visit. So it’s still her room, but very different from what it was when she was in high school.
I grew up as the youngest of 3 kids in a 3 bedroom house. When I was little my older sister and I shared a room. When our older brother (9 years older than me) went to college I took over his room. But when we were all grown and would come back to visit for the holidays, etc, my sister still claimed “her” room, and my brother claimed “his” room and I got to sleep on the fold out couch. This still happened when my husband and I had kids and my brother and his wife didn’t have any. I guess we could’ve gotten a hotel, but it was fine, really. Just funny that no one ever volunteered to give up “their” room for us.
My D did the same thing. The teenage ridiculously bright colors were replaced with calm colors nearly identical to how it looked when she was a baby. I’ve recently repainted the repainting in similar colors (but neatly )
We’re still in that house, but our 2 kids have moved on and each has only a few boxes left. One bedroom has a queen bed, the other a twin. The married D stays in her sister’s old room with the bigger bed.
Funny about having a more grown up room. Once my daughter had her own apartment after college, she decorated it the way she wanted. Although she had chosen everything for her childhood bedroom (including the purple carpeting), she told me she liked her new stuff much better. When we recently had her go through all the stuff in her room (since we moved and downsized), the stuff she wanted to save (which was sentimental to her), she wanted put in storage, not to use in her apartment.
When I went to college, I took almost everything I owned with me because I knew it wouldn’t be there when I came home. (I was correct.) I didn’t go home over the summers. My family moved after my sophomore year and when I went home for the holidays, I slept on the sofa.
With our kids…after S1 graduated from college and moved to the west coast, I turned his room into a sewing/craft room. Knew he wasn’t coming back! It’s 10x9, so I had a futon in there for him and/or guests for a few years until my sewing stuff expanded beyond all reasonable limits. He has a dozen boxes, mostly books, in the basement.
S2 came home after college, lived with us for three years while saving $, then moved overseas. Is now a happy expat. Moved the futon in there for a while, but am in the process of painting his room and pulling the carpet, and will then put a queen in the room for him and DIL (or other guests) when they visit. I can stuff fabric bins under the queen bed where H won’t see them. It’s 10x10, so a queen plus dresser and nightstands fill up the space. Some of his stuff is still here because shipping overseas is expensive.
The office is the third bedroom and is downstairs next to the family room. The guys didn’t have laptops or TVs in their rooms in HS and we wanted computer activities to be in a relatively public space, mainly because otherwise we’d never see S1. We have two workstations in there, and I was the main one who used that room for computer work, photo stuff, files, etc. H took it over when he started WFH during Covid, and still uses it 3-4 days/week. I can get in there after he goes to bed. My office stuff has come up to the sewing room and I now have a laptop so I’m a bit more portable.
There’s an unofficial 5th bedroom in the basement, but no windows, exterior door or bathroom. It’s become our Covid isolation/refuge from post-op spouse area.
We are 2 houses removed from our daughters’ childhood home, so no shrines. Both are fully launched, and with the last move, we finally got them to take the stuff they wanted and trashed or donated the rest.
We live in a large 4 bedroom home, but only 2 are used as bedrooms: master suite and bedroom dedicated to our nephew, who visits us when he would have visited his late father. The other bedrooms are man cave and exercise room with treadmill and weight rack. For guests, we have a guest house in our back yard with full kitchen, bath, office, and living room that serves as bedroom. It’s perfect for D1 and any others who come to visit (D2 lives in her own house with husband in our city).
It’s a perfect setup for us, and I’m happy to say the athletic trophies are long, long gone.
Our house is somewhat of a frat house with rooms changing hands. We technically have 5 (small) bedrooms, in the finished attire there is also a room outside the bedroom with a futon. Three have desks where folks can WFH. Two away at college, one commuting, two living an hour away but by each other who use our house as a crashing point when going places like nyc or hoboken, or visiting friends (3 of my oldest’s friends bought homes here). They’ll also sleep here holidays so they can not worry about drinking and driving (can’t afford an hour Uber). They are very chill about it, there is stuff belonging to others in every room. DH works in #4’s bedroom except when she’s home, that is also the room #2 chooses to sleep in when he’s here and she’s not. When they’re all home I never know who is sleeping where. It works (one is more laud back about this stuff than the next).
We had the interior painted this year and were going to paint youngest’s room but decided it wasn’t worth the cost. However, he was upset that we were considering it.
Two of mine have boomeranged back to our home at various times and moved into their childhood rooms. One will probably be here for another year.
However, have plans that will transform our upper floor (split level) into a master suite with a which will transform that space.
We have a small three bedroom house and had three kids. When the first went away to college we started playing musical rooms. Both spare rooms are now guest rooms. One now has a crib in it and the other has a changing table in the closet for when the grandchildren visit.
I love reading how everyone uses their home. And like seeing the creativity in using the space you have whether it’s a 1500 sq foot home or a 3500 sq ft home!!! (or less or more!)
With our recent move, there was some discussion with my out of town daughters about how we were going to use the 2 living spaces and what furniture would go there. The upstairs “river room” (large picture window out to the river) was going to sort of be pegged my area for tv watching while H would use the main floor area. (he is not one to like to climb stairs and wants to have as much as possible on the main floor). The girls thought the nice leather couch and better chairs should be on the main floor - because they couldn’t imagine NOT using that space when they visited for us to watch tv and gather. (I mean, none of our furniture is shabby!)
This is what finally made sense to them. I told that 90+% of the time there are two people living in the house - Dad and I. So overall, the living arrangement should be how we will use it 90+% of the time - not set up things for the less than 10% of the time others are there!
That finally connected the dots for them. And maybe is how others might think. If your kids bedrooms are frozen in high school for them to be home maybe 5-10% of the time…reconsider making the space your own or at least multipurpose - like your craft room AND a queen bed.
Our house is way too big for the two of us, but we’re not giving it up any time soon. For one thing, we have a home office that we added to it, so we can deduct a percentage of household expenses on taxes (plowing, oil, lights, firewood, etc.).
There are still a few of our daughter’s things in the guest room, but we’re slowly getting rid of them.
We have three “spare” bedrooms now. The largest one we use as our guest room. Sometimes I wonder if we could get a renter after DH retires to help with expenses. But if we don’t need the home office, maybe we’ll just downsize. I would hate to move, though, it’s so beautiful here.
Same here. Even though we “rightsized” from the house our son grew up in, life changes, and I know that this in not our final abode. It’s beautiful here, too, and while our parents are alive, it makes sense to stay nearer to them, but spending summers in our small cabin has shown us how much we like living with less. We will probably end up somewhere along the mid-Atlantic coast, and I’ve directed my robotic real estate fingers to start sifting in those locations. However, no matter where we end up, the house configuration will always include a large, full-featured guest suite in addition to a second bedroom (same as the cabin). We always want our son and DIL to feel that they can comfortably visit with privacy even if they have children in the future. They (and all other guests) will always have “casita” space in our home(s).
We did a variant on this when the older two graduated in 2022 (though they hadn’t been home for more than a few days since June 2020). We made their bedrooms into guest bedrooms and got rid of all their stuff, but the pictures in each room reflect the places where each kid had gone for college and where they are now. We really like the 1930s National Park style posters so used that as a common theme.
Our true extra bedroom does have some extra clothes/shoes that all the “kids” leave here for dog walks/getting messy/summer swim/etc.
Our other room is, um, not the kids. Why? Because it is filled with the grandkids’ stuff. They have that dresser & DD fills it with the hand me down clothes she does not prefer plus their toys.
)
He has a dozen boxes, mostly books, in the basement.
plus their toys.