Recently we’ve received a lot of questions about how to design a nursery that will be shared with an older sibling. When one of our bloggers came back from vacation raving about her friends’ gorgeous shared nursery, we decided now was the perfect time to answer your questions! We’ve put our heads together and come up with a few tips to accommodate baby and her big sister in the same room—without sacrificing style.
One solution is to buy two sets of identical bedding, two identical lamps, and two of each stuffed animal. But as any parent will tell you, no two children, even siblings, are ever exactly alike. When designing a shared nursery, we prefer to choose coordinating but not matching items that suit each child’s personality.
(1) Sheets, throw pillows and blankets are the perfect places to use coordinating patterns with the same color scheme. Don’t be afraid to try daring combinations. You’ll be surprised how well polka dots and stripes go together!
(2/3) Another option for bedding is to select items with the same pattern in two different color schemes. Colors next to each other on the color wheel work well together.
(4) Monogrammed items like this beautiful poster are perfect decorations for a shared room. Each child feels special having his initial hanging over his bed.
(5) Another cute way to incorporate your children’s names into their bedroom is to spell them out in wooden blocks on the bookshelf or dresser.
(6) A canopy on an older girl’s bed lets her feel like she has her own space in the shared room.
(7) Area rugs can help demarcate space and also provide a nice splash of color in the nursery. We love this t-shirt shag rug that you can make yourself.
(8) While it’s important for each child to have his own area of the room, it’s equally as important to have places where they can play together. After all, part of the fun of sharing a room is getting to have a sleepover every night with your sibling! A play table with two chairs encourages siblings to play side by side. What little boys wouldn’t want to play with this tabletop train set?
Did you share a bedroom growing up? Let us know in the comments if you have any other tips for a shared nursery.
