It is often an unsettling time when your “child” moves out of the family home to start university. This is probably the first time they have moved out and it will take some time to get used to the quietness they leave in the family home. Looking on a brighter and more practical side, you now have a spare room in the house that you can decide what to do with!
First off check with your child what they are happy with…much better than starting to move their room around on the day after they head off! They may be more than happy for you to completely change the room or they may prefer some time to get used to leaving the family home themselves first – moving out of the home is a big move for the entire family.
Here are some ways that you can make use of this new space.
Have a good sort out
This is best done with your child before they leave, but they may have been too busy getting ready for their new uni life rather than spending time sorting out their bedroom. You can probably declutter and put some things in storage for now – ready to come back to when they are at home again. They may want you to just leave their room exactly as it is for now, especially if they initially plan on coming home for weekends a lot.
Create a space that you and your child are happy with
This could mean a bit of compromise for both. If you don’t have a guest room and would really like one, you could probably make some small changes to their room making it suitable for guests as well as your child. Maybe add a new double solid wood bed and move their stuff to one side add some rustic furniture like a new rustic wardrobe or a wooden dressing table. This dressing table could also double up as a desk if they are at home and need to study or write an essay. The Chelwood desk would be perfect for this!
Create an office space
If your current office space is the dining room table, you could make use of the new space and create an office in their old room. Design it so that it can easily be switched to a bedroom when your child is home or guests come to visit.
Swap rooms around
If you have a younger child still at home in a smaller bedroom you may want to move them into the larger room. This can be a simple room swap or you may want to redecorate the rooms before the switch.
Use the room for storage
If your home needs extra storage then you can invest in some attractive furniture that will help you get, and stay, organised. You can use this room to store out-of-season clothes in a solid wood chest of drawers, your child’s belongings that they have not taken to uni, music and book collections or anything else you want to keep but have nowhere to store. Of course, this room needs to have decent furniture to accommodate all these belongings but it will still make the perfect guest room when needed.