For 9 months of my life, Lily had been sleeping in a cot right next to our bed, and Tyler was on the other side of me, meaning my husband had been sleeping in Tyler’s bed in the other room. It was the only way they would sleep, and you’d do anything to get some shut-eye, right? You can see our old bedroom set-up here and here.

Then we went on holiday at the beginning of April and stayed in a holiday cottage, forcing the two of them to share a room without me for the first time, due to where the cot was located. I was nervous, but miraculously they both slept really well in a separate room from me! I still had to get up to soothe Lily with the dummy or water as she cried a few times in the night, but it wasn’t so bad.

When we got back home 5 days later, I decided I didn’t want them to get back in the bad habit of sleeping with me in my room, so my sister and I set up Tyler’s old cot and changed the bedroom round that night! And everything fits perfectly, and the room even seems bigger even though there’s an extra piece of furniture in there. Here is how it looks now:

Here is how it used to look, so you can compare.

BEFORE:

It’s come a long way right?! Only took us 3 years! The new room feels just right now, it’s cosy for sleeping in but fun too, with the view of the trains at the window, and the toy area now at the front of the bedroom. And I didn’t have to change the wall decorations, it managed to look right – almost like it was meant to be!

The Ikea toy storage used to be along one side and corner of the bedroom, making the room narrow. Now I have split the units up, so the four-square is on one side, and the eight-square is on the other, making a big playspace on the floor in between. And notice how the Barbies have made their way on to the bookshelf – I knew they’d come in handy one day!

We moved Tyler’s double bed to the corner of the room where the toy storage used to be and it fits exactly in this space with the curtains to the side – phew! The Underground duvet cover looks even better now, like it matches the room and the wall stickers that were already on the wall. We bought Tyler a tube cushion for his birthday, and he LOVES it, he always sleeps with his arm around it or he actually uses it like a pillow, it is so soft! The cushion was from High Resolution Design for £28.99 – if you have a tube fanatic child, I can definitely recommend it.

Now the bed is by the wall, the kids notice the wall stickers more than they used to, and if Lily is ever on the bed, she is always standing and stretching trying to reach them.

The theme of the room is still seaside-y, very light and airy. I have seaside cushions by the window to hold the curtains back (I’m just not into traditional tie-backs). The cream curtains are black-out, but as they are eyelet ones, they don’t block out any light at all! So we have bought a Gro Blind that we stick on to the window with suction cups. It really does the trick. We got it from Tesco for £20.

We put Lily’s cot on the other side where Tyler’s bed used to be, with the drawers on the left of it, and the toy storage on the right of it. It’s great, as Lily can see Tyler from here, so she knows she’s not alone.

I’ve kept the tropical seaside wall decor as it was, as it still makes me happy seeing it, even if it is the same wall decor we have had for 5 years! I think seaside decor is timeless, that’s what is so great about it.

And finally we have the wooden coat rack, which is very nautical, like it’s a piece of wood from the beach. It’s a bit overflowing with coats and hoodies – I guess that’s what happens when there’s more than one child!

The two of them love sharing a room, and I am so happy after all this time that Tyler willingly sleeps in his own room now. I guess all this time, it wasn’t that he wanted to sleep by his mummy, it was more that he didn’t want to be on his own. Now he has Lily, he’s happy to sleep there. I knew there was a good reason we had Lily 😉

And as for Lily, she sleeps much better in the big cot, having all that room to spread. She won’t sleep in a sleeping bag, so I have a light duvet for her. She still wakes and cries every 3 or 4 hours, so I go in, give her the dummy or some water, and on bad night she  will only sleep in my arms, so I sleep with her next to Tyler – so I am glad we gave him a double bed! And then on good nights she will only wake once and I stay in my own bedroom.

We are getting there. The main thing is they are sleeping in their own room – hurrah!

Do you have children sharing a room? How is it for you?

Sabrina x