Photos by Kristen Loken for Design Mom.
Would you like to see my daughters’ bedroom? If yes, this is the post for you. I have tons of photos and lots of details to share. This room came together slowly. There was lots of sketching of floor plans, moving of walls, trying furniture in different configurations, and pondering about closet space. We eventually took it down to a 14.5′ x 22.5′ blank canvas and created from there.
But all the work and patience paid off. The room is terrific! The girls love it. It meets their needs easily and it looks fabulous as well.
As you may remember, all four of our daughters share the same room. That wasn’t the original plan when we moved in. But we hadn’t actually seen this house in person until after we’d purchased it, so we didn’t really have a true sense of the dimensions of the rooms and the best way to use the space.
I receive quite a bit of email asking me about this shared room situation, so I thought I would start this post with a few FAQs, then, you can click through if you want to see all the details and the thinking behind the design decisions. At the end of the post, I included four shots of the room taken from each corner, so that you can get a good sense of the overall space.
Why Four Kids in One Room?
While doing renovations on this space, we could see that the bedroom in question was originally two bedrooms, and we weren’t surprised at all. Without knowing the history of the house, we considered doing the same thing — splitting the bedroom into two.
Interestingly, Maude, who has the strongest feelings among our kids about room-sharing, much preferred the idea of four people in one room, instead of two people in two rooms. When I thought about it, I felt like I understood where she was coming from. When there are two of you sharing a room, and you’re irritated about something, it’s easy to direct that irritation at your roommate. And those recurring negative experiences can make for a tense relationship. But if there are four of you in the room, the irritation gets dissipated. It’s easier to see that 3 people aren’t intentionally bugging you, that you are simply bugged and it has nothing to do with the people in the room.
That’s an oversimplification, but hopefully you understand what I mean. : )
Anyway, that’s how we ended up putting all 4 girls in one room, instead of splitting the room into two or trying some other household configuration. We also tested it out for many months before we jumped in and started renovating. By that time, it was easy to see the four-sister-in-one-room situation was working well for everybody.
But how does it work? Do the different ages make bedtime difficult?
Good question. So far, bedtime hasn’t been an issue at all. The younger two go to bed around 8:00. They go through their bedtime routines (bath, pjs, etc.), we read a book, and then they’re off to dream land. By the time the older kids come into the room the younger ones are already fast asleep.
I would say it also works for us, because we have a specific theory about kid bedrooms. We set aside bedrooms for sleeping and dressing only. We have other spaces in the house for homework and toys — even other places for reading. It’s not a strict rule — we do keep a shelf of books in the bedrooms, and the youngest ones like to have a stuffed animal or two around. But in general, our bedrooms are only used for sleeping and getting dressed/ready for the day. I realize that not every house works like this — if you have a tiny apartment, the bedroom and playroom are likely the same room!
Don’t kids need their own space as they get older?
Yes. I think they do. And we work hard to make sure the kids have personal time as needed. But I don’t think that means every child needs their own room. For most families in the world, the idea of each person getting their own space is simply not possible, and for big families like ours, sharing bedrooms is a no-brainer. In fact, I’ve shared a bedroom my whole life — with siblings, with college roommates, and with my husband. But I always figured out ways to get alone time when I craved it.
For our girls, since the bedrooms are generally empty of people during waking hours, if someone wants to be solo, their bedroom is usually the go-to option. But they can also use the reading loft, or one of our decks, or the family office, or even the master bedroom.
I suppose sharing a room is not for everyone, but it’s also not out of the ordinary in any way. And I’m confident the alternative, a sprawling house with 7 or 8 bedrooms, would not be a good fit for our family at all.
So if the idea of 4 kids in a bedroom is stressing you out, just know that you don’t have to do it. Hah! Also know that it’s working for us, and that if it stops working for us, we’ll try another solution. Simple as that.
BEDS & BEDDING
I’m going to start the tour with beds and bedding. Each girl has a standard size twin bed. The mattresses rest on a boxsprings with legs attached, and the closets act as headboards.
We kept the color scheme super simple. Black, white & red. Though really, I used very little black, and instead focused on grey and charcoal instead. The far wall is painted in Peppercorn by Sherwin-Williams. The poster is a photo of all four girls taken by Sarah Hebenstreit during our French Greys family photo shoot. It’s an inexpensive poster — the printout was made on an engineering printer at Office Depot and was only five bucks!
I wanted the bedding to be coordinating but not identical. The idea was to make each bed feel individual.
Most of the bedding is from Ikea, but I sourced accents from lots of places. Hanna Andersson recently came out with a Scandinavian-inspired home line, and lots of their wares fit the black, white, and red scheme. So I ordered several items from their collection (including the red-striped sheets, and the black-striped throw blanket pictured here).
The red & black throw pillow we’ve had since Colorado. The red herringbone blanket at the end of the far bed is from Pinecone Hill. And the handstitched red and blank Kantha quilt I ordered online.
There’s enough space between the beds and closets that the kids can walk between them, but they typically don’t. The paths that go around the beds are easier to use.
Also, there are two big cozy rugs that lie beneath the beds. My sister Jordan picked them up in Morocco. You can see them in the overall pictures at the end of the post.
Instead of bookshelves, we used this rolling cubby as a moveable library within the room. We love these Ikea carts and own 3 — two in the office and one here.
FREESTANDING CLOSETS
I’m really into the wireframe closets. They are affordable, they have an industrial vibe that I’m drawn to, they’re lightweight and easy to move around, and they’ve been really fun to customize. The girls thread scarves through the wires, use s-hooks to hang purses and bathrobes, and display tomorrow’s outfit by putting a clothes hanger on an outside door. Here, Maude shows off her cross-country medals .
To prevent them from falling over, we’ve attached them to the bed frames with zip ties.
We hung the backs of the closets, which function as headboards, with a simple curtains + hooks. The curtains keep the closet contents a bit more private and provide a simpler background for the beds.
Inside, we placed a set of wire drawers that don’t come with the closets, but look like they do. : ) They fit wonderfully to one side, and eliminate the need for separate dressers.
Another nice thing about the free-standing closets, is that if we tire of this set up, we can move them against the wall, and move the beds against the wall as well, to open up the middle of the room. Or, we can even retire a closet as sisters move to college. I love the flexibility!
DRESSING AREA
We left plenty of space between the closets and the wall to create a dressing area. The closets also become almost their own wall — giving privacy to the dressing area.
Note the giant mirror at the end of the dressing area (it used to be sliding closet door — there’s a second matching door that is hung over the vanities/desks).
These adorable hampers are as good-looking as they are functional — they’re another Hanna Andersson find. I chose one pattern with more white and one with more black, with the idea they’d be used for sorting dark and light laundry. Sometimes that works, sometimes they’re all mixed in.
Don’t laugh, but I moved the hampers so we could also get a shot in the natural light.
We rolled two red-striped wool runners through the space. They visually lengthen the area, add a cheery pop of color, and provide a soft surface for bare feet.
We’ve tried a few different jewelry storage options over the years, but I think this is our best yet by far! We tried one of the vanity drawers, but it quickly turned into a mess of knotted necklaces. Our solution: bulletin boards covered in charcoal grey fabric! We attached them directly to the wall, at a height that is accessible for all 4 girls. Standard pushpins hold the accessories.
Should the girls tire of baubles, the bulletin boards can hold notes or cards or magazine tears equally well.
LIGHTING
We wanted the dressing area to be well-lit, so we installed an overhead light in front of each closet. Ben Blair rewired them to be plug-in lights, and also rewired them to have an on/off switch at a height that even little June can reach.
Sometimes all four lights are on, but late at night, or in the early mornings, the girls can turn on only one light so it’s not disturbing to the others.
I intentionally let the cords hang out in the open against the wall because I thought they looked interesting — sort of a wild or organic feature in an otherwise orderly space.
VANITY/DESK AREA
As you come into the bedroom, immediately to your right you’ll find two simple desks that we’re using as vanities. The drawers hold things like hair brushes and lip gloss. One of the old mirrored closet doors hangs above the desk. Moving some of the grooming tasks to this space means the kids’ bathroom is less crowded on busy mornings.
In theory, the girls could use these for homework as well, but really, we have other areas in the house that are better set up for studying.
The aluminum chairs we’ve had since our New York days!
FROM ALL FOUR CORNERS
I know it’s sometimes hard to get a sense of the whole room in a tour like this, so I specifically requested photos from each corner of the room to give you a better idea of the space. I think it’s easier to see the walkways in these photos as well.
I hope you like the tour! If there’s anything I forgot to source, please let me know. And I’d love to hear what your experiences have been with shared rooms.
P.S. — You can find all the posts about our Treehouse renovations here.
I absolutely love the way you did the bedding. Unified but not matchy- matchy…and I love the more sophisticated color choices. You have a knack for creatively pulling together living spaces…one of the reasons I love your blog.
I’m dying to know how you worked out who sleeps in each bed and how involved the girls were in that decision.
Good question, Karen. The girls 100% picked their own beds, and funnily enough, I don’t remember any drama about it at all.
I’ll have to ask them if there was any thinking behind which bed each one chose.
As an only child- this space feels like a dream! I would have love, love, loved a sister to share a room with! The first time I shared a room was in the dorms in college. Now I share with my husband and our two small children. We chose to share so the second bedroom can be a study. :)
Best wishes!
Ganny – I loved getting to see your room largely because we do have different eyes. I would never have thought to break the room in half, but I LOVE a camp-style, beds-are-for-sleeping kind of giant group bedroom. My girls share a bedroom even though we have multiple guest rooms because I think it makes them better family citizens. (Agree about the cord though!)
2 questions –
1) I do wonder – how does a messy child fit into this life? Not a criticism – we are trying to de-messy one of our kids, but I wonder if they feel like they are out of sync with the family.
2) I love the Ikea desks as dressing tables – we have one in red in our girls room. How has the finish on top held up against scratches for you?
Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Karen!
I’ll answer number 2 first: scratches haven’t been a big issue. I think the surface seems to be quite durable.
As for question number 1, I would say I have a couple of messy kids as well. I think probably most children are messy by default. I counteract the messy by trying to do a quick tidying up daily, so that it doesn’t get too crazy. But sometimes it gets crazy anyway — like when I was busy with the book deadline. But I don’t mind — I’m the one who likes it clean, so it doesn’t bother me if I help tidy up.
And autocorrect made you Ganny- that’s horrible! Sorry, Gabby!
This room is my dream come true. Like someone above commented, I was an only child and would have LOVED three sisters to share a room with! I have two daughters of my own, 8 and 4, and they share a bedroom and love it as well. It makes my heart happy to see more families acknowledging the benefits of that kind of coziness instead of sending everyone to their own corner of the house each night.
p.s. I would vote for hardwiring the lights in my own home but I do think they look good in this particular space. They jive with the industrial feel.
This just screams modern day Little Women! The four sisters snuggled up in their room. (Although, I did visit Louisa May Alcott’s childhood home and they all had their own room. Totally ruined by vision of them sleeping in one big room.)
I always wanted sisters, so this room seems really cozy and fun!
SO COOL! I love love love what you did with the place, and I think it’s neat that your kids get to experience sharing a room. I’m an only child and would have given my left arm to share a room with a sibling!
I like that the 4 girls are sharing a room, it’s so nice! The beds and desk look great, however, I am not too sure about the closet system. For one, I think it makes the room crowded, instead of airy which is what a kids room should be. The room has great windows and it will look so much better if you didn’t have those large wire closets blocking the bed-window dynamic. Also, someone can trip over those wires.
Also, do all their clothes fit in those shelves? Seems kinda small.
Love the bedding, bins and rugs.
Well, I suppose it depends on how many clothes your child has. This closets are plenty big for my kids’ wardrobes. There’s even space to store off-season or grow-into clothes on the top shelf.
As for tripping on the cords, that won’t be an issue simply because the cords never touch the ground.
Gabby! Wow!!! I love how you tailored the room to fit your girls’ & family’s needs! Cool & functional! So interesting to get the inside info as to why you chose each piece. I feel inspired to think outside the design lines :)
Bravo! What a fun room. It looks like they love it. What makes it, is that beautiful photo which at first glance, I thought was a vintage photo of your family! I love how you hung it too!
When I wrote “your family” I meant, I thought it was your mom with you!
I grew up with 5 brother. The basement was boy land. My parents turned the family room and two bedrooms into two bedrooms. Oddly enough it wasn’t an even split between the rooms. The oldest at home had the family room and the rest had the “boys dorm”. It worked well for them and eventually my parents got the family room back.
I really, really love this!
I have six kids as well…..3 boys and 3 girls. We have a four bedroom house, but by dumb luck, there are two master bedrooms. As such, the three girls are in one of the master bedrooms and they have a lovely big ensuite. They love it and so do we. Our dining room is a children’s study, and our living room is a computer lab. We make our space work for our needs.
Oh, and we call our girls room “the orphanage” :)
Hah!
Nicely done! It’s like the modern, industrial version of the Nursery in “Mary Poppins.”
I bet you could tuck one of those ikea book trolleys between each bed/headboard (lengthwise), et voila, a nightstand is born.
Great idea!
a mother of 4 girls who share (in a tiny room – 2 set of bunks) this is so lovely to see. My girls don’t seem bothered either, there was a bit of fights over pedestal fans (who gets the air? lower or higher) as we live in warm climate, and my girls do need a place for books/trinkets/junk that I’ve put a bookshelf on top of drawers to the top bunk girls put stuff on that and the lower bunk girls get shoe storage pockets that hang on the wall beside them.
however this is inspirational for the large families out there. And very funky and clean. Alas our room isn’t as pretty, but they are all happy.
I also agree with above Kelly that for some reason I feel they are more secure (both them and I) when they share. Your not alone Kelly. I also laugh that when our other bedroom is vacant (we are international homestay family) one girl will move over to the free room, then another, then another and they all end up in the other room… I say why bother??? :)
I love it, especially the sisters poster, and I love the beds being together and the closet storage is awesome, the only thing I really don’t like is the cords hanging, very distracting and takes away from all the great design elements in the room. Looking at all the rows of beds, made me want to have four daughters! I have two daughters right now :) I love how the bedding is coordinated, but different! The vanities are also fun. I want one :)
I love what you’ve done with the girls’ room! I’ve been eager to see how it turned out as we have three girls in the one room which could definitely do with a little redesign – or maybe a design in the first place ;)
We have very limited space in our two bedroom apartment so the girls’ bedroom is also their playroom. Actually, the living room ends up being their playroom, but their toys live in the bedroom on the rare occasion that they’re actually packed away!
I like that you went with separate beds rather than bunks. We have bunks for the two bigger girls simply because there wasn’t the space for two twin beds as well as the little one’s crib. I made sure to buy bunks that separate into two twins in case they have their own rooms down the track or maybe even a larger shared room. The girls love the novelty of the bunks but I do find them a huge hassle to make, plus now that our little one can climb ladders it’s a major safety hazard.
I really like the colours that you went with. With such a big age difference between the girls it can be tricky to find a theme that works for everyone but I think you got it just right.
so so perfect. i just love it. we too only use the bedroom for sleeping and dressing, so the playroom and the rest of the house are our hang out spaces. i’m designing our second house right now, and it’s going to be cozy and even though we could spread out, our boys will still share a room. and they love being together, and they are also more secure sleeping together. seems like that’s a theme running through a lot of these comments. :)
Beautiful! Makes me want to have sisters. Your kids are lucky to have you, and their siblings. Hold on to all those girls tight. That room will be a big part of their childhood memories.
On another note, how do the kids get to reach their clothes? Through the bed side? Remember, this is earthquake country. Hope you secured them to the floor.
I love it- so functional and unique! The only thing I’d change is the wiring- mostly because I’d be afraid my kids would accidentally hook an arm on one and pull it out :) But I don’t know how to wire things, so it’s totally cool in that regard. I didn’t know you could rewire lighting that way. I love the dark wall accent and the vanity area a lot! I wonder if I could get all 4 girls in one room at our house? I doubt it, they don’t just fall asleep here to make that work :) But I have thought about it.
I love your aesthetic in general, and have found so much inspiration here on your site over the years! The girls’ room reveal was a much-anticipated treat, particularly after seeing the beautiful harmony the other rooms in your house have assumed. I love the way you’ve layered patterns and textures here. Those awesome industrial wardrobes just seem perfect somehow with the old-world colors in the woven throw, and classic checked and striped textiles. Reusing the closet doors in TWO ways?? Genius, lady.
I’m going to chime in on the cords with my incredibly un-original opinion: Before you even mentioned them in the post, I winced when I saw those cords jumbled against the wall. (One may say, they are… discordant. Ha ha, I’m here all week.)
The cords are definitely visually interesting, but they seem so half-thought out compared to some of the whimsical flourishes you’ve embraced in other rooms. Maybe the spareness and gentle restraint you used in this space has caused you to look for something stimulating on that wall, and the cords were a convenient filler? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you revisit the area with a fresh idea when the time (and idea) presents itself.
Thank you so much for opening up your home to your readers!
Love it! What fun for your girls to all share that room together, and what a genius way to make it work!
I love that they’re all together in that long space! I think it’s brilliant. So many life-long memories will be made in that space. Smart to stick with red, white and black. And Peppercorn is a great color. I used it on my kitchen cabinets…there’s a richness to it, no? Bravo, Blairs! You’ve done it again.
Agreed! Peppercorn is a deep color. I love it. Glad to meet another Peppercorn fan!
What a great idea and I love the execution! It looks like such a happy place for your girls!
Really inventive and full of organized creativity! Usually spaces for shared sleeping have a great deal of division to them. Not here! Way to think outside the box. Glad they’re enjoying it. Mission accomplished, Mom.
You are a wise mamma.
The four-in-one-room solution is a good one. Your daughters will be far better prepared than many of their peers with the big adjustment to college life. So many come to college that do not know how to share a space.
How refreshing to see a non-pink palette that is still youthful.
I would love to know how you made the grey fabric covered bulletin boards.
Glad you asked! I actually share a full tutorial on how to make them in my book. It comes out in April. I’m so excited!
So glad to hear this. I was just thinking this bulletin board idea might be a solution to my daughter’s jewelry clutter. :)
I actually LOVE the exposed cords! They’re different and interesting, and of course go along with the color scheme- which is also so fresh, not too “girly,” and just right for all ages of kids!
I keep thinking about how you are looking for the right baskets to use as nightstands? Country Living’s new issue features fishing baskets & picnic baskets & vintage hat boxes & ceramic berry baskets as little wall shelves. Very cute…it made me think of your quandary.
Thanks for the tip, Tessa!
Yeah for shared bedrooms. You did an amazing job! The ONLY thing I would change, would be the hanging cords from the lights–too chaotic for me.
Reminds me of Little Women :)
Yay! Love to see your tours of your home. I love it. The cords I love but I think it would bug me after a while & the neat freak in me would have to hide them. I love the dividing factor of the closets. We have our four boys (9 & 7 year old triplets) in one room. They still love it. We will keep them together as long as they enjoy it!!
Yay! What a fun room for the girls!
Very cute! It almost makes me want to have more children so I can plan a fun shared space…
my kids love sharing a room! What wonderful memories your girls will have of their time together. My son and oldest daughter shared in our previous home and they were heartbroken when I gave them separate rooms in our new house. I was surprised! All 3 of my kids like sharing, though, and often end up crashing for a night or two in their siblings rooms.
I love that you share your home design, but even more– that you *share* the kids rooms! In some regions of the U.S. it would impossible for each child to have their own room, in CA it’s almost a rule that each child have their own room, plus a ‘play’ room. I think, even if you have the luxury of space, sharing is more of a bonus than owning one’s personal space. The lessons learned, the love learned, will become more valuable than elbow room at the desk.
When our kids were at home, they all shared rooms; 2 teen girls in one 10×10, and 3 teen boys in a 10×10…and they all managed to share one very small bathroom that was also the guest bath! I think it helped teach our kids to love each other, get along, and create solutions for a myriad of problems.
Now they are all grown, 3 with families of their own; and coincidentally, their children now share rooms.
Well done!
The bedding and the laundry baskets are my favorites. Your instinct to clean up the light cords is a good one, I think.
I have been waiting excitedly to see how the lockers would work in this room. When you first mentioned it, I couldn’t wrap my head around it visually and I was skeptical that it could really work. I have to say, I love it. The dressing area is like another room. A person could easily drag a bean bag chair in there and have a little seclusion! I also love that if they ever tire of the arrangement, you can easily move the beds along the walls and change it up.
Do you find the need to have a stool in the dressing area for the two smaller girls? Either for getting their clothes out of the closet or for sitting to put on socks or tights?
I’d love to see a post on how you handle memento’s. I know you said the kids things are stored under their beds, but do YOU have a system for the items you keep for each child?
Congrats on such a good-looking and functional room! I am so impressed by your creative use of space and color. It was a big project but the results are wonderful! My boys are going to share a room starting this summer and this room delights and inspires me!
I kind of love the cords dangling– everything else is so clean and straight that it’s nice to have something kind of wild. We’re thinking hard about moving our third girl in with the other two and I love the explanation of why you’ve put them all together!
Love it … practical, stylish and totally your family’s individual style. If possible, could you do a post on how you create and manage study spaces in your home? We struggle with giving my six-year-old a dedicated space for homework … So far, it’s the kitchen table, an overstuffed homework bag and various writing/art supplies from the closet, and I have to set it up myself and take it down myself to avoid an uprising (of one six-year-old, but still).
Along those lines, it might be nice to include your thoughts on how to teach/encourage kids to be organized and motivated for homework. It’s such a challenge for my crew. P.S. You are awesome!
I like how you use the rooms solely for sleeping and dressing. Can you tel me where you got those wire closets or where I could find something similar. I have 4 kids in a room (2 boys, 2 girls) it’s 11.5 x 9.5. I had to put one of the bunks slightly in the closet to make room for everyone. That’s why I’m so interested in those closets. We bought 2 pax closets from ikea and put them in the garage, but those seem easier to move around. As far as room sharing: They do seem to like it especially at night. The toddler is a night owl which is a problem for the ones that like to sleep. She mostly sleeps in our bed. I pretty much love everything about your girls room (except the light wires). Thanks for all the ideas and sharing how your family makes it work.
I’ve been waiting for this post!!! I love it. June is adorable jumping on the bed too. What a great use of old mirrored doors. Love, love, love.
Hi!
Fabulous room! Just wondering how you attached the photo poster of the 4 girls to the wall? I see that it’s hanging from some sort of clip – but are the clips nailed to the wall? Just curious how you fastened them? Love the industrial yet simple look! Thanks for sharing!
Looks great Gabby! I also love how you are able to be so gracious when comments are less than gracious! I could not do it! I would fold up and be so anxious and upset! I too have four girls and two boys (Leah my daughter was one of your “Living with Kids” contributors), and hear so much sense in putting them all together. I did not do that for many reasons (space, ages, etc), but sometimes created chasms and monsters by not doing that! Another reason that shared rooms are so good, is that “secret”, perhaps bad habits, can not flourish! Without going into our specifics, things like eating disorders, depression, etc. can much more quickly come to light!
This looks so great! Thanks for sharing the finished room with us. I can understand why the girls like it as much as they do. What a wonderful bedroom!
I love this room and think it’s very unique. The set-up actually reminds me of the barracks I lived in when I was in Basic Training in the Army, although MUCH prettier! :)
And I think it’s great that you have all the girls in one room–learning to share space is a great skill to have in college and beyond!
What a wonderful room, you’ve done a fantastic job! I live in london and especially loved your posts on what to buy in france.. so true and such fun! I love the rugs in the girls’ room and see that your sister bought them in morocco. We are heading there in a few months and I was wondering if you happen to know where she bought them from? I’d love to but some like them!
Love this! If I had more kids, I totally copy you :) Just wondering how you hung the engineered print? I have a couple in my house and I’ve mounted them on foam board before hanging with command hooks, but it looks like some sort of clip? I’d love to find out! Thanks Gabby!
wondering the same thing. would love to know. thanks!
I love how unconventional the bedroom feels. Kind of frees up my thinking when moving around our rooms!