Shared girls bedroom ??

frootyloops

Hi - I don't think I've ever posted here, I am mostly over on thebump, but I am looking for some help/ideas/guidance/suggestions.

My two girls currently have their own bedrooms, but a 3rd baby is coming along this year, so the girls will need to share.  They are currently 5.5 and 11 years old.  We are buying all new furniture, as the 11 year old's stuff needs to be replaced (bed is broken, held up with 2x4 pieces), and the 5 year old's room will convert back to crib and nursery.

I have picked (not purchased yet) this set from South Shore Furniture - the wood colour is called Grey Oak.  (Ythe set I picked has centered silver handles and centered drawers)

The room is 12x14', so lots of room for 2 twin beds, one night table, two tall chest of drawers, and one wide dresser.  The wide dresser does not come with a mirror, so that is the first type of suggestion I am looking for. 

The girls have easily come to an agreement on this bedroom set... one loves purple, the other loves pink - so that was easy.  It may be slightly juvenile for an 11 year old, but she is young acting for 11, and it was one she spotted and picked herself with no other influences.

We will buy the bedding set and the accessory pillow, as well as the matching curtains - and a grey sheer curtain?  The next thing I need help with - The window is quite large, but I am not sure the measurements... maybe 3 feet wide by 5 or 6 high.

I was thinking two panels - they are the same print as the bedding, and a grey sheer in the middle?

We are doing new carpet - but we have limited options in our town.  It will likely be a neutral berber.

Now walls??  Her bedroom is rectangle, one wall has the door, the wall across from that is empty, and the walls on either side have the closet door, and the other has the window.  I was thinking one darker grey wall and the rest lighter grey??  But usually accent walls are smaller than the rest, right?  Her walls are all roughly the same size - unless the wall with the window was the darker wall, and we arrange the beds on either side of the window.

Greys are good??  How do I find a neutral grey?  I picked a few paint chips, but can see blues and purple tones in them.

And - this question is probably too hard without visuals, but furniture arrangement ideas for two beds?

Feel free to criticize or give me other options/suggestions.... the children wanted fushia walls and I managed to convince them that would be PAINFUL on the eyes lol.

Her bedroom is currently a very saturated purple colour, and I do not have my husband convinced that we "need" to paint it as of yet...

musictchr25

The print on the bed spread is very nice, but I'm not sure it will work for curtains. I think that it might end up making the room look too busy, especially if that bedspread is going to be on both beds. I would stick with a non-pattern curtain, but with a color that matches. This will also help you not replace them in the future when your girls decide they no longer want the bedspreads. 

Accent walls aren't necessarily smaller than the rest - they are just typically the wall that you want to have the most focus. It sounds like if the beds are going to be against the wall that has no windows or doors, then that's the one you should make the accent wall. And don't feel like paint is the only way to make a wall an accent wall - look into vinyl decals. They are so easy to install and can really add some visual interest to a room. I have a review of one in my blog (link in siggy). 

And yes, gray colors are good. They are a really nice neutral, but a little more modern, and I think they will go really well with the fabric on the bedspreads. You will always be able to see the blues and purples in the grays - it's just going to depend on the lighting of the room that you're in. Paint chips will be really great at first for choosing color, but grab multiples of the same chip so you can hang them in different parts of the room and see them in all light angles. When you have some of them narrowed down, grab some samples and paint them on the wall to see what speaks to you in a larger area. And get your kids involved - nothing would make them happier than to be involved in the design of their room.

As for the "need" to paint argument - if you really want to make the transition of sharing a bedroom easy for your kids, painting the room will really help them feel like it was designed just for the two of them and that it's a new and exciting place for them to share. Plus, painting will only cost you about $40 including brushes and rollers, and one full day - so it's not really that much work.

Furniture arrangement is going to be the biggest concern. I remember sharing a room with my sister, and while it was smaller than the room you have for your two girls, one thing that I wish we had established was a "common area" and a "personal area." Many of the arguments that I had began with "Mom, she's on my side of the room!" Make sure that the common area of the room is between the two beds and expands over to the wall opposite of the one that the headboards are against. Give as much floor room as possible, so moving a bureau into a closet may be necessary to give enough play space for your girls. Make sure that they each have some room on the other sides of their beds - if you can avoid it, don't push one of the long sides of the beds up against a wall - this will give each girl a space of their own where the other sibling "isn't allowed." As for a mirror for the long bureau, you could always find one at a thrift store and just paint it. Just make sure that the mirror itself is in good condition with no tarnish or patina.

MommyLiberty5013

Yep same as PPs. Do the drapery panels in white or grey.

ExclusiveMOD

Hi! I love the bedspread you've chosen! I would get light gray walls with sheer, white curtains too; ivory would be even better. And, if I could, I'd have an accent wall painted a very light pink as well. This is where I'd hang framed black-and-white photos of the two girls and of them with their new sibling.