When and how often do you update your child's room?

[Anonymous]

No major change all at once, but mods here and there over time has changed it. Put in a desk when he started doing homework. Went from twin to full bed at some point. Upgraded from the dresser that predated kid and was once the changing table when he passed 6 feet tall and it couldn’t fit his pants. Also the artwork has changed over the years at his option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kid was finally watertight, we bought a decent twin mattress and a captain's bed. He was probably 5. I swapped out the rocket sheets for something more mature when he became a tween.

He is home for college and still sleeping in that same bed.

Very similar here. We had another baby (our fourth) around the time my oldest turned 6, and we also moved from the west coast to the DC area. There was a lot of bed/crib "passing down" at the time, and so we bought him a new twin captains bed. He's now 19 and goes away to college, but during breaks he comes home and sleeps there.
When he was an older teen we offered him other options, including moving to our (legal) basement bedroom, but he says he's fine in the twin bed.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you ask your DS about preferences? It's his room -- let him guide you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 3, 8, 11, and about to again at 14.

wow. besides being a ton of money, that's really environmentally wasteful.

updating a child's room is not a thing, beyond moving from a crib to a bed. just buy sturdy furniture to begin with and they can keep it until college (then maybe take it with them for their first apartment).

[Anonymous]

Just updated DD's room for her birthday (5th grade). She had a bunk bed and wanted a queen. We also got new dressers. FWIW, for the environmental PP, we got rid of the old furniture on freecycle/craigslist, so no waste.

[Anonymous]

Switched from cribs to full beds at 3. Kids are now 6 and 8 (boys) and still have little kid decor - not baby stuff but too young for them (you are my sunshine print, painting of toddler digging in beach, etc). They do have bulletin boards with photos, awards, certificates etc.

Thinking it’s time to switch it up soon.

[Anonymous]

Switched from toddler bed to bunk bed at 6. We did repaint from the nursery decor to solid neutral walls and did stripe bedding (vs characters.) Put framed posters that he has switched out a few times and shelves to display trophies/medals/etc.

His is 13y and is still in the bunk bed with that bedding. No room for a larger bed.

[Anonymous]

It never occurred to me to change his furniture. It cost too much to do that. He has gotten new comforters every 4-5 years but that's about it. He has replaced his Angry Birds poster with one from his high school. His room is too small for a bed bigger than a twin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha! My kid went from a crib to a queen bed at age 18 months!

We have a regular dresser in there and we will probably use the same furniture items until he’s off to college. (Obviously assuming nothing breaks.)

Same here!

[Anonymous]

My boys shared a room up until oldest started 8th grade, youngest started 6th. They had this room since they were 3 & 5.

13 and 11 is when they got own rooms, rid of bunks. I let them design their rooms. I took them to paint store. My older one (now 14) wanted white walls with one black chalkboard wall. A new cool light fixture to replace ugly ceiling fan. Rug over part of wood floor navy/grey/white bold stripes. Espresso book cases, cool L-shaped desk. It has a minimalist modern look. I like it better than my master.

My younger one picked a brighter pool color for walls, and white comforter, sort of a birch wood/distressed colored loft/dresser. We used white curtains with light grey border. His walls are a bit bright so I don’t know if they will last as he ages, but the older one can have his room until college and beyond.

It was pretty funny when at 13-he said “mom, my rug and bed spread have race cars on them. It’s embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

^got rid of twins. They have “full”. Younger one’s room is smaller so got a full loft w/ desk underneath.

[Anonymous]

I updated the kids' rooms when we did a big move a few years ago. I kept their dressers and shelves (ikea things) and desks, but got new full size bedframes and mattresses-inexpensively from walmart online. I gave away the bunk beds (friends had little ones ready for beds).

In your case, OP, I think you could keep the dresser and bookcase (the furniture) and get an inexpensive bigger bed. A repaint of the room, maybe new curtains (if you have those) and rug if you have that, can make the furniture look fine for an older kid. Maybe change the hardware for a new look?

[Anonymous]

We have fairly spacious rooms, so they went from cribs to queen sized beds.

Updates to rooms was in keeping with renovations in the rest of the house - paint, molding, new flooring, new windows etc.

Obviously, as they grew, we were also replacing comforters, sheets, pillows, mattresses etc..

[Anonymous]

I can't tell under all the mess! if somethings need to be thrown away, removed or replaced.

[Anonymous]

My 3 teens are still in their original crib furniture We decided to buy high quality so it would last through their teen years. All the cribs transformed from crib to toddler bed to beautiful full sized beds. I stayed with classic simple styles and colors so they wouldn’t go out of style. We have updated my daughter’s room 3 times but only bed cover, pillows and wall art. We painted her room once out of its original nursery pink to a neutral grey. My sons couldn’t care less about their rooms, but we updated from little kid to teen with wall art, bed cover and pillows.