Since having children, we have lived in 9 different houses. Each time we move, we have to consider which children will go in which bedrooms and how those bedrooms will be configured to best accommodate everyone in there.
Today, I want to share with you some of the ways we have configured bedrooms, as well as ways other people have done it. I’d also love to have you chime in with your ideas and suggestions to help out other readers!
When we had our first child, we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment. He had his own room. We had our next child in a 3 bedroom house. They each had their own bedroom. We moved again and had another child. This time it was a 2 bedroom, causing us to actually have to think about where children would sleep.
The master bedroom in that house was very small, so there could be no baby in the room with us. In the 2nd bedroom, we had a bunk bed for the two older children (boy and girl) and a crib for the new baby (girl). I had originally used a partition like the one below to separate the two “sides” of the room…a rather fruitless attempt at trying to have a “nursery” atmosphere.
The reason I say “fruitless” is because the partition just took up room…precious room.
The next move was to another 3 bedroom. We had 2 more children while living there. During the nearly 3 years we lived there, we had many different configurations:
Configuration #1:
Bedroom A – bunks for boy and girl
Bedroom B – baby in crib
Configuration #2:
Bedroom A – bunks for 2 girls
Bedroom B – twin for boy, crib for baby
Configuration #3:
Bedroom A – bunks for 2 girls
Bedroom B – bunks for boys
Master Bedroom – crib or bassinet for baby
The first set of bunks we owned were shorter than normal and wooden. The second set was metal. I’m not fond of metal bunks, so when we moved from there, we gave them away.
The next house had 4 bedrooms, but we only used the 3 upstairs. While living there, we lost our daughter, Emily, and had 2 more little boys.
We started with a boy room and a girl room. When Emily got sick, we moved her into our room in a “moses basket” on the floor next to my side of the bed.
After Emily passed away and our next little one was born, I kept him in our bedroom until he was about 4 months. He then moved into the boy room that had a twin bed, a mattress under the bed that we pulled out for the 3 year old, and a crib. The girls’ room continued to be the wooden bunks.
For a short time after our 7th child was born (and before we moved again), we put the toddler in a toddler bed in the girls’ room and bought another toddler bed for the 4 year old, making the configuration in the boys’ room – toddler bed, twin bed, crib. Looking back, it would have made better sense to continue with the mattress under the twin. It would have saved a lot of space. We eventually got rid of that second toddler bed.
The next house was also a 4 bedroom that we only used 3 of. We only lived there a year and did not have any new babies while there.
Configuration:
Bedroom A – girls in bunks
Bedroom B – Twin and 2 toddler beds
Master – crib for baby
When the baby got to the place where he was waking up every time Ty or I rolled over in bed, we moved him to the walk-in closet in a playpen.
The next house we again only used 3 bedrooms and had another baby while there. We had two different configurations while living there:
Configuration #1:
Bedroom A – girls in bunks
Bedroom B – queen bed for my oldest, bunks for the next 2 boys, and a toddler bed
Master – baby in playpen
Configuration #2:
Bedroom A – girls in bunks, baby in playpen at the foot of bunks
Bedroom B – same set up as #1
In our current house, we use 4 of the 6 bedrooms. They are configured this way:
Bedroom A – girls in bunks
Bedroom B – King bed for my oldest (this room also doubles as a guest room) and twin for the next boy down
Bedroom C – bunk for 5 and 4 year old boys and toddler bed for 1 year old
The next house will be a 3 bedroom. I am planning to configure it this way:
Bedroom A – girls in bunks, toddler bed for 1 year old
Bedroom B – XL twin for my oldest, bunk for 8 and 5 year olds, mattress underneath that can be pulled out for the 4 year old
Master – baby in playpen
Some other options I have seen…
Mattresses lined up side by side to create more bed space for several kiddos
Pillow chaise beds – these are especially compact and work great for lots of littles!
I do want to mention a few other things before turning this post over to my readers to give their ideas…
#1: Walk in closets as “bedrooms”
Most closets do NOT have vents in them, so you do not want to close off the closet.
You will need to be certain EVERYTHING is out of baby’s reach. You don’t want clothing or racks falling down on baby!
#2: Not using a crib for baby
This is a bit of a paradigm shift for many parents. Our culture has gotten so used to huge cribs with fancy bedding that it is hard to give up that “nursery dream.” However, when you don’t have the room for such sizable pieces of furniture, you look for other ways to give your baby a proper bed.
Our favorite newborn sleeping accommodation is the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper.
It folds up for traveling, it keeps baby snuggled, and I can put it anywhere in any room easily. From there, we use a playpen. Don’t overdo the bedding and blankets. We prefer Carter’s quilted playpen sheets because the quilting makes them very comfy for baby without being bulky. You can get them in velour for the winter and cotton for the summer.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is where to keep clothes in large family bedrooms. Read Large Family Closet Organization to learn more!
Now, it’s your turn! What are some creative ways you’ve configured bedrooms to make them work for your family? Looking for more Large Family Living ideas and tips? Check out my Large Family Pinterest board and the Large Family Living page here on Raising Arrows!
Nadine W says
We have 4 of 6 in one bedroom- which technically is not a bedroom, or at least it wasn’t until we remodeled. It used to be the living room of the second floor, formerly a tiny apartment. This room where they sleep has 2 sets of bunks and a toddler bed. One bunk set has a full size futon on the bottom, so often at least 2 are snuggled together there. The room that is technically the bedroom up there adjoins, and is essentially being used as a big walk-in closet which we refer to as “the dressing room.” Child #5 is a mischievous almost-3YO, and she is in a small bedroom adjoining the master BR. Baby boy is currently in co-sleeper in Master BR, but we’ll reconfigure again in the next couple of months. 2-3 years down the road, we could easily fit all 6 in that bunk room together, but I think we will probably reconfigure at least a couple more times and eventually end up with a girls/boys setup. Our former Master bedroom is now a dedicated schooling space.
Thanks for this post, Amy. It is important and good exercise in flexibility & creativity to think outside the box when it comes to making the most of living space with large families. I think it’s great for encouraging the closeness of the sibling relationships, too. My kids love being together. Sharing is just what we always do, so they really don’t think anything of it and at this stage anyway, I don’t think any of them would want a bedroom all to him-/herself. (Our oldest just turned 9).
Shannon H says
When we moved to this house, we only had one child and were suppose to be here for three years at the maximum….. It has now been over ten years, and we have six children. Our house is a small three bedroom house. Whenever we have a new baby, the infant sleeps in a co-sleeper for as long as possible, in our room. Right now, we do not have anyone in our room (our youngest is 16 mo), so we have a girl room and a boy room. Both rooms have a set of wooden bunk beds. Also in the boys’ room is another bed, and in the girls’ room is the crib. I must admit, I really like the idea of putting a mattress under the bed!!! We may have to try that one in the future! I’m looking forward to seeing your ideas about clothing, as that is a definite issue for us!
Andrea says
I need this post! We are due to have our seventh child in January. We live in a three bedroom house. Currently we have a queen and toddler bed in our room, one twin for oldest daughter who shares her room with toddler bed (four year old) (bedroom 2) and one twin for second oldest daughter with a bunk holding six year old and 8 year old. (bedroom 3) We gave up our “master” bedroom years ago and took a small bedroom. We are currently looking for another bunk bed; put two bunks in the largest bedroom for 3 girls and one boy and move the toddler out of our room in with the oldest (who gets to keep her twin bed – squeal – (her, not me). Then we will put the baby in with us. Now I just handmade a new bumper pad for the new baby and I am second guessing putting up the crib! Aaaagh!!!!! I have to use it now! This bumper pad is so cute! But the snuggle thing looks awesome!
As the first commenter says, our kids love being together. Perhaps there are times with the oldest would like her own room, but she has space to go and be “alone” in a sense. We don’t close doors in our house so no one is ever really alone. Except in the bathroom. Anyway, what I am saying is a lot of people comment to us that our house is too small, the kids need their own room, etc. We have been looking to move since 2011, and none of our kids WANT their own room. They cannot imagine being away from each other. If we could have our dream home, we would have a boys’ room and a girls’ room, but that would be the only separation. Maybe someday!
Amy says
We tried giving our oldest his own room once. He kept asking siblings to come sleep over on the floor! I gave up and put him back in with his brothers.
Dawn says
I stated earlier that all 3 of our kids had their own room…not me when I was growing up. Oh to do things differently! But then again, blended families can be challenging…but I would not have traded it for the world! 🙂
Vanessa says
We have 3 girls in our old master, 2 twins and a crib (its a large room), 3 boys in a regular bedroom, a bunk and a crib, but when the 1 year old can tackle the stairs, we will take the crib out and put a crib mattressunder the bunk on the floor to save space and then do the same with a twin mattress when hes bigger. We have a packnplay in our room, and after having our epileptic daughter (5 years old) in our bed, I finaly found a chaise lounge for cheap on craigslist that fits in our tiny “master” bedroom downstairs that she sleeps in ( and makes a great reading retreat for me). I thinkthis arrangement will stick and any future babies will file into their respective gendered rooms when old enough, pending a move or who-knows-what, weve changed room situations in this house 6 times! This subject fascinates me! Thanks for the post!
Amy says
Love the chaise lounge idea!
Emily says
We live in a three bedroom house right now. We have three little boys (5, 3, and 1) and are expecting Baby#4 in June. Currently, my husband and I share the master bedroom, and the three boys share another room. The 5 and 3 year old share a twin bed (they sleep with their heads at either end) and the 1 year old sleeps in a crib in the same room. Bedroom number 3 is then free as a spare room/office. It’s so nice having the extra room. My boys have shared a bed since they were little so they don’t mind at all. Once baby #4 comes he or she will be in our room for the first year or so. We’ll need the crib for that baby so I’m thinking that we’ll probably continue letting two of the boys bedshare and put one on a slide-out mattress on the floor. Eventually when we (hopefully!) have some girls we’ll probably just do a boys room and a girls room.
Bethany says
We are livig in a four bedroom house right now and use three for bedrooms. The fourth is my husbands home office he sometimes uses, as well as our guest room. We have a twin bed in there. In the Master we have a walkin closet (with a vent!) that our 1yo sleeps in her pack’n play. Our two oldest girls (10&5) share a bedroom for now and have a queen bed they share. Our 4yo son and 2yo daughter share a bedroom. In there is a *huge* bunk bed. The bottom “bunk” is a pull out trundle bed and there is a built in desk. Little Man sleeps on the top bunk and the 2yo has a toddler bed. We would love to get rid of the huge bed and get a smaller bunked, but we haven’t found one yet. And we want to get bunk beds in the older girls room too. We are expecting #6 in May/June so we will have to swap kids up soon. 🙂
Sheila Mom to Seven says
We have a “3-bedroom” house, in which we only use one bedroom for actual sleeping. 🙂 Our three boys (16,14,and 10) have a twin and set of bunk beds in their room, along with all their Lego bricks. Another bedroom (across the hall) is the dressing room, which houses their three dressers (and a computer desk). The third bedroom is our guest room and my sewing room.
Our four girls (12, 8, 5, and 3) share a pretty large, non-conforming room in our walk-out basement, sleeping in a queen, a set of bunk beds, and a toddler bed. My husband and I have sectioned off part of our family room (a long, rather narrow room) for our bedroom. We have a room divider and my dresser, which has a large mirror, as the “wall”. No door. 🙂
That being said, we are fixin’ to move into a farmhouse very soon, which has five bedrooms. DH and I will be on main floor. The girls will share two rooms, which are adjoining, and the boys will do what they do now. Sleep/play in one room, and take the smaller bedroom for a closet/storage. I’m actually considering installing a nice clothes bar directly in that room, to be used for a sort of family closet. The closets in the house aren’t all that large (built in 1940).
Eventually, we will add on, both floors, with a family room on main floor, and our master suite on the upper level. That will put a bathroom on the upper level (the house has two bathrooms, but they’re both on main floor!), and sleep us all on the same level.
I’ve rambled, but I’m quite taken by houses and house/home discussion. 🙂
Stephanie says
We too have used pack and plays in place of bassinets. We do use cribs, mostly for safety and space once the children are about a year and since my children don’t climb out of their beds, it is safer. 😀 We have daybeds and a trundle, but I’m hoping to find some further inspiration here! 😀
Katrina says
We had a girl room with bunks, our son had his own room (with bunks), and the baby in a bassinet in the master. When we moved and set up the same configuration in the new house our son didn’t like being alone so started sleeping in the girls room (they came up with the idea for 2 littlest to sleep sideways on full bottom bunk with a body pillow between them). We will be welcoming #5 in the late spring and are contemplating a bunk room (pre-renovation master). Each kiddo would have their own bed, but all in the same room. Alternative would be back to girls bunk room and boys bunk room as #4 gets older so no one will be alone.
Sarah says
I’m curious how you handle bedtime with varying ages in the same room together. Does everyone go to bed at the same time? Do you stagger bed times so that the older ones go to bed after the younger ones are asleep?
Amy says
“Ideally” (read that as this is how I *plan* for it to be, but not how it pans out all the time), I do stagger. In the new house, the toddler and the three younger boys (ages 4, 5, 8) will go to bed near the same time, with the older 2-3 staying up later. Where we are now, my husband has quite a commute and I tend to keep everyone up (except the toddler) so they can see Daddy. It helps to have more than one child in a room that *has* to go to bed so that they don’t feel lonely. The toddler doesn’t care right now, but around 3ish, they start to feel pretty left out if someone else doesn’t hit the hay at the same time. 😉
sarah says
We had two loft beds built, (age 11 and 9 sleep up there )with the ability to add a bottom bed. Then, We are able to slide beds under as needed, and it didnt matter the size of the bed. If there was no need for the lofts to have a bed under we keep my sons full keyboard under, and a make shift building station for legos. I often doubled up my toddlers on twins or fulls. This kept them warm and they loved it. Now that I have a 13 yr old, we put a child knob on the outside of the door. Now, he has a place to go read without younger siblings bothering him. If the kids can get the door open, typically they are old enough to be quiet and respect him. I do have two younger ADHD kids, which creates the need for space. 🙂 I also have a toddler bunk bed. It takes a full mattress but sits close enough to the ground I am not worried about injuries. The bottom bunk sets directly on the floor so it is safe for my two year old.
shantzfamily says
Love this post! For some of us this is an ongoing process isn’t it?!
I JUST want to add- it’s so great to hear from other larger families on this topic! Today it seems it’s all about giving the kids their own rooms and just about everything you can. It’s so comforting to hear from other families where the kids love to share rooms and learn to share and be joyful with what they have- even if it’s just a mattress pulled out for bed time! 🙂
And there are lots of larger families in smaller houses- and they make it work well! So encouraging. We are blessed to have 4 bedrooms to spread out in!
Every baby seems to lend to a new configuration. However we have never moved- so that helps! we have a 4 bedroom but essentially use 3.
Seems we’ve settled on a MB, girls room, boys room. the 4th is our school room/office/craft room and holds a crib and change table for the current baby (and a comfy nursing chair!).
we also have a mini crib (same size as playpen) in our room for baby to sleep during the day so we can do school activities… or just in a playpen with bassinet beside the kitchen when on the main floor.
The challenge will be the next baby… the boys room is getting pretty full!
Erin says
I’ve been following your blog for awhile now, but this is my first comment. I love seeing how large families operate! We only have four children as of now, but hope to have more and possibly adopt as well. We’ll hopefully going to be building a house over the next few years, and I’ve been wondering how to configure bedrooms for current and future children so we can make our space stretch. I love seeing how large families do it.
I used to love the Rock n Play sleepers, but the ones I’ve had eventually led to torticollis in my past two boys. I’m not sure if you would know the answer to this if you’ve never used the older versions, but does the Snugabunny seem to offer head support? I’ve read that if you have padding on each side to support the head so that it cannot tilt downward in either direction (leading to the tight muscles of torticollis) that you might prevent that. And I haven’t noticed the negative tort related reviews on the newer Snugabunny versions, but I am nervous about investing in yet another inclined sleeper to wind up with a third tort baby anyway.
Amy says
I had not heard of that condition, but the “pillow” that is built in does have “sides” to it. I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong though. I would consider calling the manufacturer and talking to someone in customer service.
Erin says
Thanks for the reply. I will probably ask our doctor about it during our next visit. I just have a hard time finding the snugabunny type in store around here, and was wondering if it had the head pillow as well for future reference, since it was hard to tell by the pictures if that was an actual head support or just the padding.
The issue with the original is that when they turn their heads, it can tilt downward and their heads are so heavy, it pulls at the neck muscles, since they have such limited range of motion at the incline and no head support. That can lead to tightness that doesn’t go away without chiropractic adjustments and/or physical therapy. If the pillow prevents that (the head falling downward), then it should, in theory, be fine. Not that you asked for ALLLLL of that info. Just for the added knowledge I guess. lol.
Thanks again!
Amy says
No, actually I appreciate you sharing! It is more of a curved pillow. I had to buy mine from Amazon – couldn’t find one locally.
Dawn says
We only had 3 children (blended family), and now we are raising a grandson…I am curious as to why you chose to use a queen size bed for a child? We started with twin beds for all (we were “fortunate” to have 4 bedrooms…one for each child plus a master)… moving on to double beds for each child. Funny thing is , now we have 4 bedrooms, and we only use the master – 2 adults and our grandson in between us….yes, he is older (6)…but very well adjusted. Just curious as to your reasoning for the queen?
Amy says
The room doubles as a guest room, thus the reason for a bed that would accommodate a husband and wife and family. The next house, our guest area will contain a hideaway bed/couch, so my son will be downsizing to an XL twin (he’s 6’4″).
Dawn says
That is a great idea! And 6’4″???? Oh my…I thought almost 6′ was challenging! God bless you all for what you do & for inspiring us…. others – especially me <3
sarah says
We are a relatively small family (mom, dad, 6 kiddos ages 3 months up to 9 years). We live in 1200 square feet. One bathroom, three bedrooms. In the boys room (11’x12′) we have two twin beds ( they can be stacked to be bunk beds, but they prefer them to be separate ) for the 9 and 4 year olds and a pack and play for the 21 month old. We are in the process of moving the 21 month old into a twin bed with the 4 year old because they both sleep better when they are with someone else. In the girls room (9’x11′), we have two twin beds (also able to be stacked, but they are choosing to have them separate. The girls are 6 and 3 years old. Our youngest daughter is 3 months old and is in a pack and play in our room. She just moved into that from and fisher price rock and play sleeper. She will probably stay in our room (8’x11′) until she is 2 or there is a new baby and then she will move to the girls room. If she is under 2, she will stay in the pack and play and if she is 2, she will go into bed with the next oldest girl-our 3 year old who will then be 5. I despise cribs lol. They seem like such a waste of space!
All of our clothing is stored in a family closet/pantry off the kitchen. All toys except legos are stored in totes under the beds. They boys room has a closet where the pack and play is, but neither of the other bedrooms have closets in them.
It sounds cramped, but it really isn’t all that bad. I dislike our low ceilings far more than our lack of square footage!
Amy says
First of all, you are NOT a small family! lol Secondly, I am thrilled you chimed in! You are living in a space that is small, but you’ve made it work quite nicely. People need to see that it CAN be done! Thank you!
sarah says
Also, we purchased an after market pack and play mattress from Amazon which fits very snuggly in the pack and play but is thick memory foam. I always worried about the lack of padding in a play pen but this mattress has definitely helped.
Lacy Rabideau says
Bedroom A: a bunk bed with a 4 year old girl and a 6 year old boy
Bedroom B: a single bed for my 8 year old girl and a toddler bed for my 2 year old girl
A lot of people don’t think this makes since because I didn’t group according to age OR gender (lol) but it works very well with the personalities of my children. I imagine sooner than later my little boy will have to be split from the girls. I’m thinking about getting a bunk that’s a double on the bottom and single on the top for the 3 girls, or building a triple bunk bed, or getting a bunk with a mattress underneath for the 3 girls.
Which brings me to this point- how bad is it to do the trundle bed thing? Is it extremely unpractical? Does it ever actually ever make it back under the bed, or is it a perpetual mess? You mentioned it several times, so I was curious as to how viable it is.
PS. Totally agree about the crib thing. They are such a big bed for such small little people! We use a moses basket or tiny co-sleeper, then put them in the pack and play. My last 2 babies never even saw the inside of a crib. Using the pack and play has been a real blessing and space saver.
Amy says
Putting the trundle back is part of morning chores. My oldest does not like a messy bedroom so even if the little guy on the trundle doesn’t put it back, he will!
Teresa Youngblood says
I am really struggling with this. We have 4 kids and 4 bedrooms. There are 3 kid rooms and a bathroom upstairs. Right now the older 3 each have their own room (7yo boy in a twin bed, 5 yo girl in a twin bed in the small room, and 2 1/2yo boy in a crib that he does not climb out of). We have low walls and sloped ceilings upstairs, so traditional bunk beds are too tall to work for us.
Our master bedroom is downstairs. All the baby stuff is in our closet and the changing table in our room. The baby (8 month girl) sleeps in a play pen in a little nook off the living room. This works great at night because I am close to take care of her but not so close that I wake her, which was happening when she was in the co-sleeper. The problem is that there is too much going on for her to nap during well in there during the day.
I really need to swap our kids around and get them all sleeping upstairs, but I have no idea who to put together. I don’t want the 2yo boy getting into all of big brother’s stuff. I don’t want the 2 little ones together because I am afraid they won’t nap. I don’t want the crying baby to wake anyone up. I really just want everyone to sleep well. I want to sleep well 🙂
Does anyone have any tips on making the transition?
Clarissa says
We have 3 boys in one room, using a twin ove double bunkbed, but actually only have one boy per bed plus the 1yo in a crib in the same room. We have 2 girls in one room using a double bed. Our disabled, special needs daughter (7) is in the living room in a special bed and our baby is in our room sleeping in a bouncer or in our bed. Our house is only 1000sqft, so we are within hearing of the kids at all times.
Marie says
We have 4 kids. 3 boys and a girl. Originally our house was 3 bedroom and we tried giving the girl her own room with the oldest boys in a room together and the baby with us. The boys wouldn’t stay out of the girl’s room and she wouldn’t stay out if theirs! It was obvious that they needed each other during the night as much as they did throughout the day. We tore down the wall between the two kids rooms and and made it a large shared bedroom/playroom. We have a twin loft bed (a short one for younger kids) that has a staircase to get to the bunk and a queen mattress in the floor for the boys. I even put a slide at the end of the loft so they have plenty of play areas in the room. They love it but don’t sleep there. My husband words night shift and they all end up in the bed with me- which is fine because I don’t like being alone! I have changed our set up sooooo many times thru the different houses and new babies, but this is my favorite. I love your ideas (and your blog)!
reedettes says
Hurry up and post your ideas on clothing in a small space! We are drowning here! 🙂
Elizabeth says
I’m mom to 7 kiddos. All have flown the coop but one. However, at one point we lived in a small cape. 2 bedrooms upstairs in which we had 3 girls. A set of bunks with a rolling trundle worked well. They actually had plenty of room for a bit. Our son was in a basement room and oldest daughter in a small 1st floor bedroom. We were 5 kids at the time. Then we adopted an 8 year old little girl. My son was away at college so one of my girls took his room. Moved our new dd into the girls room. Didn’t work so we moved all out into their own rooms. Oldest moved away to school so down to 4. Made a den into a bedroom. Worked well. Then we moved to a 5 bedroom home. Doubled 2 up, others in own rooms again and another dd moved home. Adopted again. So the story continued.
We have moved again recently. One child home. 4 bedroom home.
jamie garcia says
We have 3 girls and another baby, gender yet unknown. We are gearing up for all 3 girls going into one room in the spring. We plan to do either two triple or double bunks w/stair case in the middle, and a crib in one room. We have a nursery set up in our third bedroom. New babies have stayed with us in a Dr. Sears co sleeper or in bed w/us.
Why have you guys moved so much, I just moved with children this year and I’m so thinkful it’s over!
Lynette W. says
The Master bedroom is so huge in the house, it was really ridiculous how much space we had! It has gone through many configurations here, simply because of the space it has just in it. We moved in when we only had one kiddo – and 3 total bedrooms. 3 more kids have been added through the years – and it would seem simple, 2 in one bedroom, 2 in the other – except we have 3 girls and 1 middle boy. When my oldest 2 girls were little, they shared, just the two of them making a play room for the other room…the lasted for 6 mos before baby #3 was born and he moved in. Then all 3 of them shared when #4 came along. When she was two years old – we decided to move hub and I out of the giant master bedroom, and we moved into the smaller sized bedroom (fits 2 inn tables on either side of the bed and just the bed. A 6 ft dresser fits at our feet with just enough space all around to walk around it) We moved all 4 kids into the master bedroom – 2 in bunks, 1 in the toddler bed (at the time) and 1 in a crib. It opened up the space for them to have their own play room. The hardest part about the 3 beds in this house, is that we homeschool and there is only one large living space room. Frequently we’ve used that extra bedroom as school/play room – and it’s only bedroom sized. As the kiddos have grown, and our house has not sold – we have shifted to giving our oldest (who is 3.5 yrs older than the other 3 who were all born within 3.3 yrs) her own privacy space room (necessary for pre-teen, tweener things) and the youngest 3 still share the Master bedroom – 2 in bunks, 1 in a toddler bed that she’s growing out of. We will be moving her to share one of the bunks in another month, which works because they are full sized bunks (another handy thing if you need to have kids share bedrooms!) We probably have more room, and less family than some with large families, but I’ve had to use every inch of space we have at times to make it all fit inside this home that we use all day every day, because of homeschooling. It works for us, though when people have come to look at our house, we have had to explain that the Master bedroom is where we placed all of the kiddos. I think people think we are really weird to give up the master bedroom to our kids – but all hubs and I did was “sleep” in there. Seems silly to have us in the giant room, when we just need a bed and a place to hang our clothes!
Susan Alexander says
We have four kids and two bedrooms for kids. Right now the big girls share a queen and the two year old boy has another queen in a room with the baby girl in a crib. When we move again, the baby will move in with her sisters I think. Eventually I want to find or make a loft twin that can go over the girls’ queen and put the oldest up top and the younger girls on the bottom.
Christna says
We have 6 and one due may 2015. we have three rooms One girl room with a twin and a triple bunk bed with a space to place a mattress under for a fifth bed. Boys room right now is a twin bed and a crib. Master queen bed and mini crib.
Danielle says
We have 5 boys under the age of 8 and just moved everyone into one bedroom. We had two rooms for the boys before, the three older in one room and the younger two, who were still in cribs, in the other. However, the nursery doesn’t have a radiator for heat and we didn’t want to supplement with a space heater this year.
So, my husband built a custom 4-man bunk bed that would fit in the space and shorter ceiling height of our small farmhouse, and we moved one crib over.
I’m amazed at how it has simplified our bedtime routine. One story time, one prayer, one lights out, instead of my husband and I running between two bedrooms. The boys love it and they don’t disturb each other when a little one gets up in the night (or too early in the morning) as you would think.
The other bedroom has become a family closet. Having one room for clothes, books and laundry, and another for just sleeping, is working out great for us.
Sheila Mom to Seven says
Hi, Danielle. Do you have a photo of the 4-man bunk bed your husband made? I would love to see it!
Danielle says
I do. Email me at danielle@fancylittlethings.com and I’d be glad to send a few your ways.
Dawn says
Might you send them to me as well?
12 moles at gmail dot com
amber says
Right now we live in a small cape cod. We have 8 kids. 6 are in one bedroom. We have 2 sets of bunk beds. Oldest 2 kids have their own bed then the other 4 share the other 2 beds. We had boy and girl rooms but are trying to sell so for now we are making the house look as spacious as we can. We have a master room set up on the second level and the 2 youngest, 3y and 18mo, in the room off ours. The steps come up in that bedroom. This works for now. We dont know where we are moving yet so we are planning on a boy and girl room again. maybe 2 girl rooms and a boy room since we have 5 girls and 3 boys. We have changed up this house many times in the past 12y, we had 2 very small babies when we move here.
Vickie says
Currently: we have 6 girls in one room (3 sets of bunkbeds). The 7 daughter shares a room with the two youngest boys. The two oldest boys share a room. The next 4 boys share a room. We have one and a half bathrooms for the kids. The downstairs kids (girls and oldest 2 boys) have their toothbrushes in the half bath that is down there. The laundry room is also down there. The other kids have theirs in the upstairs bathroom where there is also the kids’ only tub/shower. We have to have a shower schedule for the week. We have a master suite….praise the Lord for a little private area LOL
We are getting ready to switch up the bedrooms again. Putting all 5 teen boys in the big bedroom. The two oldest teen girls in the other downstairs room. The other girls in the one upstairs bedroom. The 9 year old boy will move back in with the two little boys upstairs (he is one of the 4 boys in the other room currently).
I am sure that won’t be the last switch up we will have 🙂
Kara says
We have a girls room with one set of wooden bunks and a toddler bed and a boys room with a triple bunk bed. Our special needs son sleeps in a toddler bed in our huge master and we have a portable crib (with a bassinet insert) in our room for the new baby. We gave up on separate dressers years ago. My husband and I have a closet organizer with drawers in our closet for our clothes and the kids share tall dressers. We let each child choose their own special knobs for their drawers. They have anywhere from 2 -4 drawers each depending on the size of the kids and the drawers.
Josi says
Super impressed you can remember all that! 🙂
Estelle says
we are working on baby #5, so love this. All boys accept for are littlest 18 mo. girl. They have a bedroom with a bunk and 2 toddler beds. where do they sleep? the living room, why? because its right next to mommy and daddy. Put them to bed and by morning everyone is either in our bed or asleep on the couch. Shrug. See where it goes when we move in to my in-laws 2 bedroom apartment, where the rooms are closer. 🙂
Emelia says
So funny you should post this yesterday because I came on here today looking for just this type of post! I am combining my two oldest into one room for the first time and was looking for tips/encouragement to make it work out 🙂 My brother and I shared a tiny bedroom for years until my parents did an addition on the house but it was only us 2. I hope to have more than my 3 so given we are building only a 3 bedroom house, room sharing will be a must. Right now we are living with my parents while we build so our daughter has been in the laundry room (a former bedroom), makes sense to just put her in with my son.
Kristin says
I noticed you said that when baby is 4 months they move into a room with the older kids. my baby number 5( first girl) is 2 months old right now, with all my babies they start out sleeping very well, nursing 2- 4 times a night, but then when they seem to hit somewhere between 3 & 5 months they start wanting to nurse 5 to 10 times a night! so do you have any secrets or tips for me on how I could get some more sleep. right now we have a boys room and a nursery but we do plan on keeping all boys in one room and all girls in another.
Amy says
That is why I move them – either to a sibling’s room or a walk-in closet. When they are just a bit further away, they seem to sleep better.
Kathryn says
I really enjoyed this article, Amy! Great tips and advice! I appreciate how clearly you shared the configurations you’ve used, and the practical tips for saving space.
Thank you for sharing!! I’m looking forward to what you’ll share about clothing storage!
shiloh says
I love reading about large families and the sleeping situation. We currently have 3 kids in 1 bedroom as well.
Jaime says
We’re expecting our 9th child in March. We have 5 bedrooms in our home. Our 2 oldest (both boys – 10 and 12) have their own rooms in the basement. Our next 3 children, all girls (9, 7 and 6) share the HUGE master bedroom where my husband is putting the finishing touches on a built in set of double bunk beds (2 bunk beds with stairs in the middle). Our 4 year old boy and 2 year old girl share the room we created out of the master “walk in closet” (13 by 12 foot room with a huge window – my husband built a wall to separate the walk-in closet from the bedroom), and they both have toddler beds. Eventually, we’ll move the 2 year old into the room with her 3 older sisters. There’s already a twin bottom bunk bed for her. When our 4 year old outgrows his toddler bed, my husband plans to build him a bunk bed, too. Our 1 year old girl sleeps in a play pen in our room. Baby #9 will share our bed for the first few months before moving to a play pen as well. We will most likely have both the 1 year old and the baby in our room for a while. We lived in a tiny 3 bedroom house prior to this one and had many different configurations there. Children on mattresses on the floor because there was simply no room for beds. 3 children all sharing one double bed because that’s all the room would fit (we kept their clothing on a book shelf in the laundry room). You do what you have to do to make every situation work for your family. We are very blessed to have bigger bedrooms in this home and to have a husband who is very gifted with his hands. A note on the homemade beds: we have found that our children are very hard on their beds. They like to play, hang off, etc. and the store bought/hand-me-down beds we’ve owned simply don’t stand up to the abuse LOL! So my husband builds beds that are much sturdier than anything we could find in the stores. It takes time, but so worth it:)
Rachel says
Love this post! Gives me ideas for the future. 🙂 I think lots of people have had it drilled into their heads that each kid needs his own room or he’ll be scarred for life or something. But sharing a room really teaches them more–how to live with and deal with other people.
Baby #1 is due for us this spring, and we just moved into a 1-bedroom apartment. When people learn this, they tend to think we’re a little nuts (“You mean you’re not going to have a nursery?”). If parents in poorer countries can raise entire families in one room huts… I think we’ll be just fine.
We’re planning to use a rock-n-play (similar to the snugabunny) and then (most likely) a play-pen in our bedroom. Who knows what will come after that, but we’re trusting God with that. 🙂
Pat Morse says
My grandsons (And mom) live with us – The boys had bunk beds but they preferred sleeping on the floor! So, after a little Internet research decided on hammocks from Trek Light http://www.treklightgear.com/catalog/pc/ Set them up so that we can unhook one end when not in use. Super comfortable and we even fit in it together for reading.
Amy says
Now THAT is creative!
Lindsey says
Hi Amy. We are in quite a situation and it’s been making me think of you…lol. We have two wks to find a new home and so far we have nowhere to go. Around here its two ppl per bedroom so we need a 3 bedroom which obv costs more and my husband doesn’t make a lot. We only have 4 kids. May I ask how you have found someone willing to let you all live in a 3 bedroom? Aside from wondering where we will go I am worried about forwarding my mail at the last minute. Have you had problems with this? I’m also upset at what ppl are asking on rental applications. The home I would like to try for is asking for the usual as numbers, drivers ID, etc….but they want bank acct numbers! Is this normal? We have lived in this same 2 bedroom apt for almost 8 yes now so haven’t done this in a long time. We would stay but our baby is almost 1 and we have too many people they say. Any wisdom you could provide would be much appreciated!
Lindsey says
That should be as numbers..sorry
Lindsey says
Ok that should be social security numbers….wow!
Amy says
We have found it easier to rent from individuals most of the time rather than management companies. Our house is owned by another homeschooling family, so they were not scared off by our family at all. And yes, many rental apps do ask for all sorts of things now that we aren’t real comfortable giving out because they are afraid you can’t pay your bills. They want to run credit checks. Keep praying! I truly believe most of the homes we’ve moved into have been by Divine intervention!
Carrie says
I’m chiming in a little later here… but I wanted to share that my husband made a triple bunk bed from this pattern- http://thehandmadedress.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-triple-bunks.html and it turned out great! Don’t know why he did though… Our 3 boys sleep together on the bottom bunk anyway.
Thanks for addressing this topic, Amy. Can’t wait to here about clothes.
Sarah P says
We have three bedrooms for 7 children (and us).
The baby is still in our room (she’s 10 months old).
There are 4 girls who are in bunks, a twin, and a toddler bed.
The 2 boys have bunk beds. The baby will move to their room when she’s ready.
Our plan when the baby is too old to share with her brothers is to have single over double bunks in the girls’ room (our oldest is over 5’8″ already), and regular bunks, plus the toddler bed. If we need more than that, we’ll have to look at making triple bunks. The bedrooms in this house are quite generous in size. If we have more babies, though, the bigger kids are voting for more boys ;o)
Sara Athey says
Loved this post! We are expecting baby number 4 and live in a two bedroom house. Our current setup is this:
Kids room: 2 dressers, a toddler bed, an crib, and a mini crib
Our room(right after baby will be born): a queen bed, 2 dressers and a bassinet
When baby outgrows bassinet we plan to purchase a 2nd toddler bed for our now 2 year old and move my one year old to the reg crib and move mini crib to our room. I’m not sure what our plans will be from there, as I don’t think we can fit more than the 3 beds in there room. Maybe bunk beds? All of ours are very little, so that’s good and bad at the same time. Good in that we can use smaller beds, bad in that I don’t know when they will be quite ready for a top bunk.
Mandi Kirsch says
We currently have our two older girls (15, 12) in the smallest bedroom, four smaller girls (9, 7, 5, 3 yo) in one bedroom (my husband built toddler sized bunkbeds for our old house in Idaho which had way less space than our new house in Nebraska, so the smaller girls use them), our two boys (4 and 2 yo) in one room and our baby in our room. Soon the baby will move in with his brothers to make room for baby number 10 in our room 🙂 With a big family I feel like we are always thinking ahead concerning where we will we put the next child.
Carrol Filgilano says
We have four wonderful girls of the ages 13,12, 9, and 7. At our old house , our older two each got their own bedrooms and our younger ones shared. Our house had 4 bedrooms, but they were all very tiny and we only had 1 small bathroom. We also had no backyard, no formal dining room, and no other spaces to hangout besides our living room and kitchen. So we decided to move. Our younger girls were expecting to get their own bedrooms and they were all wanting bigger bedrooms. We found a wonderful house with a finished basement, huge backyard, and open-concept main floor. There were 3 bathrooms and a powder room. We had a problem. The older girls would not like it. Well, we bought the house and decided to finish off the large attic for the younger two. We added a bathroom, several skylights, and stuff, of course! The room is “U” shaped, so each girl has her own space and in the middle is a shared space with shared toys and the bathroom. It has worked out great! Our daughters love it! They no know sharing a room can be fun! It is great to have the zones because then one side can be pink, one can be blue, and they don’t have to fight over paint color! I think (unless their are too many privacy issues) I will keep it this way even when they are teenagers (although we could always turn that large room into separate rooms) but this teaches them how to share nicely and work togather!
Carrol Filgilano says
*I forgot to mention there are only 3 bedrooms that came with the new house.
Amy says
What a neat space and idea!
Kim says
We have a 3 bedroom house and are expecting our 6th child this spring.
Our master is on the main floor with two decent sized bedrooms upstairs. Right now we have 2 boys (3 and 10) in bunk beds in one room and three girls (6, 8, 12) in a twin and a low bunk bed in the other.
We are expecting another girl so we are undecided on where she will be once she is out of our room (we generally cosleep). Our room is not very large and we are thinking of buying the least expensive Ikea crib and setting it up as a cosleeper next to our queen size bed so baby has their own space when I am not in bed.
If we lost the wide dresser in the girls room we could fit a crib/toddler bed in there eventually but the boys have the mirror image of their room and so much more space with only two of them in there. Thankfully we have a few options for the future since the dormers in their rooms just fit a twin size bed (that is where my 12 year old is currently) and there is insulated but unfinished attic storage in both rooms we could drywall the space if we were to remove the door.
Our biggest issue right now is clothing storage for the 4 girls. They currently share a dresser (3 drawers for each of the older girls) and two drawers of an armoire for the younger girl. They are stuffed full. There are two closets in eac bedroom whuch is great but they would need some sort of shelving/drawers for non-hanging clothes.
Amy says
I am in the middle of rethinking our clothing storage as well. It’s a balancing act for sure.
Sandra says
Has anyone tried hammocks? We’ve had three bunk beds in the master bedroom, and a triple bunk and a baby cot in the next biggest room, and we are in the 6×8 ft box room, clothing rails for boys and girls, and a small set of drawers – one drawer per child, and it’s really crowded with 11 people in 700 sq. ft. house. Would just like to know if anyone has tried it and if it was practical? As getting rid of the bunk beds would be a huge – probably non reversible step. Any input? Thanks!
Lanessa anderson says
Please help! I have read your article about large family bedrooms and utilizing bunk beds for the kids. My issue is I have 5 children ages 5 to 15. The oldest 3 are girls who are already the size of grown women. Two of them currently share a room with 2 twin size beds. The 15 year old has a full size in her own room and my two smallest children both have twin beds. We are having to move soon, from a 4 bedroom house to a 3 bedroom townhouse. Because of their height and sizes, what type of beds do you recommend would work best? Our 12 year old is already 5’7″ tall. The 11 year old is just under her. Any suggestions you can offer will be applied to see if it will work for our family. We have tall children-my husband stands 6’4″. Thank you.
Amy says
My husband is also 6’4″ and my children tower over me, so I get it! My older girls (ages 15 & 19) sleep in a bunk from Max & Lily that is rated for 600 lbs each! It’s been a really good fit for their tiny room. https://amzn.to/2uvU2QT
Sarah Owens says
Hi! We’ve got 7, and my oldest is 10, I am loving your blog so far!
I recently put my 5 girls into a crazy bed setup– it’s a full-size triple bunk bed, but instead of full matresses, we’re using 2 toddler-matresses for both the bottom and middle levels. 5 kids in one bunkbed, and everyone has their own matresses!
The best part is that there’s a gap between the two crib mattresses on each level, and I’ve wedged some cube shelves in there, to help with storage and also to divide the little ones who would otherwise talk and poke each other all night
Amy says
That is a really great idea!!!