Did any of you grow up sharing a room with siblings?

TKtravels · February 2014

If so, how was the experience?

How old were you? How many siblings did you share a room with? Would you have your own children share a room, even if it was possible to have separate bedrooms for everyone?

I'm curious because H & I are looking over plans for living quarters, and we're both really drawn to a design that would have one bunk room (for up to 4 kids and we would like to have 4 kids) with ample space elsewhere for dressing, playing, studying, etc.

HBirdie · February 2014

I really like that idea! I don't know, I was the only girl, so I had my own room growing up. Once for funsies I shared with one of my brothers because I wanted to see what it was like. But I really like the idea of separate bunk/play areas!

CDMay2006 · February 2014

My sister and i shared from 3/4yo (she's 3 years younger; not sure when she moved in) through elementary school. It worked well and i never had a problem with it. I like the idea you mentioned, but the kids' sex, ages/spacing and potential need for private/personal space could be issues.

Af1004 · February 2014

When I was little I shared a room with my brother. We did get into a little trouble being close together

but it was overall a good situation. When I was a teenager I had to share with my step sister. It was ok at 1st but I soon needed my own space. Our biggest problem seemed to be her taking my clothes with out asking. There was a 5 year age difference. So I think while they are little it's great but as they enter teen years they need their own space

MrsShep613 · February 2014

My younger sister & I shared a room until I was probably 15 and it was awful. Granted there's 8 years difference between us. I just always felt like I got the short end of the stick. For example she wanted Winnie tge Pooh decorations so our entire room was decked out in Pooh - hence my detest for it now!

DaisyZH · February 2014

My little brother and I shared a room for about a year when I was in third grade and he was in kindergarten. We loved it and had the best time. We got in trouble a lot for playing or talking instead of sleeping though.

. Our kids will be sharing soon, I'm really hoping it goes well. It will probably be a few years before we can afford a three- bedroom.

hilalk · February 2014

We grew up overseas in a 2 bedroom apartment so I shared a room with my brother until I left home for college. This may sound weird being opposite gender but it was not for us. We used to go to bed early just to talk to each other. Since we grew up like that we did not have privacy issues, it was our normal. Other than the bed time we hung out as a family, did everything alltogether. I missed those days so much.

Edit typo

JLMcWeeney · February 2014

My older sister and I shared a room until we were 5 and our other room was a play room. It worked great for is. We both were super young so we felt safer having our each other nearby. And we liked having the separate play room.
I also shared with my little sister when I was about 9. We did fine. I don't remember there being many problems other than we had a tv in our room and we didn't agree on which shows to watch when we were going to bed.

All this reminiscing is making me miss my sisters! Lol

eyris · February 2014

Is it a house made from recycled shipping containers??? That's so awesome. I really admire the small and economical homes that are gaining popularity. I've never been one for the "McMansion."

Anyway, to answer your question, I bet this would be just fine. My brother and I had our own rooms but when we were about 5 and 8 my parents put bunk beds in his room. I thought they were fun so we ended up both sleeping in there for years.

That said, the teenage years might be difficult if you plan on staying there long-term.

ravenclaw1 · February 2014

I shared a room with my sister until we were 21 & it was awesome.

Of course, we're twins, so I think we have a unique relationship.

If we have another girl, they'll likely share.

LnR70707 · February 2014

I shared a room with my 2 sisters until I was about 10 and never had a problem with it. Up to that point we had a bedroom, a playroom and a dressing room (dressing was a nursery until my youngest sis, who had some health issues, was ok to move in with us). When I turned 10 we converted the dressing room to my room and my younger 2 sisters kept sharing for another 1.5 years then the playroom was converted to middle sis's room.

If we had 2 kids of the same sex, yes, they would share a room until whatever point it didn't work (guessing around 10 or so), but as it is DD and DS have their own rooms.

Violet1372 · February 2014

I had to share a room with my sister when I was maybe 8-13 and then every other weekend at my dads from 8 until we stopped going. I hated it. I would never prefer to have our kids share space like that. I think kids need their space to be alone and have it reflect them and give them some space to be creative with especially when they get into teenage years.

kje120 · February 2014

I shared a room with my one sister until the other sister went away to college and then we had our own rooms. So I didn't have my own room until I was in 7th grade. Currently the boys have their own rooms, but we're thinking in a couple years having them share so we can have a guest room back. We'll see if we actually do it when the time comes.

chois · February 2014

My sister (1 year older) and I shared a room until grade 10. We had a tiny room and house and I always felt like I had no privacy or my own space. We also had very different personalities which I think is a big reason it didn't work well for us. I'm a bit of a neat freak and she's a bit of a slob, we had completely different interests and hobbies and she was always the "good girl" and I was more of a rebel. As soon as we built the basement in the house I was down in my own room before it even had walls up. All that being said we did have some good times sharing a room and I don't think it did any (major) damage in the long run.

If we have a third, the boys will be sharing a room until DS1 is old enough to move to the bedroom downstairs if he wants to.

redfallon · February 2014

Adrd47 said:

I shared a room with my brother at one point and my sister at another. We never shared rooms for long and it was when we were all really young. It wasn't terrible because we were all so young, but I don't know that I would've liked it much as a teenager.

Something to think about (I'm not sure about your state) but in some states it is illegal for a brother/sister to share a room past a certain age. So if you're thinking about building, you may want to leave 2 kids rooms in case you have a mix of boy/girls.

This sounded odd to me, and from a quick search, there is not a law prohibiting opposite sex siblings sharing a room except in cases of foster care.

redfallon · February 2014

My sister and I shared a room for a while when I was in 4th grade up to 6th grade. She is 3 years older than I am. We hated it. I'd rather my kids have their own space unless it wasn't financially feasible for us to have a house with enough bedrooms.

My mother lived in the same 3 bedroom house with 11 other siblings. They weren't all living at home at the same time as there is a big age difference in that many children (no multiples). They had the boys' room and the girls' room.

redfallon · February 2014

Adrd47 said:

redfallon said:

Adrd47 said:

I shared a room with my brother at one point and my sister at another. We never shared rooms for long and it was when we were all really young. It wasn't terrible because we were all so young, but I don't know that I would've liked it much as a teenager.

Something to think about (I'm not sure about your state) but in some states it is illegal for a brother/sister to share a room past a certain age. So if you're thinking about building, you may want to leave 2 kids rooms in case you have a mix of boy/girls.
This sounded odd to me, and from a quick search, there is not a law prohibiting opposite sex siblings sharing a room except in cases of foster care.
I didn't realize it was fosters only. Thanks for the actual info & sorry for the misinformation TKtravels.

Looks like from some article comments I read that there are some landlords who try to enforce a separation, though.

ajbook · February 2014

I shared a room with my little sister until I was in 3rd grade. Then we moved to a bigger house and our parents let us pick. We still had "sleepovers" sometimes though.

jlp0528 · February 2014

I shared with my sister who was 3 years old till I was like 11 or 12 and moved into the basement bedroom
Just to get some space. We were at each other's throats on the reg.

TKtravels · February 2014

Thanks for sharing all of your experiences! If we go this route, it would probably only be for about 10 years anyway, so we'd be changing things up by the time our child/ren hit double digits.

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Did any of you grow up sharing a room with siblings?

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