Leaving the Nest: How to Declutter Your Child’s Room When They Move Out

Guest post contributed by Dixie Somers

A child leaving the nest is an emotionally conflicting time in the life of a parent. If you’re facing this milestone with your adult child, it’s normal to feel a mixture of apprehension, excitement, and even sorrow. Whether they’re leaving home to start college, embark on a new career, or to begin their own family, you may be a bit overwhelmed. Many questions arise during this time, such as what this move will mean for your relationship with your child. One of the common challenges parents face is deciding what to do with all the belongings in their child’s former bedroom. Here are some helpful ideas for reducing the clutter in your child’s bedroom when they move away from home.

 

Renovate For a Fresh, New Start

If you’re a sentimental parent who’s having a hard time looking at all of your child’s belongings, renovating their room may help you to turn over a new leaf and look to the future. Rather than mope around gazing at all of their trophies, collections, and other memorabilia, you can store these precious items away for safe keeping in totes in your attic or basement. If you lack adequate space, you could consider renting a storage unit from a business like Quantum Storage to make decluttering the room easier. You’d be amazed how a fresh coat of paint, new curtains, and a new bedspread can brighten up the room as well as your mood.

 

Creative Conversion

Perhaps your child will be moving far away from home. Or perhaps you already have a guest room in your house. Rather than keep the child’s room as a bedroom, you could re-purpose this space in your home to make room for some interests of your own. For example, if you could use extra space for crafting, sewing, or woodworking, you could transform the room into your own hobby room. You could also consider turning it into an office, a recreation room, or an exercise room. The possibilities for this space are as limitless as your imagination.

 

Preserve Memories

Some parents actually prefer to keep their child’s room virtually the same as when the child was living at home. This is especially practical if you expect them to come home for regular visits, such as during holiday or summer breaks from school. Your adult child will likely get a kick out of experiencing the familiar comforts of home for a few days by staying in their old room. So if you’re not inclined to make any changes to your child’s room when they move out, there’s nothing wrong with that plan. Each family reacts to this change in their own way.

 

Make Room for Hospitality

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to be able to welcome out of town guests to spend the night in your home, but you’ve lacked the space. If you have an only child and live in a two-bedroom home, this very well may be the case. If so, you could consider getting a new, comfortable bed set, clearing out the clutter, and putting in some attractive accents. You’ll be able to use your new guest room for family, friends, or even to welcome in a foreign exchange student. Of course, you’ll still have this guest room available for your very special guest–your child!

 

Organization Optimization

Perhaps instead of trying to remove the clutter in your child’s former bedroom, you can use this room to organize the clutter from the room and other areas around your home. Many people can benefit from having a “catch-all” storage room in their home. If you don’t have an attic or basement to store unused items, or if you’d like a more convenient location, this room could provide that extra space. You can buy shelving, file cabinets, and totes for easy, orderly storage. No more lugging those Christmas decorations in from the garage. No more stacking those papers. Instead, you can store them neatly in file cabinets in your new, multipurpose organization station!

 

As you can see, there is a myriad of different ways to reclaim valuable space in your home when your child leaves the nest. Though you may be sad to see them go, you can find comfort and satisfaction through taking steps to make your home a comfortable, relaxing, and well-planned space. You may be surprised to find that you actually enjoy having some peace and quiet in your empty nest!

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