Spare bedroom

[ForestMoon]

Hi mumsnet, so seeking some advice around decorating our spare bedroom.

We've recently got our panel date for mid April.

Wondering when everyone begun decorating their spare bedrooms for their little ones? We are open to adopting a LO between 0-6 so quite a big age range. Therefore don't plan to buy beds until we are matched. We also want to leave specific decorating for when we're matched too so we have an understanding of their age/ development/ likes and wishes.

However, wanted to get some basic and neutral things sorted like rugs, wardrobe and curtains.

How much did everyone buy or decorate before adoption panel? I know, sometimes, placements can happen quickly so want to make sure we are prepared!

As in approval panel in April? Hell, we had nothing at approval. Wait until matching. If anything goes wrong, you don't want a shrine to the child that could have been. Once you have a date for matching panel, decorate based on what foster carers tell you, ready for photos for the introductions book.

It's a good idea to decorate now while things are quiet, I was matched very quickly after approval panel and there was very little time to get things ready.

My advice would be to go neutral, have lovely fresh walls in cream, then once matched order curtains and rugs. Those wall decal stickers are great and very cheap. You could do a theme that's a safe bet for boys and girls over that age range, for example jungle, but if you end up matched to a 6yo girl who's princess mad then it's alot easier to order princess curtains and rug and stick some stickers up than to re-do your jungle room. You can get custom stickers pretty cheap on etsy wih a child's name on which might be lovely for an older child.

Hi @ForestMoon

It's a really exciting time and very natural to want to start nesting.

But like others I would hold off with all but the most basic of stuff until there is an actual child in the picture.
At most I would just paint the walls a warm cream and if you must buy furniture, plain white.
Certainly no themes, you just never know who you will end up with or what they will bring with them from foster care.
With online delivery times these days you can get bits and pieces to personalise the room when you know who the child is

We didn't do anything for approval.
Just before matching we got our friendly decorator to paint the walls so we could do photos for intro book.
We also had big age range. We're placed with a 7 and a 2 yo.

Yep id do the basics, have it looking clean and painted and ready to decorate once matched. You could have your amazon basket full of everything you will likely want so can get it delivered straight away when you need it, there will be time for that kind of thing. For us once we had been matched we replicated as much as possible of the bedroom they already had- posters & cot were exactly the same and positioned the same for example to help settling in.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Yes, it it approval panel in April!

Advice taken on board we'll stick with redoing the carpet and painting rather than buying any furniture so we can match their style, interests and age needs.

I liked the point about trying to replicate the foster carers bedroom to help them feel more familiar- this is a very good idea.

We painted the spare room with light grey walls and a darker grey carpet, ready for any age/sex. We'd put down 0-2.
Then when we were matched (with a 7 month old boy) we bought a light grey cot, wardrobe and changing table from Mamas and Papas, but didn't unbox/make it until we'd got through matching panel. We also made sure we could return everything withing the return dates too, just in case!

Then once through matching panel we put age relevant things on the wall and on the shelves etc.
Our LO is 6 now, and he had the same carpet and wall colour until we moved house a year ago!

We were told that we could/should start to decorate after approval panel because it would support any children's social worker to envisage what we were offering. We did the "basic" decorating prior to that (freshened up paint, neutral curtains white bookshelf etc, and then once approved got a toddler bed, and painted - went for pale green on the bottom and white on the top with the idea that we could redecorate quickly if we got an older child who felt very strongly but could still give a sense of "us" in the meantime)

We were tied by prearranged time off though, and knew we had to get it done between certain dates because we were away after panel and it could get on top of us if we were matched quickly.

One thing to consider, it can feel a bit difficult to be approved and have a room with no child in it if you aren't matched for a while - it's worth considering whether this something you can live with.

Hi Torvy,

Thank you for sharing that. We'll see advice from our social worker when we're a bit closer to approval to see what they think.

It's exciting getting closer too panel but trying to balance that with being realistic that it might take a long time for us to be matched with our future children.

Thanks again everyone for all your help

We were quite specific with gender and age so it made getting it quite easy getting a room ready. We decorated the room before we were approved at matching panel.

Personally I'd paint a room in a neutral colour, some basic furniture but not the bed and a black out blind. It's exciting wanting to plan for the future. Maybe look at different themes and where you can get them from. If you're considering foster to adopt it's worth having the basics in place. Having basics in place takes the pressure off you having to run around. Introductions and moving in happens at different times for everyone . I had one friend who had 2 days notice and another who had 4 months. If you're matched with a slightly older child they may want some in put in to how the room is decorated. Exciting times!!

A further thought.

We got our decorator to refresh the woodwork as part of another job, so when we needed the walls doing for matching it was literally just that, (and he kindly fitted us in within a week around other jobs.)

Removable wall stickers are good for personalising a room an they can grow with the child. DD2 moved from Winnie the Pooh, via Disney Princesses to butterflies.

Just following up on this post as I came across it just in case any new adopters read it!

We ended up finding our beautiful girls on link maker the day we were approved and after conversations with social workers and due to their specific circumstances their intros started about 6 days after we knew they were going to be placed!!!

It was a whirlwind they are thriving now and doing SO well. This is all happened almost 2 years ago.

But... we wished we'd got their room sorted a bit quicker...! I guess everyone's circumstances are different