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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To do an annual bedroom swap?

65 replies

Ausflug · 10/07/2015 13:28

Currently have 2 DC sharing a bedroom in a 2 bed terrace.

Plan is to move somewhere bigger in the next 2-3 years, so that they can have their own room, and we all get a bit more space.

I have been keeping an eye on the housing situation in our area - problem is that lots of the 3 bed houses have very different sized 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, usually one double and one small single, which is a bit unfair.

So my brilliant idea was that the children swap round bedrooms after each year. They'd have to do an annual big tidy-up and declutter (yay!), one wouldn't just be stuck with the poky bedroom forever, win-win!

DH is Confused and thinks it would be too much bother and DC1 should just get first choice because she's the eldest.

So AIBU to think my idea is genius? Is it actually really stupid? I usually take all the furniture out yearly anyway for a spring clean, so don't see it would be that much bother just to put it back in a different room.

OP posts:
FenellaFellorick · 10/07/2015 13:32

Sounds good to me.

What's the age difference?

reni1 · 10/07/2015 13:33

Brilliant idea, do it.

Original poster
Ausflug · 10/07/2015 13:34

3 year age gap. They should be around 9 and 6 yo when we move (fingers crossed).

OP posts:
BreconBeBuggered · 10/07/2015 13:34

Everyone in the Brecon family, including me and DH, has had at least two goes at having different bedrooms in the 9 years we've been in this house, for a variety of reasons. It needn't be that much hassle, and my DC are very very cluttery.

TinyManticore · 10/07/2015 13:34

Your way is much fairer. Why should DC1 get first pick purely because they happen to have been born first?

MaxPepsi · 10/07/2015 13:35

Sounds much fairer than your DH thinking the eldest should get first choice just for being the eldest!

I grew up in a 4 bedroom house with my parents and 3 brothers.

I had a large double to myself as I was the only girl and could be trusted with the antique heirloom furniture.

My brothers had to share and my mum regularly swapped them round.

EElisavetaOfBelsornia · 10/07/2015 13:36

My parents did a version of this - 3 DCs, one single bedroom and one double. We did a regular (possibly annual?) swap round of who got the single room alone. I think it's fair.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 10/07/2015 13:37

Great idea. Also, it kind of gets kids excited about their bedroom again - they can reorganise at the same time. Change is good.

tumbletumble · 10/07/2015 13:37

I actually think this is a great idea! You can decorate the rooms with neutral walls / curtains / carpets and let the DC choose their own duvet covers, pictures etc.

Original poster
Ausflug · 10/07/2015 13:39

Ha, I knew it was a good idea Smile.

OP posts:
Eva50 · 10/07/2015 13:45

I wouldn't. I would choose the furniture to maximise the space in the smallest bedroom and decide which child it would best suit and then they can each make their space their own.

DJThreeDog · 10/07/2015 13:48

Sounds like a fab idea!

It makes me exhausted just thinking about it though.

ChazzerChaser · 10/07/2015 13:50

I like it. I was always in the small room as the youngest and always felt unfair.

ThomasRichard · 10/07/2015 13:52

That's actually a very good idea. I've been thinking about this with my two: problem solved, cheers!

Anon4Now2015 · 10/07/2015 13:54

My kids swap bedrooms ALL THE TIME. It has never taken more than an hour and the kids always do it themselves. I don't think I've ever even carried anything. Definitely do it. We don't swap furniture though - there is basically the same furniture in each room and they just swap possessions around. It is no hassle at all

Floralnomad · 10/07/2015 13:56

You may find that one of them just prefers to have a small room - when a friend of mine moved the elder child (dc were 11&9) chose the smaller room , if you get the right furniture / storage you can do a lot with a small space .

Fallout4 · 10/07/2015 14:09

Yeah my mum did this every year. Was a bloody nightmare personally. Just get used to one room and then we had to move. It was like musical bedrooms and drove everyone mad. I wouldn't of cared if I had the box room forever as long as I didn't have to move again. By the time my brother had moved out I was 13 so I got to pick which room I wanted and yet my mum still wanted us to switch over every now and again. She's like this with furniture though. Every week she moves it all around. You never know where it'll be from one week to the next. Gotta love her though.

MarkRuffaloCrumble · 10/07/2015 14:12

We do this, not religiously, but as their needs change, someone acquires a large item that needs a bigger room or gets rid of all their plastic tat in favour of small 'grown up' toys like laptops and x boxes.

As you say, it's a good way to get them to clear out unwanted stuff and gives the opportunity to redecorate (smallest room always gets done first as a bonus).

GorgeousPie · 10/07/2015 14:16

It's a great idea. Me and my sis used to swap every so often just for fun :-)

Artandco · 10/07/2015 14:17

I would keep then sharing the bigger bedroom and turn smaller bedroom into their join playroom/ snug room

FeelingSmurfy · 10/07/2015 14:23

Given the choice I would have rather had the box room than swap every year

I had the small room as a child then got the bigger room when we moved

BackforGood · 10/07/2015 14:24

I don't think I'd want to be swapping bedrooms every year - you could suggest it, and, after the first year, they'll probably choose to stay put.
They'll be able to have their own tastes reflected in any decortating etc., which won't happen if they have to keep moving.

dc1 shouldn't get it "because they are older" - grossly unfair - but I would talk about it to the dc when you've had an offer accepted on the house, point out the pros and cons of each room (even if it's things like one is nearer the bathroom or has nicer decor or maybe the one in the bigger room has to move out for guests, or whatever the factors might be) and let them decide which is fairest....swapping annually, or tossing a coin and always staying put, or thy might both have preferences for different rooms, or might come up with another solution - such as share a sleeping space and have a shared 'living' space (starting as play room and will morph into study or chilling out space).

VanitasVanitatum · 10/07/2015 14:27

Give them the options maybe? Either annual swap or one of them picks the small room?

Personally I think it's a great idea

0x530x610x750x630x79 · 10/07/2015 14:27

my solution is that the kids are sharing in the big room, and when wants their own room enough to move into the smaller one, they can have it :)

ApprenticeViper · 10/07/2015 14:29

YANBU, it's a great idea.

And this is from the eldest child who was moved into the smaller room when I was about seven because, and I quote, "you will be going to university and not coming to live back here, so it doesn't matter that you have the smaller room" Eh? Confused So I have to put up with having a miniscule room for 11 years purely because I am more academic than my DB? Yes, that makes perfect sense Hmm

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