How to allocate girls’ bedrooms

[TooMuchCaffeineNotEnoughSpice]

We have just moved into a new home and there are two rooms for my two girls aged 13 and 10. One is much smaller than the other. I can’t work out how to fairly allocate the rooms - 13 year old needs room to study but 10 year needs room to play (lots of PlayMobil) and draw… WWYD? Thanks!

I would either do eldest gets smallest room, or put them in together in the big room and have a play/ study room. Although that really depends on how well they get on and might not work as well as they get older

I'd give the 13 year old the bigger room as she's likely to spend more time there. As well as studying, she'll want a private space to bring friends home.

Depending on the size of the small room, I'd try to carve out some space in a communal area for the 10 year old to play.

I would always give elder child the bigger room.

Honestly I would get them to toss a coin for it.

Actually I would ask them which rooms they actually want first, and if they both want the same one then toss a coin for it.

Maybe offer to swap round every two years or so.

Could you let the 13 year old choose - she gets the bigger bedroom now but when she's 18/finished 6th Form/goes to university she has to swap with the 10 yr old or she has the smaller room now and gets to keep it long term.

I'd start by asking them both (on their own) which room they actually want and why. You might find that the issue resolves itself.

The older one will spend more time in her room and need a quiet space for gcse studies.

I like the idea of swapping as exams are done, as the younger will then be in that position .

This is fair or toss a coin.

We have this setup and the elder DD had the bigger room until she went to uni when we swapped round.

How small is the small room?
will it fit a desk?
Could you do a raised bed with desk or play area underneath depending whose room it ends up being?
If the older DD gets it where will the younger keep her toys?

I think if you are going to include them in the decision then you need to have plans/ideas of how each room could work so they can see what it would be like living there.

We gave our youngest the bigger room and they have more toys and need the space, eldest had the smaller room but still a decent enough space, once bed, wardrobe and desk are in there’s still floor space.
Glad we went with this setup as eldest spends most of the time on their bed gaming etc and wouldn’t have used the space in the bigger room, whereas youngest tends to have friends over more often so actually does use it

Eldest got the biggest room in our family as he has loads of guitars and amps!

How small is the smallest room? If it can’t comfortably fit a desk etc then studying trumps playing and your eldest will need the bigger room, no arguments. You’ll have to come up with another solution for when your youngest needs space to work though.

If they are both big enough to work fine for either child, it’s just that one is bigger, then I’d ask them. But probably would ultimately decide that the eldest gets the biggest room, but it switches when/if she goes to uni - I wouldn’t have any truck with a uni student insisting a larger room sits empty for half the year.