Bedroom allocation for 'non-resident' stepchildren

[PlinkertyPlonk]

So just wondering how people here have tackled this dilemma. We have a new baby and 3 tweenage stepchildren who visit every other weekend (2 girls, who can share, and a boy). The problem is we will soon only have 3 bedrooms. Ideally we'd like to give them a room each so they feel like it's their home. On the other hand, it seems bonkers for bedrooms to be sitting empty and not used for most of the week.

Any suggestions or advice for tackling the sleeping arrangements? I can see this is going to end in tears!

i know someone who has a fairly large lounge that they divided into 2 rooms with folding doors. When his son stayed the room was divided so he had his own space and privacy- there was a sofa bed and a narrow desk, book shelves but not much else. When he wasn't around- which was usually, the room was opened up and just gave more space for the rest of the family ( 2 adults and 3 kids) . Worked very well .

re lounge/bedroom sharing. i'd just put all their things away when they aren't there. Its what i always did when my DSS went home anyway . Pining things on walls? hmm i've never really liked anyone doing that. Pictures the kids made generally went in the kitchen for a while before being stored for posterity, better ones- i.e special art things from school went in the hallway usually so everyone could see. A pin board can work. Get the largest cork one you can find then if you don't like the look of it the rest of the week stick it behind the sofa , but i'd want to keep it up as it would probably look quite good.

but if they have little bits and bobs on the shelves- as mine loved doing then i'd leave those out. Its the big toys and clothes that need to go when they're not around (IMHO)

Bluebird ? whilst the arrangements you describe obviously work for the family in question, I can?t see many other households wanting to split their lounge in half to create a bedroom for ?occasional use? when the non-resident child could probably share a bedroom with one of the resident children when they come to stay? Again, this seems to attribute elevated status to the non-resident child, eg he/she is too important to share a bedroom.

Petal - the OP here has suggested that she is thinking about doing just that, and asked about how you deal with them wanting to put things on the wall, etc. If she's got the space to do it, Blurbird's solution sounds good to me.

Nothing "elevated" about having your bedroom turned into a living room when you're not there