use of bedrooms for sd & ss

[Boosta]

hi

just wanted some advice. my DSS & DSD stay over at our house every other weekend. at the moment they have use of our top floor which is 3 rooms & a bathroom. the first bedroom has the bathroom off it, and then you have to walk through that bedroom into the next, and again through that into the 3rd one (in a kind of L shape)

we worked it so that my DSD (age 13) has last room, the middle room has a TV & some bean bags in it and the first room is used by my DSS.

however i have just found out that i am pregnant again, and so our DS will have to move out of the nursery & into the spare room in the new year. we use the spare room a lot as my parents live abroad and due to some family issues they are having to come back and forth an awful lot so they are regularly staying at our house.

so my thinking is that the top floor becomes the spare room area with 2 bedrooms & a living area & bathroom. obviously DSS & DSD will still use the rooms they have at the moment, but will have to understand that when they aren't around other people will be using it, so it will have to be changed around a bit to be acceptable as a spare room - i.e. bigger beds, different furniture etc. we are planning to re-vamp the whole area so they will get new carpets & have it re-decorated etc.

my question is do you think this is reasonable - to turn my step children's rooms into spare rooms rather than treat them just as their own rooms? this may mean that bed linen, decor etc. is a bit more neutral rather than having pirates of the caribean posters plastered everywhere etc?

well it's not unreasonable, but I bet your ss and sd really appreciate having their own rooms. I know I would have done at my dad's house. would it really be so awful if normal guests had to sleep in rooms with pirates of the caribean posters in?

i get your point, and no it wouldn't be such a problem. the main issue is that if they still think of it as thier room they will leave them messy and in an unreasonable condition for others to use.

i have spent 6 years trying to get my DSS to leave his room tidy when he goes home to his mum, and his version of tidy is a world away from mine (and believe me i'm not a tidy person!).

i just feel if they have the mentality of having to share it with others then they might be more considerate of the condition they leave the rooms in.

also if my parents are visiting on a weekend when we have the kids they will have to understand that one of them will have to give up their room etc. i think this will be easier to cope with if it isn't "their room" that they are giving up?

the other option is that my DS have a pull out bed under his bed when he moves into his new bedroom which my DSS can use when he is staying over. they might enjoy sharing a room together, and that would give us a permenant spare room on the top floor, and also give my DSD more privacy in her room?