Opinion on Themed Bedroom for a Boy, and Sharing Rooms in General

I would keep the boys together, just my opinion...

But as far as themes go I would pick a neutral color and go buy those peel and sticky designs and each kid gets a wall/side. Then as they get older or change their minds all you have to do is pull off the sticky things and find their new cool thing they are into. We have changed from Cars to Spider Man to Transformers. Simple, Cheaper then walpaper or something, and easy.

Congrats on baby

Sounds kind of complicated and like a lot of work. You talk about each child having his or her own room when he or she gets older, but do you have 4 bedrooms or 3? I would just leave the boys in the same room they're in. If you have a 4th bedroom, put the new baby in there and keep the playroom. If you have only 3 bedrooms, then put the boys in one room (either the one they're in or the playroom, whichever is bigger) and the new baby in the other room. Moving bedrooms throughout the years just means more work and more transitions.

Themed rooms are great, but keep them flexible. Pick colors that can work with multiple themes - primary colors like blue, red and green can work with just about any theme. Make the furniture neutral and then you're just changing out bedding, lamp shades, window coverings, etc. as they get older and their tastes change.

Even after your edit I think you should keep your boys together. Seems your dead set on your 3 year old having his own room though. So, to answer your decorating questions. I would just do neutral furniture (browns), neutral walls and add a theme with a cute area rug, a lamp, couple pictures and the bedspread.

Oh and the nap thing--- I think it's a bad idea to have your little one and the baby napping in the same room. One could wake the other up and that would suck.

Oh and what fun would it be to decorate the playroom for a little girl. You have two boys and now is your chance to do some things with pink. Get the boys a cool bunkbed, and do their room in boy colors.

When you finally buy your larger house then give them all their own room. No need for some over complicated step system.

Why on earth would you not put the new baby in the playroom? If you go ahead with your plans you will have to buy new furniture when the boy and girl no longer want to be roomies.

I would keep the 2 boys together in whichever is the bigger room, and have the baby in the smaller room. Especially since the boys are currently together. A new baby is a big adjustment - having them separated would be another adjustment for them. It'll probably be easier for them if not too much is different.

You can still decorate the boys' room with a car theme- wall decals are a great way to make it easy to change to a different theme when you choose to.

Congratulations!!!! =o)

Edit: I just saw your edit and would say what Melissa J said.
She's right- the odds of the 2 younger ones napping for the same length of time are pretty low- one is bound to wake the other. Your older boy can play in the living room or draw/color/playdough in the kitchen while the younger one is napping. Not being able to go into their room for a while won't be a problem- for my kids it was just part of their routine.

I would give it a try. Maybe just purchase furniture and try out the sleeping arrangements before you start buying a bunch of decor. I'm the oldest of 5. I have a sister that is 16months younger than I am, and a brother that is 18months younger than her. My sister & I always had to share a room while my brother got his own room and I never thought that was fair. I wish my parents had choosen to let my brother & sister share for a while.

I don't really get it. How will that work for each of them to use that as a transition roomat 6 or 7? Where does the other kid that's already in the room go?

i would keep the 2 together. its one less of a change to make in a house swirling with change. put the baby in a seperate room. New baby sleep patterns will mess with the schedule you have worked so hard to put into place.

It is a good idea to use good furniture that will transition with them. Bring the theme in with bedding, wall hangings, and curtains. The amount of time it will work depends on the theme. If you do dinasaurs or trains, that will work for about 5 years. Most 6yr olds are over that stuff. If you do a sports theme, that can carry them into preteen, at least. Or just buy neutral curtains and change the bedding often. We are in an all blue room with Thomas Bedding for my boy and a pink and black room with Dora bedding for my little girl. If I want to make a change, I'll just buy a new comforter.

edit after reading your what happened, Why not put older child and infant in the same room. Its easier to tell a 3 yr old go back to sleep if his little sister wakes him up, rather than trying to get a 19 mo old and an infant back to sleep.

Try it.
I had all three younger ones in one bedroom. They were 6mos, 3 and 6. We lived like that for 2 years. The girls were older the baby a boy. My 12 yo got his own room.

We did the car theme. I actually had that little car bed.
I painted the windwsill like a road with Asphalt paint and a double yellow line. We found a stop sign that we hung up and I drove one of his big trucks through the asphalt paint and then drove it on the wall.

I have three boys and did as Linda suggested below. My youngest has his own room, and I've suggested changing it, but the older two who are 4 and 6 just want to keep sharing! Even when we move to a larger house with enough bedrooms for one each, I think they will want to share. As soon as one's awake in our house, they're all awake! However, when my youngest was a baby it wasn't a problem.

my mom suggested that these "themed" rooms are either a decorator's marketing scheme, a way to keep parents organized, or possibly to drive them mad. She advocated a happy cacophony, of age appropriate stuff.

OUr nursery has green walls, IKEA curtains with blue leaves, soft foam airplane glow in the dark curtain holders, a rocking moose, a turqouse crib, repro war time posters from England "Keep Calm and Carry on", and a photo wall featuring pics of my husband's and my pet dogs, past and present, and a black and white checkered cloth easy chair. We like it. DS isn't complaining, and others have given it the thumbs up.

Good luck.

I'm a little confused. Do you have 3 bedrooms or 4? If you only have 3 bedrooms but want each kid to have a "big kid" room when they turn 6 or 7 does that mean that your oldest will have to share a room with your youngest when your middle child gets to that age? In my opinion it would be best to keep the two boys in the same room, whichever room is larger, and have your daughter in her own room. If you have your baby and your soon to be 2 year old in the same room aren't you concerned that your son might get woken up by a crying baby from time to time or that your 2 year old might wake the baby?

As for the theme, I agree with J.B. Keep the furniture and the color on the walls somewhat neutral and you can decorate with bedding, pillows, pictures, lamps, and even easily removeable wall decals. For boys I think khaki, red, blue, green and yellow are all nice colors. I think it just depends on the child as to how long they may be interested in any particular theme. As long as you don't make it real babyish it should last a while. My daughter is almost 5 and her room has been basically the same since she was born. I made sure to decorate her room so it would grow with her. She does have a big girl bed now and, of course, her bedding is different but the rest of it is pretty much the same. Her walls are painted light green and we did vertical stripes on two of her walls with a little bit darker shade of green. I've mixed in some bright pinks and purples and a little yellow too. We didn't really go with any major theme, but there are some pictures and wall hangings of flowers, butterflies and dragonflies. Her room looks so nice and I don't plan on changing it too much for several years - and, she's never asked about that yet either.