Design Your Dream Space

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Whether you’re ready or not, eventually, your kids are going to go off into the world to seek their fortunes. That leaves you with a big question: What are you going to do with all the extra space? You have many options, of course, and it’s just a matter of figuring out what is best for your space right now.

Before you can make that decision, there are a few things you should ask yourself:

Is this a good time to downsize and/or relocate? Right now would be a great time to consider the possibility of moving into a smaller, more suitable accommodation for your current situation.
Should I keep some of my children’s belongings in the room and simply adapt it for my purposes? If there are some things in your kids’ rooms that you’d like to keep where they are, you could easily use part of the room for yourself and the other part for your children’s old things.
Do I want to completely empty the room for my own uses? If you want a clean slate to work with, you could go through their belongings and figure out what to keep, throw and donate. Then you can store the leftover belongings elsewhere in the house.

Once you’ve settled on how you’d like to proceed, it’s time to decide what you want to do with the space. This is the fun part, because you get to decide what you feel your home is really missing. Here are a few empty nest space ideas you can try in your newly freed-up space.

Guest suite.

If you want to move your kids’ things out but you still want it to be a bedroom, a guest suite is a great option. That way, if your children or grandchildren come to visit, they’ll have a room in which to stay.

Hobby space.

Think about what you love to do in your free time, and then transform the extra space you have into a hobby room. Whether you’re a painter, an avid reader, a handyman or anything else, you can create a painting room, a library, a workshop – whatever!

Extra storage space.

Let’s face it, even though the kids’ stuff isn’t in the house anymore, you could still use more storage space. Why not convert their old bedrooms into storage centers? Install some custom-made closets to fit the area – and your needs – perfectly. Once the closets are put in, you’ll be able to store away not only their old belongings, but you can also begin to declutter rest of your home.

Home office space.

The nice thing about converting a space into a home office is that you don’t need that much room. All you really need is a desk and a chair. That said, you could double up and set up a small home office in the guest suite, hobby space or extra storage space! If you want more than that, you could also turn the entire room into your home office.

When your kids leave home, it’s time to start focusing on what you want to do with all your empty nest space. These ideas will get you going in the right direction.