Shared Boys Room Inspiration

We live in a rental. It's a perfectly fine house...but I don't love it. This is actually the first time we have rented since before we were married, actually. It's a little weird for me knowing that I can't really do any major changes to the house, just cosmetic stuff. The design is a little dated (lots of brass and oak doors), and a smaller than we'd like, but those are both manageable issues.

The big problem we have right now is the layout. It's a ranch, and all the bedrooms are directly off the only living room. This was fine when we just had Daniel. He's a solid sleeper, and would rather cry and have us come to him than wander around at night. Ben, however, is a light sleeper and still dealing with the stress of the transition which makes a normal sleep cycle all the more difficult for him (and us). There's no chance of getting up to do anything early in the morning without him coming out of the room to see what's going on. When my husband has an early flight, that means he might be waking up at 4:30 or 5. Which then wakes his brother up. Which then wakes me up. Ugh.

Things are slowly getting better most nights, but after 3 nights out of the last 5 of the boys taking an more than an hour to fall asleep only to wake again at 5 am, I'm reconsidering things.

I'd much rather make what we have work than move (again!) so I'm pulling together inspiration to revamp their shared room and see if we can get through this stage with a minimal of crazy.

They also  need a "decorated" room. We've moved things around a lot to try to find the right configuration since Ben came home and they began to share. When Daniel came home as a baby, I had a nursery complete before he got home. It's been harder and harder to create "big boy" rooms as he's progressed through toddlerhood and now to pre-k. He's not a little boy any longer, and Ben is only a year behind him so they really need to feel they have a real, permanent space. Not to mention that it might help ground my "what ifs" about moving if they had a room that we worked on together to create.

 

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I love the nook idea on this room. Maybe by creating beds where there is the feel of privacy, they won't notice as readily what the other one is up to?

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I adore these bunk beds! Bunk beds with my two rambunctious hoodlums might make for more problems than solutions, no matter how cute they are!

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With the exception of the bunk beds, this might be a real winner. We are Star Wars OBSESSED in this house. They already have Star Wars pillowcases. The stars and spaceships are vinyl, which makes it great for a rental, and the paint and rest of the room is sophisticated enough to be cool now and grow with them for the next few years. 

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I love the toy storage and the reading nook in this room, as well as the bright colors. It doesn't scream "nursery" like some rooms that use the brighter colors do. 

I'm going to keep brainstorming and hopefully have a design plan to put into action in the next few weeks. When I do, I'll be sure to share it! In the meantime, what's your favorite way to make a rental feel more like home?