Little roommates

Whether by necessity or choice, siblings sharing rooms can lead to great bonds, lots of late-night giggles and a whole new decorating challenge. Here, we’ll show you how to make a shared kids room work for them. Bunk up Bunk beds are popular for a reason: they’re the ultimate space saver and can magically transform into a tent, cave or any other cool hideout. When buying bunks or having them built in, ensure they’re sturdy enough, meet Australian Standard number AS/NZS 4220, and have the appropriate support rails. Gnarly nook The recommended age for a child to sleep on the top bunk is 9, so either promise a swap when the little one reaches that milestone, or if they’re both around that age, encourage them to play fair and get them to sort their own roster. To make the bottom bunk more enticing, create a cool cave by adding funky custom curtains. You will need three pieces of fabric (one for each side of the bed that’s not against the wall), three curtain wires (like Ikea’s Dignitet curtain wire, $15.99), and a sewing machine to create a hem to run the curtain wire through – or go the easy way by clipping on curtain rings (like Ikea’s Dignitet curtain rings with clips, $5.99 / 24 pack). Make racing stripes All boys play with cars and you can guarantee they’ll drive them on every surface available. To really delight them, paint or stick road stripes on the wall. It’ll give them years of thrills and is a subtle but cool way to give the room a dose of “boy”. Divide the space for two boys sharing one room with dotted lines - it will create the feeling of this space is mine and that is yours. To create this, mark out the height on the wall using a ruler, level and pencil. Then mark out the halfway point between the bunks and draw a light pencil line on the wall – this will be your guide for your dotted lines. Using masking tape, mark out and cut tape into 8cm lengths. Stick the masking tape over the marked-out line on the wall, with the centre of the line in the centre of the masking tape. Leave a 4cm gap and repeat the process until the room is divided. Make sure all the tape is pressed securely to the wall and paint over using a roller. When paint is dry remove tape. Use an eraser to remove any faint pencil lines. Twin beds If you have space, twin beds are perfect for allowing girls to do what they do best: chatter, giggle and share secrets. Matching beds also give the room unity and, if kept in neutral tones, allow endless decorating options. But due to the extra space they take up, go for beds on legs rather than an ensemble so you can utilise the space underneath for storage. If you have two rooms and two kids, why not try letting them share rooms anyway? One room could be dedicated to sleep and the other a play/study room. You could always put them back if it doesn’t work out! Make one statement You don’t need to cover every wall with art or prints – one striking feature will be enough for a whole room. This tree was simply painted onto a bold purple wall and decal leaves stuck on the branches. The tree can be a tool to record your child’s development. If they’re learning about their family, stick up photos as a family tree or use the leaves to record books they’ve read. Get creative! Position the tree in the centre of the room between the beds. Draw the tree branches on the wall with a pencil; it can be easily erased if you make a mistake. Once you are happy with your design, mask out the tree using masking tape. Make sure the tape is firmly pressed down. Use a paint roller and paint over. Once it is dry remove masking tape and erase any extra pencil marks with the eraser. Position wall sticker leaves randomly onto the tree (Vine leaf wall stickers $90 for set of 48 – The Wall Sticker Company)