Mom Seriously: Make the Most of Shared Spaces with Designer and QVC Expert Sharon Hanby-Robie

New to Mom Seriously? Welcome! You'll find tons of great parenting articles, homeschooling encouragement, and every day, a Mom's Tip of the Day. Enjoy!

Sharon Hanby-Robie

Did you share a room with a sibling when you were growing up? Today, that practice is not as common. Larger homes and smaller families allow for many siblings to enjoy a space of their own. Sharon Hanby-Robie, an interior designer and author of Decorating Without Fear: A Step-by-Step Guide To Creating The Home You Love and Beautiful Places and Spiritual Spaces: The Art of Stress-free Interior Design, is the eldest of six. She recommends that siblings share a room whether they need to or not! “I feel so blessed that my sisters and I learned how to love each other even when we didn’t like each other,” she laughs. “We learned a lot about compromising, sharing, and how individual personalities are so important.”

The Art of Compromise. Sharon likens siblings learning to share a room to newlyweds learning to share a home. When two children are able to understand the importance of finding a middle ground that incorporates each other’s likes and dislikes, they have discovered a valuable life lesson. “Home is the first world they experience,” explains Sharon. “What they learn here they take forward, and that is how they treat the world.” Sharing a room teaches kids how to get along with not only each other, but also people in general.

Sharing and Caring. When children share a room, they have unlimited opportunities to practice showing Christ’s love to each other. As a mom, you have unlimited opportunities to teach them how. With the older child, seek to hone his leadership skills. Encourage him to step up to the place the Lord has given him in the family. Help him understand that he has the position of serving as a role model—for good or bad.

Getty Images

This is Mine. When children share a room, it is critical that each is still able to express her own personality, style, and taste. Is it possible to achieve a cohesive design with two unique children? What if one likes orange and the other wants purple? “Use their colors,” Sharon assures. “You can make any combination of colors work if you just find one thing that ties them together.”

Sharon suggests finding a fabric that both children can agree on. Use that as your springboard. It can show up in the valances, dust ruffles, throw pillows, or as a background for bulletin boards or headboards. And discount the flexibility as well as the affordability of a coat of paint! “You can’t go wrong with paint,” Sharon explains, “because you can always just re-paint.”

Sharing a room teaches kids how to get along with each other, developing friendships by keeping children close when school and other activities are vying for their time. Make the most of shared spaces! There are only so many years siblings are at home together, and there is only so much time for making memories.