Shared Bedroom Organization: Your Complete Guide
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All your questions and searches for shared bedroom organization ideas for small bedrooms are answered in this guide.
There really is a way to comfortably share a bedroom without it becoming a cramped and overcrowded place. And this shared bedroom organization guide is going to show you how!
Wondering where to begin? Get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
Solutions for sharing a Small Bedroom
We all know the struggle. Two people both have all their decorations, clothes, and personal things. Trying to fit all of that into a small room – and still leave room to move around – it can be stressful and seem impossible.
This guide will walk you through every step. By the end, you’ll have a super organized room that feels twice as large as it really is. More space? Sign me up!
This post will share the specific struggles that come with sharing a bedroom. Read about creative storage solutions for small bedrooms for even more organization tips.
The perfect companion to this guide is our Take Back Control book. Download this book and go through each room of your home and create a calm and organized area that brings you peace and joy!
Here’s what you’ll find in this guide
- How to Fit Everything in a Shared Bedroom
- 6 Shared Bedroom Ideas for Small Rooms
- How to Organize the Furniture
- 5 Genius Shared Bedroom Storage Hacks
- Shared Bedroom Ideas for Sisters and Brothers
- Shared Bedroom Ideas for Adults
- Baby and Toddler Sharing a Room
- How to Divide a Bedroom into 2 Rooms
- Ideas for 3 Beds in 1 Room
- Office Bedroom Combo
How to Fit Everything In A Shared Bedroom – 3 Steps
Let’s start with the biggest problem of all: how do you fit everything everyone owns into a small bedroom?
Follow these 3 steps and you’ll discover plenty of room for decorating and living in the bedroom together.
1.) Let Go Of Things
The first and most important part is to let go of some things. If they are broken, throw them away. If they are unused, give them away.
When storage space is a valuable commodity, use it wisely. If it helps to think of it like Marie Kondo, then only keep the things that spark joy.
Every single thing you (or your children) keep should be something they currently use and need. If it is something that has sentimental value, store it somewhere safe.
2.) Store Everything Else in Containers
Next, establish smart storage systems for everything you are keeping in the bedroom.
Storing things in baskets or bins with lids will keep things where they belong. When you create a system, keep these things in mind. You and your kids will have better luck keeping the shared room organized if the tubs are:
- Labeled – so they know what goes where
- Easy to reach
- Not overstuffed
3.) Use Wasted Space Wisely
Finally, look around your room and identify any areas of wasted space and use them for extra storage.
Some examples of wasted space include:
- Corners
- Space near the ceiling
- Under the bed
There are corner shelves, under bed organizers, and even shelving you can buy or build for storage near the ceiling.
Discover hidden opportunities for more storage around the room.
6 Shared Bedroom Ideas for Small Rooms
Now that you know how to fit it all in, you need some ideas for organizing the room and keeping it decorated and beautiful.
1.) Focus on Floorspace
First, no matter how you organize everything, keep this goal in mind: try to maintain as much open floor space as possible.
If you leave plenty of room to walk around, the room will naturally feel more open and thus have the illusion of more space.
2.) Split the Closet Evenly
Avoid fights and an unorganized closet by dividing the closet space evenly. You can do this with boards, a curtain, or even just a few hanging dividers or different shelving units.
The only exception to this rule is when you have an older child sharing a room with the baby. The older child will have a lot more things to store.
3.) Use Rugs to Tie it all together
Rugs are a visual indicator of unity in the room. This is especially important
You can even use rugs in complementary colors to enhance the decor and make the room pop!
Look at this following photo. You can tell that two unique people share this room, judging from the very different bedspreads. But the rug in the middle of the room anchors them together.
4.) Go Vertical
Use vertical space wisely. There are lots of options for stacking beds. You can also use vertical dressers instead of horizontal ones. When you use vertical space, you are drawing the eye upward and allowing more space in the room for walking and relaxing. Check out this professional organizer’s tips for going vertical!
Here are some ways to use vertical space in a shared bedroom.
Build two loft beds along the longest wall. This will free up a lot of space for working or studying.
If you don’t have much room, you can creatively stack even 3 beds together, with storage too. The photo above is an excellent example.
This design stacks three beds together without it feeling stuffy or crowded. This is a really wonderful idea even if you only have 2 children sharing a room. You can leave off the 3rd bed and make that a play area.
5.) Create a Decorating Plan – Similar or Unique?
The decorating scheme will help your children really take ownership of their room. If the shared room is for two adults, the decor plan is still just as important.
There are two ways to decorate a shared bedroom – with a common scheme or completely separated.
If you unify the room, you can still maintain individuality within the theme. The following photo is an excellent example:
And if you want to meld two separate personalities and likes, here’s a really great example for some inspiration:
6.) Keep Life Flow In Mind
Finally, it is super important to keep the room use in mind as you set up the beds and furniture.
For example, if two people are sharing a room, try to keep A’s dresser near A’s bed. This way, A doesn’t have to cross in front of B to get ready.
Another idea is to set up the beds on one end of the room and the dressers both on the other end.
However you do it, make the room as usable as possible.
How to Organize the Furniture
Speaking of furniture, what is the best way to organize it in a shared bedroom?
Smart Bed Arrangements
We already mentioned the beds. You want to keep them out of the way. If possible, do the loft bed option or bunk beds. This will free up more walking space.
Where to Store Clothes
If you are trying to share a smaller bedroom, too many dressers might make it feel crowded. Think outside the drawer and store clothes in other places.
- Use the closet – hang up as much as you can. Even pants and t-shirts can be hung up.
- Store things under the bed – There are drawer units you can use to store clothes under the bed.
- Share one dresser – Share a dresser by splitting it up. You can use drawer dividers or assign an equal number of drawers to each person.
How to Share a Desk
The last piece of furniture you might struggle to share in a small room is the desk. Some people don’t even put a desk in a shared bedroom because it frees up more space.
There are a few ways to share a desk that might work for you:
- One Desktop, two shelves – Attach one shelf on each wall, and give each person their own shelf for supply storage.
- One Desktop – If you are short on space, you can always just share the one desk and store your things somewhere else.
- One long desk, with divider – Another wonderful option is to use the same long desk, but divide it in half with wood or foam core.
5 Genius Shared Bedroom Storage Hacks
Sometimes you find certain things are just more difficult to store and organize, especially in a shared bedroom. Use one or all of these hacks to find even more places to store your stuff.
1.) Back of the Door
If you are short on storage space, the first place you should look is on the back of the door. There are lots of hanging organizers that can store things from shoes to hair accessories.
2.) Under the Bed
Always use the space under the beds as well as you can. Use pull-out drawers or tubs or bags. No matter how you do it, this is space that can store extra blankets and other things that might otherwise junk up the bedroom.
3.) Baskets on the Wall
You can attach small buckets to the wall and store smaller things like pens, pencils, and even extra charging cords or earbuds.
The Beauty Dojo even created a vertical organizer out of 3 buckets. It’s a super simple project and can store all sorts of smaller things that might otherwise get lost.
4.) Double the Size of Drawers with Organizers
Make your drawers work overtime with drawer organizers. You’ll be amazed at how much more you can store in a properly sorted one.
Another tip for drawers – store smaller items inside smaller tubs or storage containers with lids.
5.) Use Dresser as Nightstand
Place a dresser in between the two beds and use the dresser as a nightstand. Just like in the image below.
Not only does this idea mean you can remove extra unnecessary furniture, but it also unifies the room.
Shared Bedroom Ideas for Sisters & Brothers
Now time for the fun part! Time to browse at some seriously breathtaking and inspiring rooms. There are bits and pieces of each room that will catch your breath and make you think about ways you can incorporate them into your decor.
Keep in mind, these are just ideas. Every child is different. The most important thing is to involve your children in the decoration of their bedrooms.
Shared Room Ideas for Sisters
Lots of sisters will love sharing common decor. This one, for example, is really matchy-matchy. The accent wall is particularly striking.
Shared Room Ideas for Brothers
You can still do a whole-room theme for both boys too. This room is pretty smart because they pull out the names of each boy so they have their own space.
Shared Room for Boy and Girl
Making a shared bedroom for a boy and a girl can be tough. Privacy is important. This example uses a privacy curtain and unique colors for each side of the room.
Shared Bedroom Ideas for Adults
Sharing a bedroom with another adult – not counting your spouse – is an entirely different matter. There are a lot more issues to consider such as privacy and organization.
If you have to share a room with someone else, here are some things you will want to remember.
Division and Privacy
First, have a conversation early on about how you are going to divide the room and maintain privacy. Hanging up a curtain might be a good idea.
Establish Boundaries
Next, establish boundaries – both emotional and physical. Communicate clearly about whether you want the room to stay picked up or you can handle some messiness. Also discuss sleeping times and other schedules.
Share Access to Outlets
This is something you don’t think about until it is too late, but it is so important. Invest in some surge protectors and provide enough outlets for both of your electronic devices. Some rooms don’t have very many, and sometimes they are on the same wall.
Baby and Toddler Sharing A Room
Having a toddler and a baby share a room/nursery is the easiest scenario. The only downside is that they might keep each other awake or wake each other up. But the decor and need for privacy are not problems you’ll run into.
The room decor can be uniform and the organization systems can be similar. Cribs and toddler beds are smaller pieces of furniture, so you’ll discover they are easier to fit in the room together.
Another bonus to letting a toddler and baby share a room – this will create a bond between them and they will be more likely to share a room when they are older too.
How to Divide a Bedroom into Two Rooms – 3 Ways
Sometimes, it is just easier to divide the room into two smaller areas. But what is the best way to do that? There are 3 main ways you can divide a room.
1.) Use a Temporary Room Divider
Temporary room dividers are not anchored down, so this option is only for older children or adults.
One option are large building blocks. They look and feel like huge LEGOs. You can literally divide a room in half by stacking them together.
2.) Hang up a curtain
One of the most popular options – and the best one for children – is to hang up a room-dividing curtain. This YouTube video shows you how to install a curtain if you don’t have any drywall, just cinderblocks and bricks.
3.) Divide the room with wooden shelves
Finally, you can also install a bookshelf in between the beds. Try to anchor the shelves to the wall if you can.
If your room’s layout doesn’t allow you to anchor the shelves to the wall, then don’t use this idea in a toddler’s room. They will be tempted to climb it and that could be very dangerous.
Ideas for Three Beds in One Room
What do you do if you have to somehow fit 3 beds in one room? Yes, it will be a tight fit, but there are some really smart ideas out there that can help you along.
1.) Bunk beds and Twin bed
The most popular idea is to buy one set of bunk beds and a twin bed. This will fit in almost every room size. And if the room is long enough, you can place both beds on the same wall.
2.) Use 3 Twin Beds
If you have a really spacious room, you can just line up 3 twin beds along the wall. This is a really pretty look and has a delightful orderliness about it.
3.) Triple bunk bed
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a triple bunk bed is extra space-saving for smaller rooms.
4.) Two Twin Beds Under a Loft Bed
Finally, you can also install a really long loft bed and two twin beds underneath.
No matter which way you choose it, there are some ways to arrange furniture and fit 3 or even 4 kids in one room.
Office Bedroom Combo
Whether you work from home, are a student, or just need a place to organize and manage your home, you might find yourself combining your office with your bedroom.
This can work out really fantastically. However, you want to remember to keep your bedroom as a sacred place where you can relax. Don’t let work keep you awake at night.
Here are some no-fail tips for combining an office with a bedroom.
Keep the Zones Clear
First and foremost, keep the work zone in the work zone. Establish healthy boundaries. Hang up a sheet or make a partition if you have to. You don’t want to stay awake with work in your lap all night.
Plus, you will be more likely to keep your room organized and clean if you don’t have work stuff laying all over the place.
Minimalism is Key
Upholding a minimalistic lifestyle will help you keep the bedroom organized when you have a desk and office supplies mixed in with your bedroom things.
Loft Bed with Desk Underneath
Another thing you can try is building a loft bed and putting the desk underneath. This way you can’t see the work things from your bed. It also frees up a lot of floor space too.
Shared Bedrooms are Worth the Hassle
Sometimes you just can’t avoid putting kids in a room together or having to share a bedroom with a roommate. It happens. Thankfully, even if this does happen, there are ways to organize the room so that everything stays tidy and you maintain your sanity.
Just follow these tips and you’ll discover more room than you knew you had.
Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
There are two options. You can either write their names on masking tape and attach it to the toothbrushes. Or, you can put each child’s toothbrush in their own container.
If you don’t have room in your bathroom to store extra rolls of toilet paper, find a place nearby like the hall closet. Keep all of your bathroom supplies together.
Give each person their own shower caddy. Then, they can take their shampoo and conditioners into the shower and store them in the cabinet or in their bedroom.
More Bedroom Organization Tips
Keep the bedroom organization going. Read through these guides next for some time-saving ideas:
