Should You Leave Your Child's Bedroom Intact when They Leave for College?

Your last child has completed high school and is off to college. Despite some symptoms of the empty nest syndrome, you are congratulating yourself on a job well done and enjoying the freedom from chauffeur duty, enforcing curfew and the seemingly endless job of picking up after a distracted teenager. You may be considering tackling the big project of converting your college student's bedroom into a home gym, study or media room. Is this a wise idea and should you just jump right in or should you hold off? Read this article before you call the contractor or head to the home improvement store.

Your Child May Need To Move Home After College Temporarily. Hopefully the job market will be stronger when your child graduates from college, but there are no guarantees. Many college graduates find themselves in a position where they need to temporarily move back in with their parents after graduation. If this turns out to be the case with your child, an already stressful situation may be more tense by the fact that your child no longer has a bedroom to call their own during this transition period.

Your Child's Feelings May Be Hurt. Immediately starting a remodeling project on your college student's bedroom may inadvertently cause your child's feelings to be hurt. Removing all traces of their former bedroom before the Fall semester even gets underway may make your child feel as though you were counting down the days until they were out of the house and you could move on.

Will Your Child Have A Comfortable Place To Sleep When They Come Home To Visit? If space is at a minimum, converting your child's bedroom into an alternate space may make future visits home uncomfortable and stressful on the family. When your college age child visits at Thanksgiving and Christmas, do you really want them sleeping in the living room with no place to keep their things? It may be prudent to keep the room as your child's bedroom until graduation so that visits home are as pleasant and comfortable as possible.

Are You Planning On Moving In The Next Few Years? If you are planning on selling your home within the next few years, making any structural or layout changes to the house may make your home harder to sell and reduce your profit.

Converting Your Child's Bedroom Sends Your Child A Clear Message. Immediately changing your child's bedroom into a room that is anything other than a bedroom may cause your child to feel as though they no longer have a safety net. On one hand, this may promote independence and a strong desire to stand on their own two feet once their education is complete. On the flip side, this may also cause your child to make a less than optimum choice when it comes to starting their life after graduation.