Your youngest child just graduated from high school – congratulations!! Soon, they’ll be leaving the house for college, or a career, and you’ll be left with an empty nest. Empty nest syndrome occurs when parents go through a period of grief and loneliness once their grown children move out, leaving your home feeling empty and too quiet. This time can certainly be challenging, but it’s also a great time to try new things, travel more, and create new spaces in your home!
The first thing you’ll need to do is reevaluate your living situation. Is it time to downsize, or do you want to stay in your current home? Whether you decide to stay or go, the next step would be to go through your child’s bedroom. Consider this a rite of passage for you both. Work together to decide what to do with their belongings before they move out. Then, once they’ve left for school, you can jump into organizing everything. Ultimately, it’s your house, so it’s your decision on whether to keep certain items, donate some, and place others in storage for your child to have later.
Next comes the fun part – what should you turn your child’s empty bedroom into? The possibilities are endless! You could create and office or craft room, exercise room or home theater. First, you’ll want to pack up and move everything out of the room. This is where a self-storage unit comes in very handy. You and your child likely cherish many of the items in their room, however, you may not have the space to store them in your home. This will give you the perfect place to keep all their belongings, out of your way, but ready for them when they have a home of their own.
There’s no need to rush the re-organization process. Work on the project a few hours a day until it is complete and you are satisfied with your new extra space, whatever you decide to use it for!