Empty Nest Syndrome: A Great Excuse to Redecorate with Something Fun

Okay! So your youngest child just went away to college, and mixed emotions begin to set in. On one side you feel sad. After all, this is your baby, all grown up now, leaving the comfort and safety of your home to venture out into the world after 18 years of togetherness. Naturally, you will miss your child’s company. On the other side, you feel happy, not only because you are a proud parent of a promising young adult ready to tackle the world, but also because now you will have an extra room or two to redecorate or refurnish to your liking.

I am not suggesting that you simply forget your child’s existence altogether. Although it may sound a bit shallow to redecorate your children’s rooms when they move out, it is one good, solid way to cope with the stresses of suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome. Empty Nest Syndrome to the layman is, simply put, dealing with the emotional, physical, and psychological you experience once your child, or children, ultimately leaves home for school or work, usually between the ages of 18 and 23. Even though living in an empty nest has its negatives, it also frees up quite a bit of space in your home, especially if you have more than one room, or an oversized room, with which to work.

Many ideas come to mind when thinking about what to do with your newly acquired extra room space. Maybe you would like to turn it into a den, study, or small library. Or maybe you have always desired a home office and just didn’t have the extra space needed. If it were me, I would build something that revolves around fun but on more of an adult level. A billiard or pool room is one example. Of how about setting up some drums and a keyboard or piano if you are musically inclined? Some ideas for transforming that empty nest space into a fun or relaxing usable area when your child leaves home include:

• Billiard or pool room
• Barroom, with bar, bar stools, pub tables, etc.
• Home movie mini theater
• Music room
• Poker or card room
• Weight room
• Video game room or arcade
• Den or study
• Home office
• Home library
• Scrapbooking center
• Spare bedroom
• Workshop area (workbench, tools, etc.)
• Pet playland area
• Extra storage area

Don’t feel bad or ashamed that you are redecorating your child’s old room once they move out, either. After all, your life has been consumed by your children for the past 20 years (in good ways, of course), so you have definitely earned the right to be just a little bit selfish. In most cases, your son or daughter won’t even care too much, especially if you do something fun with the extra room space. For instance, I doubt your son will mind that you changed his bedroom into a billiard room if he can come home on school breaks and shoot some pool with his friends. And your daughter can spend some quality time with mom on side-by-side stationary bicycles in your new exercise room.

Empty Nest Syndrome can, at often times, be a struggle. Redecorating your child’s old room once they leave home can, however, serve as a calming remedy. In fact, depending on what you decide to do with the extra room space, it may even provide extra incentive for your child to return home for future visits more often.