Tips to successfully move your kids to the basement
After four years of living in our rambler, it was time to move our kids down to the basement. It sounded simple enough, but it was a little tricky. The basement is dark and scary. But I discovered some simple ways to make the transition an easy one.
If you don’t have a second story and the number of people in your home keeps increasing, it’s time to do the right thing the easy way. Whether you have adult children or young kids, eventually, you are going to want them to move the basement bedroom and away from the main floor of your own home. So sometimes that means a little bit of tough love so you can have some personal space maintain good relationships with the entire family. Want to do it the easy and best way? Here’s some tips to help you out:
Prep your kids ahead of time
Kids like surprises, but not in this case. If possible, give your kids plenty of advanced notice of the upcoming move. That way it will give them time to prepare mentally and think about it. In our situation, we had a basement apartment, so I kept reminding our kids that when she moved out, they would be moving downstairs.
Move multiple kids down at once
If you only move one child down to the basement, you are setting yourself up for failure. I wouldn’t want to be down in the basement by myself. Neither do any of your kids, especially after all those scary movies. The right things to do is to plan on moving big brother and little brother down at the same time even if they won’t be sleeping in the same room.
Keep the basement well-lit
My kids have always been scared of the basement. Sometimes it’s a scary storage room or creaky stairs. That’s why it was essential that I plug in multiple LED night lights throughout the basement, up the stairs and down the hallway leading to my bedroom. They have a dusk to dawn sensor so they automatically turn on during the day. It eased my kids’ minds that if they woke up in the middle of the night and there was a night light on.
Decorate their bedrooms
Put some extra effort into organizing and arranging your kids’ bedrooms so it will be a comfortable and happy place where they will want to be. You don’t have to spend a fortune either. Make a play area for young children in your kids room. As long as it’s clean and cozy, they will love it. I made sure they have curtains to cover their windows at night.
Here’s some other great bedroom decorating ideas:
- 23 Best Playroom Decorating Ideas
- Ultimate kids bedroom makeover
- 10 tips for decorating kids bedrooms
- Glow-in-the-dark- ceiling stickers
- Bedroom decorating for boys
- Decorating ideas for girls rooms
Let your kids have a say
If you decorate your kids rooms exactly the way YOU want it, your kids may not love it. The only way to go is to allow them to have a say when you’re putting their bedrooms together. Let them pick out posters and decide what goes where. My oldest son wanted a floating shelf in his room where he could put all his action figure. Done!
Actually hang out in the basement
If you go to all this effort to make the lower level of your home a fun place for your kids, but then you never go down there, they will catch on really fast. It’s a good idea to make a basement room into the family room or a great room. Consider it an excuse to buy some new furniture and decorate. If it’s a place that you’ll want to be, your kids will want to be there as well. If your laundry room is downstairs, that helps too.
Spray for bugs
Our basements, like many others, are notorious for bugs and spiders. My friend told me that she moved her two kids downstairs but after a week, her son was covered in spider bites. Needless to say, they moved back upstairs. There are a lot of indoor bug sprays that will do that trick.
If you don’t have a finished basement yet and you have less space in your upstairs bedrooms, it might be time to finish your basement instead of moving to a new home. The best place for your kids is where they feel comfortable. But a remodel doesn’t have to cost much money if you plan it out.
What other ideas do you have for successfully moving your kids into the basement? Leave your comments below.
Related link: How to help your kids love the dentist