When students leave home for college, parents often have to adapt to a new lifestyle. Living expenses may decrease tremendously because there is no longer a growing child on the premises. And some parents view their newly emptied nest as a rite of passage, a time to redecorate the house or finally convert the garage into a workshop. A number of parents keep their kids’ rooms exactly the way they are “just in case,” but many use their leaving as a license to remodel their bedroom.

Take my family, for example. When my older brother moved out after high school graduation, I quickly took over his room because it was bigger. Not a month after he left, the white walls with black and white checkered trim were quickly changed into a pale sage green with lavender trim. His furniture was moved out and my dresser, nightstand, and desk were put in its place.

Meanwhile, my mother had been busy turning my old bedroom into her new craft room. The two-hundred-dollar carpet I had personally selected was torn up and replaced with brown linoleum tiles. The lavender walls were repainted white and the space in which my beanbag chair once resided became cluttered with a worktable and a cabinet filled with acrylic paints and brushes.

I never minded that my mother was so quick to act in rearranging my old bedroom to her preference because I finally had the bigger room! Three years later when it was my turn to move out, not a month after I was gone she had converted my acquired room into an office. Out went my dresser, nightstand, and desk and in came a filing cabinet, bookshelf, and computer workstation. At least the walls are still green.

Besides a craft room or an office, another common thing to turn a room into is a home gym. This is beneficial because it saves on the increasing rates of a membership at a fitness facility; it is open twenty-four hours per day, and even saves on gas mileage. A decent-sized bedroom is just enough space for a total gym, some free weights, an exercise ball, and a piece of cardio equipment.

Sometimes, if there are two or three spare bedrooms after the last child moves out, parents can convert the spaces into guest rooms and start their own bed and breakfast. In doing research a few months ago for a place to stay during vacation, I found a couple that had done just that: their offspring were well into adulthood and they were retired, so the couple dipped into their retirement fund and converted each spare room into a luxury guestroom. These rooms included a queen size bed, two dressers, two nightstands, a television, and an attached bathroom.

What was also interesting was that each of the three rooms boasted a different theme. The first room was comprised of earth tones and Aztec designs. The walls were deep beige, the carpet and curtains burgundy, and the comforter a mesh of Aztec patterns. The second room contained a jungle theme. Soft green walls and a baby blue ceiling were surrounded by beautiful paintings of animals. The last room was the modern room in which the couple invoked bright colors and contemporary artwork.

As the youngest, I expected my mother to wait a little while, “just in case.” Of course, in an emergency, the room can always be changed back to how it was, but it is better to give children time to adjust to their new lifestyle. They could very well despise being away from their families for college, and then return home after the first semester. It is also important that the parents get time to adjust too, as they probably can’t even remember back to the last time it was just the two of them. When it is time to remodel though, the options are infinite.

– Justina Fargiano