Joel's New Room

For over a year now, Joel has been asking to have his own room again. He and Grant have been sharing for the past few years, and it's worked out really well, but we understood why he might not want to share with his brother who is four years younger than him. We had Elizabeth (used to babysit the kids and is now a college student at Corban) stay with us for five days over Christmas break, which forced us to make-over our catch-all, office room downstairs. The elliptical machine, file cabinet, and computer armoire all went in our bedroom, which still has plenty of room.

As soon as Elizabeth left, Joel was ready to move in, but I kept putting him off.  I liked the boys sharing a room. Grant adores Joel, and I just love their special relationship and how sweet Joel can be with him. I didn't like the idea of Grant being left all alone. However, we knew Joel really wanted it, so we told him it would be an early birthday present for him, and I started planning and researching what furniture we could fit in that small room. It's technically an office/den, not a bedroom, and doesn't have a closet. A trip to IKEA solved that issue for us. We bought a "beast" of a wardrobe and some curtains and stopped at Home Depot for some paint to start our project. It turned out great! Joel is so happy with his new room and his own space. Grant is doing just fine with the change, too. Kari helped Joel move his things downstairs and then she helped Grant rearrange the stuff in his room to make it feel not so empty. I think it's going to be ok. :)