When A Child’s Bedroom Becomes An Apartment

I think we can give children so much space of their own that we practically give them an apartment inside the house. A bedroom, their own bathroom, their own closet. Everything tucked away together, with fewer reasons to come out.

Children should have privacy. My concern is how easily a room can become a place to stay apart from everyone else for most of the day.

In a larger home, a private suite can give a child most of what they need without leaving that corner of the house. By the teenage years, that can become an easy place to retreat to.

That’s what concerns me about treating a child’s room as a little apartment. I want to think about the reasons they’ll leave it, too. What parts of everyday life still bring them into the rest of the house? Where will they spend time around their family?

For me, those questions belong in the design conversation alongside the bedroom, bathroom and closet. I want a home to leave room for privacy without planning so much separation into family life.