Within the last couple years, two of my good friends have given birth with a several-year age gap between the baby and their first children. They have also opted to let their babies share bedrooms with their grade-school siblings. I think this is more common than I originally realized and my question is, How does sharing a room work with such a big age gap? Thankfully, my friend Amanda has generously allowed me a peek into her boys’ room. Enjoy the tour. It’s so sweet.

Please tell me about the two people who use this room:

 Both of my sons, Jonathan and Joshua, share a room together.

Jonathan is four years old and Joshua is five months old.

What helped you decide to let them share a room?

 When I found out we were expecting a new baby soon after moving into our new home, I decided to wait and see what we were having to plan who would end up sharing a room: my daughter or my son. After finding out we were expecting another little boy, it was clear the larger guest bedroom would be shared by the two boys.

How did you come up with the theme?

In our household, there is a great love of trains. It starts with my husband, who is a railway enthusiast. It quickly caught on when my daughter was only 16 months old and enjoyed playing with small wooden trains around a train table.

The love continued with my second child, Jonathan, who today still plays with toy trains. So it was only a matter of finding the right bedroom decor to bring it all together.

When does this room work best?

In our home we have a large play room area for the children to play with their toys that are much too big for their rooms. But when it’s time to retreat and play by themselves, I like to separate them into their own bedrooms. In the boys room I have a place where you can grab a book and relax in a chair nearby.

Or pull out some legos and build a new design. And another one of Jonathan’s favorites is to pull out one of the red toys bins and play with his hot-wheel cars.

As for Joshua, I still keep him next to me in my bedroom sleeping in a playpen. Soon he will be sleeping flull-time in his crib. But on days where he needs more a quiet retreat and I need my own down time, I place him in his crib to sleep.

What do you wish you could change?

Right now I really love the design and layout of the boys room. One thing for sure I would change or really improve is the closet organization. I would love to have better shelves to store more of the boys’ blankets, clothing, and toys.

I see you have several DIY projects. How did you come up with them? Which was your favorite?

Most of the DIY projects came from a inspiration board on Pinterest. My two favorite projects were the antique Lionel train tracks and the blue dresser. The train tracks were found on a shopping trip at a local antique shop.

My husband found them all stuffed in a box piled under an old train set. It was his idea to purchase them and spray paint them red to hang on the wall.

As for the dresser, I actually purchased it for my daughters room. But when I saw a numbered and lettered dresser for a boys room on Pinterest, I knew exactly what I was going to do with that it. And it came out fabulous!

Any advice for moms out there combining rooms with a big age gap?

Keep it fun and simple. Since my two boys are four years apart, it is a huge age gap of what toys they both play with. But I created a place where each of them has a little cubby of toys just for them.

Thank you, Amanda, for this peek into such an adorable room!