7 Tips For Making Your Room Feel More Adult After Moving Back in With Your Parents

Updated on 3/30/2020 at 4:15 PM

It's not uncommon for adults to move back in with their parents. During college, after graduation, after a breakup, or even just during a time of financial hardship, moving back in with your parents can be a great way to save some money. However, moving back home can also come with its own unique set of issues. When I moved back in with my mom after college, I felt as though I was losing a piece of my independence. Of course, I soon realized that moving home meant I would be closer to achieving financial independence, but that didn't make the move any easier as a recent graduate who had grown accustomed to living on my own for four years.

For me, making my old space feel more like my new self helped me look at it as an adult place, rather than continuing to think of it as just my childhood bedroom — even though those spaces were technically one and the same. Making small changes can make a big difference, and you don't have to spend a ton of money to transform your space. Here are some tips and tricks for making your room feel like your own little apartment.

Do a Deep Clean

Removing every single thing from my bedroom and cleaning it floor to ceiling really helped me feel as though it was mine. It was almost — almost — like moving into a brand-new apartment and filling it with all of my things. Plus, isn't it just so satisfying to do a deep clean of anything?

Rearrange Your Furniture

When I moved back home, my childhood bedroom was arranged in almost the exact same way it was when I was a teenager. Moving things around helped me feel like it was a completely different space. Not to mention, the layout that I was working with as a teenager kind of sucked, and I didn't even question it until I moved back home as an adult.

Purge Your Items

Childhood bedrooms collect relics of the past, whether intentionally or not. I know that when I was in college, I kept a lot of things at home just because I wasn't quite ready to throw them out yet. But once I moved back in, getting rid of some of those things (like high school mementos and even stuffed animals from when I was a kid) helped me to disassociate the space as my childhood bedroom and start associating it with a new chapter in my adult life. Decluttering will completely change how the room feels and how you can function in it.

Get Something That Will Make the Space Feel New

For me, this was tossing my twin-size bed and opting for a full-size one — plus getting some new sheets and a new quilt. For others, repainting the walls, getting a new area rug, making a new plant feel at home, or hanging a piece of art could do the trick.

Talk With Your Parents Honestly About Your Expectations

Parents could very well always look at their children as just that: children that they need to protect and enforce rules upon. This was one of the hardest things to deal with when I moved back home. But after talking with my mom honestly, we came to an understanding about my habits and what she could expect from me, as well as what I could expect from her.

Come to an Agreement on How You’ll Contribute

Many adults move back in with their parents to save money. But just because someone isn't going to be paying rent doesn't mean that they can't contribute in other ways. Contributions could come in the form of buying groceries, picking up more chores around the house, paying utilities, or, if you're handy, doing some small updates like painting or refurbishing old furniture.

Ask If You Can Claim Another Space as Yours, Too

Sometimes, moving back in means that the only space you feel really belongs to you is your bedroom. If there's another room in the house that isn't being used — such as a sibling's abandoned bedroom, an attic space, or even just a bathroom — ask if you can take ownership of that space, too.