Your youngest child is off to college, your oldest is expecting her first child, and your middle child is newly married. How can you update your home to reflect this new phase in your life and make your home more functional for your growing and changing family?

The first and most obvious place to start is in the kids’ bedrooms. The rooms they grew up in have probably seen a lot of wear and tear. Start with the basics. New carpet, paint and light fixtures will give the shell of the space a clean and updated look. You no longer need to stick with the typical pink for girls and blue for boys but you should keep in mind who grew up in that room and try to set a new, mature tone that will be comfortable for them and they will appreciate when they come home from college or return for a visit. Keeping a few of their mementos hung or nicely displayed in their room will be welcoming as well.

Now that your children are adults and will hopefully be coming back with spouses and children of their own, every room should have a minimum of two beds. Designate which rooms will be for adults and which will be for grandchildren. In the adult rooms you can pare down the furniture. A headboard, nightstand and dresser are basics. If you have a desk or bookcase they can probably be eliminated. Focus on what you appreciate in a guest room or hotel room when you travel. Make sure you have a reading lamp by the bed, attractive and functioning window treatments to control the light, and the closet is cleaned out so they have room to put away their things. A choice of pillows, and a chair with a comfy throw are always nice. Even though you know your child will feel at home you want to keep in mind their spouse and helping to make them feel at home, as well.

Designating a bedroom upstairs or basement bedroom for grandkids to share is a great idea. Ideally if you have two rooms for kids, one for boys and one for girls, the cousins can share rooms and have a great time bunking together. Built-in or store-bought bunk beds are a great way to accomplish that. Each bunk bed can usually sleep three kids with a top, bottom and pull-out trundle bed. In this room it would be great to have an area rug for the kids to sit and play on and a bookcase or storage unit for toys. This way we can hope that the kids will have enough to entertain themselves for a while.

Now that you don’t have kids living at home it is a nice opportunity to clean up your main living space, as well. Get rid of some of your more worn-out items and fill in with some new. Replace torn and frayed throw pillows and get the area rug cleaned. Then, designate a cabinet or closet to organize games, toys and art supplies for visiting kids and grandkids. Clean up the basement so it will be inviting for kids to go down and play. That way the mess will be out of the main and public spaces.

It’s probably been awhile since you needed to focus on visitors or small children helping themselves in your kitchen. Keep a supply of paper goods well stocked so your guests don’t need to worry about making a mess with dishes for you to clean. Keep child-friendly sippy cups and unbreakable dishes in a low cabinet so young children can feel independent and help themselves when appropriate.

Take advantage of this new phase in your life by cleaning out the buildup you have been holding onto. Have the kids take what is important with them and clean out and pare down the rest. Freshen up your home with new paint and trash the broken and chipped furniture you have been holding on to. Both you and your kids will appreciate the fresh, new space!

By Shoshana Halpert