Most people get their own rooms when they're teenagers. If you have to share your room as a permanent setup, (IE, not because your bedroom was temporarily turned in to a guest room) this guide can help you survive. This article deals only with a two-teenager, one-room situation.
Make sure that somehow, some way, you can have some private space. A loft bed with a curtain underneath is an excellent, low-key idea that gives you privacy and somewhere that's all your own. When you share a room, you lose that completely so it's important to recreate it however you can. Invest in a good pair of headphones. Sennheiser is a good brand, and you can get a nice pair for $20 at Virgin Megastore. It gives you the same audio performance as a decent set of speakers and lets you listen to music or play video games without disturbing your sibling Paint your room a neutral color and get a neutral rug. A tan rug and off-white walls is completely generic, and cheap. Arrange separate trips to the store. Get bedding you like, and don't show your sibling or let him/her know what it is. Your sibling should do the same. Your choices might not look all that great together, but they won't clash with the walls -which is the fastest way to make a room look bad- and you'll like your choice. That's all that matters. If the room allows for it, get a screen. Hopefully privacy matters more to one of you than the other, because normal bedrooms only have one door. Splitting the room in half with a sliding shoji screen can make a surprising difference. Your sibling is still going to always be two feet away from you, but a visual barrier helps. If you have your headphones on and are playing loud music, you'll hardly notice your sibling at all. Spend as much time out of the house as possible. Sharing a room becomes very stressful over time, but if you turn your room in to a place you sleep and store your toothbrush, it's not so bad. Do your homework in school or at the library, go to a friend's house, skateboard outside until dinner. Anything to keep you out of your room. Who knows, you might end up making more friends.
Most people get their own rooms when they're teenagers. If you have to share your room as a permanent setup, (IE, not because your bedroom was temporarily turned in to a guest room) this guide can help you survive. This article deals only with a two-teenager, one-room situation.
Make sure that somehow, some way, you can have some private space. A loft bed with a curtain underneath is an excellent, low-key idea that gives you privacy and somewhere that's all your own. When you share a room, you lose that completely so it's important to recreate it however you can.
Invest in a good pair of headphones. Sennheiser is a good brand, and you can get a nice pair for $20 at Virgin Megastore. It gives you the same audio performance as a decent set of speakers and lets you listen to music or play video games without disturbing your sibling
Paint your room a neutral color and get a neutral rug. A tan rug and off-white walls is completely generic, and cheap.
Arrange separate trips to the store. Get bedding you like, and don't show your sibling or let him/her know what it is. Your sibling should do the same. Your choices might not look all that great together, but they won't clash with the walls -which is the fastest way to make a room look bad- and you'll like your choice. That's all that matters.
If the room allows for it, get a screen. Hopefully privacy matters more to one of you than the other, because normal bedrooms only have one door. Splitting the room in half with a sliding shoji screen can make a surprising difference. Your sibling is still going to always be two feet away from you, but a visual barrier helps. If you have your headphones on and are playing loud music, you'll hardly notice your sibling at all.
Spend as much time out of the house as possible. Sharing a room becomes very stressful over time, but if you turn your room in to a place you sleep and store your toothbrush, it's not so bad. Do your homework in school or at the library, go to a friend's house, skateboard outside until dinner. Anything to keep you out of your room. Who knows, you might end up making more friends.