When you first purchased your home and you designated the rooms for each family member to sleep in, you probably thought that your child’s room would be just the way it is now…forever.

Forever turned into a relatively quick 18 years (give or take a couple of years) and now it’s time for your son or daughter to go off to college.

While you always want them to have a space within the house where they can always feel welcome, being that college means that they are gone for most of the year, you want to be able to explore some options of what you can do to maximize the space. We have enclosed five of them below:

What to Do With Your Child’s Room When They Leave for College

Turn it into a guest room.

Here’s the thing: If your child has had basically the same décor since they have been in elementary or high school, it’s probably time for an upgrade anyway. One way to transition the room into a guest room without them feeling “put out” is to have them design it with you. They can help to pick out the new wall colors and furniture and you can even keep a few of the knick-knacks and sentimental things around for when they come home on the holidays or weekends.

Turn it into a home office.

Another option that you can consider is to transform the space into a home office. You can do this by simply putting the bed and dresser in the attic, basement, or storage and replacing it with a futon and desk.

Use it as a “hideout”.

Although places like the living room and bonus room are common areas where people can hang out and relax, sometimes you (or someone in the family) may still want a place where you can sneak away and read a book while having a cup of tea. This is another thing that you can do with our child’s room. As a matter of fact, for this option, you don’t even necessarily have to make a lot of décor adjustments. It might simply be a matter of purchasing a sign that you can hang on the door that says “Do not disturb” on it.

Make it into a home theater.

If you’ve ever done any research on what an urban planning program entails, they basically assess the space that is in a city and figure out what proper additions can be made. Say that your child has been living in a renovated basement since high school. Now that they have moved to college, why not use it as an opportunity to turn into a home theatre? There are tips on HGTV and DIYNetwork that will show you how you can do it on your own. Plus, if you put a daybed or sofa bed in there and discuss the change with them beforehand, your child may just like sleeping in a room with a huge flat screen and surround sound.

Leave it as it is.

Of course, even with all of these options explored, if you or your child are not interested in making any changes, do not feel pressured to do so. Sometimes, it’s comforting to come home and know that even with all of life’s transitions, some things remain just the same. For a little while longer, anyway.