Empty nest - what do you think will happen now with that unused room?

When your daughter or your son moves out of the house, the empty nest suddenly takes on a life of its own, because of the memories attached to the stuff in the room and this voluminous desire to reclaim the room. The mixed emotions cause quite an internal upheaval for some empty nesters. Is shuffling through the room an opportunity or a chance to memorialize everything as if it were a museum? Looking at the room candidly, you might stop and realize that you always hated the color of the rug. You think about pulling it up. Then guardedly, you step back as you remember how many times your kid sat on that ugly orange carpet and looked so cute coming up with another excuse not to clean the room.

Are you going to take the blue pill or the red pill? In representing the choice between illusions and keeping a museum or the real world and embracing a new found purpose, I see your concerns as essential to address.

Is the room hostage to your loneliness and nothing should happen?

Some empty nesters are more concerned with whether their kid will return and find a room that is no longer their comfortable space. An empty nester can be held hostage to the loneliness factor on their end and the anticipated loneliness factor of a potentially returning kid. Honestly, consider that these feelings about doing nothing to the room to maintain a place where the loneliness can fade as you sit and remember days gone by are relevant. Consider whether the room will maintain the memories or if you can retain the memories through a continued connection with your kid and in memorabilia. If you’re not ready to convert the empty feeling into a lived in feeling, that’s okay also. However, revisit this so that you consider breathing in new life when the time is right.

Or, is the room an occupation to help you find new purpose in your home?

Some empty nesters become aware that the echo in the lonelier house requires establishing a new purpose. They become occupied with turning the memory laden room into an opportunity. Essentially, it feels like a new chapter in your life and a chance to suture a feeling of being left behind. By reclaiming the space, it’s like taking your child’s home that was at the center of their comfort and safety and having the freedom to imagining that they are creating that space for themselves in their new home now. Meanwhile, you can decorate the room in a way that revolves around one of your interests.