Your spare bedroom. That lovely, lovely extra space. Something that many would love to have, but those of us that do have a spare room sometimes don’t always appreciate what a great little luxury it is.
Over the last 18 months or so, through various stages of lockdown, we may have come to view this little space as a godsend. It might have become a home office, or study room for the kids whilst having lessons online, or perhaps a quiet room for escaping to have a quiet read/snooze.
However now that lockdown has eased and most of us are relocating back into the workplace or the kids back into school, so what happens to the spare room now? Does it just go back to its previous use? But what was it really being used for before:
- A location for hiding things you haven’t got around to putting back in the loft/shed/garage
- A place packed with clothes rails that you claim is your de facto walk-in wardrobe but actually it is your excuse not to have a good clear out – Marie Kondo will have something to say about this!
- Piles of things to go to charity shop/boot sale/dump but you’ve never quite got around to taking them
- Boxes of stuff that you are ‘storing’ for your adult child whilst they got settled into their own home, but that they seem to have forgotten to come and collect now that they are in!
This fantastic little space could become anything you want but beware as it could easily just become a room of good intentions! So, what are you thinking of using the room for? Perhaps as:
- A craft room – but will you actually get around to doing any crafts, or is this just the place where your dreams of creativity go to die?
- A home gym – or will this just become a place to drape clothes on the gym equipment until you get around to ironing it all?
- A kid’s playroom – or do they already have plenty of space so it’s just one more place to injure yourself walking on small plastic toys?
- An actual spare bedroom – as before …. which may still be just empty much of the time. What a waste! Maybe it could have better use – such as a safe space for foster children? Definitely worth considering!
There continues to be a big need for foster homes for children and young people who currently are not able to live with their families, particularly those aged 10 years and over including teenagers, as well as sibling groups, and families in parent & child placements.
Please get in touch to find out more. We will be happy to answer any queries and talk you through the process of becoming a foster carer.
By Lynsey Dobbs – Senior Recruitment Officer, UK Fostering
Resources
https://konmari.com/ Marie Kondo – tidying and decluttering guru
https://ukfostering.org.uk/becoming-foster-parent/requirements-to-foster/ More information on the requirements to foster with UK Fostering