When you first bring your baby home, their nursery is designed with your favorite colors, patterns, and thoughtful pieces of decor. You have the fun of making all the decisions and hope that they like it because, really, that’s what good parents do. The older children get, though, the more opinions they have on what they eat, what they wear, and what their rooms look like.

As your child matures, so will their style, and one day that fun and kid-friendly bedroom just won’t cut it. That’s typically your cue to start searching for ways to help transition their space from baby to big kid, without doing a complete overhaul of the space.

While it may be hard to say goodbye to all the special characters your child used to love, it’s more important for your child to be comfortable and enjoy the space that they spend so much time in. Everyone deserves a bedroom to retreat from everyday life that is reflective of their personalities, especially children.

While it’s likely that their interests may change, creating a flexible foundation when designing their spaces is the key to easy upgrades in the future. Here are 3 tips for transitioning a child’s bedroom as they age.

Declutter before you redecorate.

One of the first steps to transforming your child’s room as they grow older is getting rid of items they’ve outgrown. For example, if you have a kindergartener, you don’t want to have toddler and baby toys and decor still lying around. Kids can generate clutter quickly, so it’s good to stay on top of that while upgrading their rooms.

However, if you want to keep those baby blankets around, look for ways to repurpose them for your preschooler. “Take all of your baby blankets and swaddles and have them sewn together to make a quilt that can cover a twin bed. It offers a sense of nostalgia, warmth, and comfort to any toddler or young kid,” says interior designer Carmine Sabatella.

Design room plans with your kids, not around them.

Once your child is at an age where they can understand things, plan the redesign with them and get as much of their input as possible. This will decrease the chances of you “getting it wrong” but your tiny client has a say in the final look of the room.

Make the room multi-functional.

Once your child begins going to school, they could easily grow tired of learning and studying. To counter that, don’t be afraid to encourage sustainable educational habits by adding a reading nook to their rooms. You could also use the redesign as a time to incorporate multi-use items like large organizers that double as extra seating. If you have smaller children, consider making their closets more accessible by placing clothing and shoes lower to encourage independence.