As your pre-teen enters their teenage years it’s time to throw out the racecar bed and tear down the fairy wallpaper. Transforming your child’s bedroom can be a really fun experience as your teen steps into a new identity and has a passion for rebranding their style. There’s a lot to consider to make a bedroom more age-appropriate, and you’ll want to discuss the design with your teen. Here’s a step by step guide to scraping the childhood décor and updating your teen’s castle.
Table of Contents
Planning Phase
Before you start filling the room with new items, you’ll want to make decisions about the overall vibe of your teen’s bedroom. Try using online catalogs for inspiration, or ask your teen what aspects of the room are the most important to update and build your plan around their strong preferences.
Purge
Take inventory with your teen and decide what to keep and what to throw out. Many of the larger furnishings like desks and dressers might be suitable for your teen, and could use a fresh coat of paint or different knobs and handles to match their new style. Old toys have to go, no more dress-up bin, play castle, or tyke-sized games. Toss the pop-up books and think about some new reading choices for teens. Consider getting a storage box to hang onto any childhood mementos you or your teen still want to keep, but get it out of the room.
Budgeting
Work out a budget with your teenager so they know how much you’re willing to spend on everything. If their expectations exceed you budget, you can always ask them to pitch in to get more out of the transformation. Paint might cost $100, beds could cost $400, and the cost of accessories adds up bit by bit. Do your research beforehand to figure out how much it costs to achieve your teen’s vision for the room. Remember to use resources like craigslist to find cheap secondhand furniture and not drain your budget on just a few items.
Recolor to Redefine
Changing the color of the room is an easy yet crucial way to make the space feel brand new. Try using swatch books from a paint store so you and your teen can decide on a whole new vibe for the walls and matching accessories. It’s good to be patient with your teen’s color choice because you don’t want to pick the wrong color and have to repaint. Once your teen has decided on a base color, encourage them to pick out some great colors to compliment the energy. If they’re going with a bold color like red or yellow, you might suggest finding lighter colored objects to enhance the room. With a more neutral tone like grey or beige, maybe pick out decorations that will help the room pop with color.
Lighting is Key
One of the often overlooked facets of a room is the lighting. Help your teen choose whether they would like softer, ambient light provided by an array of lamps, or stronger white lights that can be installed in the ceiling. Fun lamps can be found easily at thrift stores for a bargain and come with all sorts of fun shades. On the other hand, you can accomplish brighter lighting by investing in LEDs. The fun thing about some LED lights is the ability to change the color to alter the mood of the room.
Time to Decorate
Once you’ve mind up your mind about what to remove, what to update, and how to light and color the room, it’s time to get down to business. Remove the furniture, apply that unique coat of paint, and let it dry. Think about the best way to donate or dump old items to make room for the new features.
It’s Called a Bedroom for a Reason
The most important piece of your teen’s refurbished bedroom is the bed itself. Upgrading the bed helps your teen feel like they’re truly sleeping in a new environment. If space allows, you’ll probably want to invest in larger bedding for your growing teen. A big bed also makes your teen feel more grown up. Pick out sheets and pillows that match your color scheme and let your teen have the final say on where to place it. Even a simple rearrangement of where the bed sits can have a total transformative effect on the space.
Make It a ‘Hangout’ Room
After the bed is in place, move in the other large furnishings like a workspace or bureau to populate the bedroom. Since your teen will likely use their bedroom as a place to socialize with friends, it’s a good idea to leave space for other teens to hang out. A simple way to meet this need is to throw down some beanbag chairs or a sofa so your teen can have a fun place to hang out. Social spaces are key to helping a developing teenager feel proud of their space and allows them to show off their expressive new room to friends.
Add Flair with What They Love
They say a person’s house is their castle. Your teen’s room is the only place that they can call their own under your roof, so let them go all out to fill the room with their interests. Maybe they want to put up athletic posters to represent the sports they like, or they want a whiteboard to keep track of their schedules and inspirational quotes. Skaters and surfers might want to display their boards on the wall or in the corner. Consider adding a mirror for make-up and styling hair. If your teen earns certificates of achievement or sports trophies, they should have space to display what they’re proud of. It’s all up to your teen. Whatever makes them feel at home and shows off their interests should make its way into the overall decoration.
All Done!
Congratulations, you’ve utterly transformed the old childhood bedroom into a brand-new space that represents your teen’s emerging identity. It’s amazing what a new coat of paint and appropriate accessories can do to make your teen feel more confident and at home in their bedroom. They’re going to thank you for it.
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Transforming a Childhood Bedroom into Your Teen’s Castle
It’s time to toss the racecar bed and tear down the fairy wallpaper. Here’s a step by step guide to scraping the old décor and updating your teen’s castle.
Author Bio:
Andy Earle is a researcher who studies parent-teen communication and adolescent risk behaviors. He is the co-founder of talkingtoteens.com and host of the Talking to Teens podcast, a free weekly talk show for parents of teenagers.