Teenage Room Design – Teenagers grow from older children to young adults in the span of five or six years, and during that time, their bodies, their tastes and their interests change almost daily.
The only constant in the life of a teen is change itself. Such mercurial natures are often hard to please, so keeping teen rooms simple and modular – allowing creativity in the more easily transformed areas of color, pattern and minor furnishings and accessories, while keeping the same basic large furniture pieces – accommodates teen aesthetics and your budget.
Tips for Teenage Room Design
Establish the Budget
Teenagers are becoming adults and want to make decisions for themselves. This is something to encourage, because making these small decisions helps teens transition to making bigger decisions in adulthood. However, unless your teen also has an independent income to pay for her dream room remodel, the cost is coming out of your wallet and you must establish a budget with which you are comfortable. Make a list of things you are willing to purchase, such as paint, new linens and curtains, a rug and so on, and those things she will have to live with, like the bed and dresser. Make sure your teen knows the limits of your budget from the start to avoid arguments later.
Let Your Teen Make Choices
Within the established budget, allow your teen to make personal choices. You wouldn’t want someone to come in and paint your Teenage Room Design hot pink if pink was your least favorite color, and neither will your teen. Lay down whatever basic rules you must — like not painting the room black or another dark color that may be hard to paint over later, or indulging in major demolition projects. Then set a price range within which you’re willing to spend. After that, give your teen some paint chips, a few decorating magazines for ideas, and back off to let the creative juices flow.
Discuss Your Teen’s Needs
Many teenagers like to have friends over on a regular basis — for study, sleep-overs or a giggly gossip-fest. For them, having extra space for entertaining, additional seating or a spare bed may be important. Some teens prefer their room as a quiet inner sanctum for study and sleep. Maybe that teen would prefer extra bookshelves, a quality desk or a bed with a built-in book lamp on a dimmer. A crafty or musical teen may like a special work or practice area. Every teenager is different in her own way and only by talking to your teen can you know what she really needs to make her Teenage Room Design comfortable.
Discuss Your Teen’s Personal Style
Although this may overlap with your teen’s needs list, style has more to do with likes and wants than real need. Encourage her to jot down things she enjoys, such as video games, rock music, science, back-packing, books, gardening, horses, etc. Have her list the things that appeal to her senses — favorite colors, favorite smells, foods, textiles and so forth. Use these things to help her choose bedspreads, rugs, curtains, shelving and much more in tune with her own aesthetic. Taking time to really think about what she likes will help your teen create a teenage room design distinctly hers that she will feel good in for a long time to come.
Shop with a List
Before heading to the mall or an online shopping venue, make a list of exactly what you and your teen have agreed she needs and the price range you are looking at. Lists keep you focused and discourage spontaneous purchases. Agree at the outset that anything that deviates from that list or the set budget is off-limits for that day’s shopping spree; this gives both of you time to consider whether the “need” is merely a passing whim or something you both genuinely overlooked and she actually needs. For a tight budget, discuss whether you can replace something else on the list or whether the new item must be added. Look for compromises — perhaps buying a less expensive version of something to make up for adding the new item to the list.
