Decorating a teen’s room is a challenge that is a great opportunity to collaborate with your teen. Letting your teen have some control over their room’s decor will help them to feel like they are involved in the process, helping to ensure that the space is a reflection of their evolving tastes and personality. Depending on their age and personality, the perfect bedroom for an adolescent might retain some of the familiar remnants of childhood, embrace a sense of playfulness and teen spirit, or lean toward an adult space that looks as grown up as they feel.
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Let’s dive in to some tips to make a teen or tween room a great place for them to spend time.
Here are 6 tips to get the perfect teenage bedroom. (All room resources and some favorite picks of mine are at the end of this post and are always linked in my LTK shop)
1. Don’t skimp on the headboard. Invest in a classic, quality bed frame or headboard. A timeless, good quality headboard will anchor the room and seamlessly scale with your child for years to come.
2. Add whimsical elements. Try a hanging or corner chair that is both functional and playful. It’s a cozy spot to curl up and read, listen to music or catch up with friends. A piece like this keeps the room feeling young and playful while remaining stylish. We opted for a leather butterfly chair because it was masculine but fun. He loves it.
3. Make studying inviting. Create a space where your teen can do homework. A desk, lamp, and comfortable chair will be key for those late-night study sessions. I love using a roller chair for easy use and pushing in and out from the desk.
4. Include a statement piece. Investment pieces such as dressers, armoires or statement lighting should be classic and versatile while keeping the playful elements to the textiles and wall décor. In Texas we most often do not have statement lights in our bedrooms, as we all use fans, but I think his wall shelves are his statement piece(s).
5. Try an accent wall. Kids love color so why not bring in a bit of drama with a graphic wallpaper or a bold wall color? You don’t need to focus on all four walls, instead just focus on an accent wall. It will be high impact creating that “wow” in the room. We chose a charcoal with green undertones (looks green in certain lighting) to look bold and masculine.
6. Use bold and playful bedding without being “themey ”. New bedding is a surefire way to update a bedroom. You can start with a fresh, white duvet cover and then layer in colors with pillows, blankets, and throws. Or a simple stripe like we did in our son’s room here. Beddy’s offer amazing bedding with a true all-in-one bedding system that just zips to make it up in the morning. Super easy for ALL ages, and especially teens who are always in a hurry or begrudgingly making their beds.
7. I realize many, many parents and teens want a theme that shows their likes and hobbies, but this can be done in a way that isn’t too child-like or overly theme-y. Here, we used a general theme of outdoors, masculinity and his love of math, band and our family vacations in the gallery wall above his desk.
8. Keep it simple and my rule of thumb is not to buy or use more than 2 design elements of one thing. For example, if your daughter is into equestrian, don’t put a ton of horses all over the room. If you use horses in the artwork, don’t have bedding and/or curtains with horses on it. Same for baseball or football, or any one hobby. Think of ways to represent that hobby that aren’t the literal object (horse, baseball). For example, equestrian has a vintage, old world feel. Think of textures and colors that could also represent equestrian such as plaids, muted colors, woods, leathers. For baseball think reds, navy, stripes, wools.
Remember, it will be a fun experience for you and your teen or tween! Write down ideas, make a pinterest board or pull images from the internet into Canva to make a mood board for ideas on fabrics, colors, looks, styles and furniture. As always, I offer virtual design consultations if you ever need guidance.
- 1. Mid-century platform bed | 2. Textured Pillow | 3. Geometric Pillow | 4. Shelf | 5. Butterfly chair | 6. 6-Drawer Dresser | 7. Nightstand | 8. Buffalo Art | 9. Desk | 10. Gray striped rug | 11. Striped bedding
