Decorating Your Teen’s Bedroom

By Lisa Martin

In teen bedrooms, it’s important for the teen to exert his or her stylistic independence. Savvy parents guide rather than squelch their offspring’s choices in decor. In fact, the whole family wins when adolescents create unique personal spaces that look good and function even better.

As a design-minded mother of two teenage girls, Colorado-based syndicated columnist Marni Jameson counsels parents to take a deep breath before screeching out, “not in my home!” That’s what she did when her younger daughter proposed redoing her room in “streetwalker purple” with wild, graphic wallpaper and funky fabrics.

“How can someone who shares my DNA think crushed purple velvet looks good?” she writes in House of Havoc (Da Capo, 2010). “The more I say, ‘Ugh,’ the more she likes it.”

Picking items together

Thanks to plenty of patience and ongoing peace talks, Jameson and her daughter designed a budget-friendly room they both wound up enjoying.

Here are a few ideas that might work for you:

• Shady business: Ask your teen to peruse catalogs and magazines on the hunt for the perfect color for his or her room. At the paint store, go for a hue two shades lighter than the one on the printed page. Colors tend to look deeper than expected, particularly if you paint the ceiling, too. (Tip: For extra flair, paint the ceiling a contrasting color. Or go for the same color but in a different sheen — high gloss versus eggshell, etc.)
• Contain clutter: Storage armoires, hinged ottomans that hold CDs, chargers and memorabilia, bookcases, shelves, baskets, and under-the-bed storage systems are your allies in combating everyday messes. Who wants to work and sleep in a room where sports equipment, textbooks, college applications, photos, and knickknacks litter every surface?
• A new tack: Hit the home improvement store to make a fun, inexpensive corkboard. Hang a half-dozen 12-inch-square cork tiles as a single unit; they’ll hold those oversized posters of Justin Bieber or Shaun White. For a dressier look, hot glue fabric and ribbons on the fronts. Your teen can display photos, ticket stubs, and other treasures.
• Edgy accessories: So you cringe at the idea of black walls, crimson curtains, and a mustard-colored rug? Compromise on the small decorative accessories. Let your teen pick out a plain lampshade and have him draw Manga figures or graffiti on it. Or help her paint a thrift-store nightstand hot orange or acid green.

“An easy way to rev up a room is by layering textures and patterns,” writes Susanna Salk in Room for Children (Rizzoli, 2010).

Furniture and other accessories

Inexpensive elements like flokati pillows, sisal rugs, and mirrored wall stickers offer big dividends in terms of design punch. A beaded or sheer curtain, when positioned by the door, affords your teen much-coveted privacy, too.

Invest in one good piece of seating for you teen’s room, one with simple yet rugged upholstery. Your teen can curl up in the chair or use it to entertain friends. Companies like Crypton offer great-looking textiles that withstand stains and wear.

Most important of all: keep talking to your teen about options.

Says Salk: “It’s about understanding the importance of helping our children create a private world where they can discover who they are and all they were meant to be.”